Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Bartlett Sher’s tasteful revival of CAMELOT puts the human and political drama front and center

• By drediman
• April 18, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend, I caught up with the highly anticipated revival of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, which recently opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. The production is the latest in a string of well-received, large scale revivals presented by Lincoln Center Theater — most of them helmed by usual suspect director Bartlett Sher — that have breathed new life into some of the warhorses of American musical theater (e.g., Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady). As its title suggests, Camelot is a retelling of the King Arthur legend, which of course encompasses Arthur’s romantic involvement with Guenevere and the formation the Knights of the Round Table.

Although it has secured a place in American musical theater lore, the musical has also had the reputation for being unwieldy. Enter book writer Aaron Sorkin and director Sher, whose excavation of the work has resulted in a substantially rethought and refocused musical. Their tastefully re-calibrated revisal moves the piece away from fantasy and pageantry, putting human and political drama front and center, a task that Sorkin has historically proven apt at. And as with Sher’s other revivals, character development is paramount, thereby allowing the songs to arise organically from the material, as if true extensions of the book scenes. The result is a thoughtfully sculpted production that — although admittedly dull at points — comes across as a truly integrated theatrical experience. Indeed, In some ways, this Camelot registers more like an austerely staged Shakespearean history play at a classical repertory theater than it does a lavish Broadway musical.

At the center of the musical is the tug-of-war love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere, and the knight Lancelot, who are played with scalpel-like precision by Phillipa Soo, Andrew Burnap, and Jordan Donica, respectively. The decision to cast the show on the younger side of the spectrum emphasizes the parallels between King Arthur’s political coming-of-age trajectory with Prince Hal’s journey (the revival’s final scene wouldn’t be amiss in a production of Henry V). Thankfully, with the support of a full 30-piece orchestra and some excellent vocal performances (particularly from Donica and Soo), Sher and Sorkins’ revival preserves the undeniable glories of Lerner and Loewe’s score.

RECOMMENDED

CAMELOT
Broadway, Musical
Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre
2 hours, 50 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run