When it opened on Broadway in 1960, “Camelot” was not a smash hit. It promised all the glory of “My Fair Lady,” which the team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe has delivered on a previous collaboration. But the production suffered a number of blows — particularly when director Moss Hart had a heart attack — and opened to poor reviews. Still, it managed to grab five Tony nominations that year, but won only one — for Richard Burton as Best Actor.
Not until Ed Sullivan put excerpts on his TV show did the nation warm to this musical’s magic, and then “Camelot” played for 873 performances. Before the end of the 1960s and the John F. Kennedy era, it would take hold of the country’s hearts and hopes for new reasons. Although it is about an English king, a scandal in the royal family, and a whole way of life so foreign to our own soil, it would come to represent a most American idealism.
But lucky for all the people who attended the original production which had the benefit of Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet — or even luckier, those who saw Richard Harris, who immortalized the role of King Arthur — that they didn’t have to sit through the touring show that was performed last night at the Maine Center for the Arts.
The most disappointing factor was that none of the actors could be called knockouts. If you’re going to do a play that so obviously depends on three strong leads, you’ve got to have actors who can make a musical role come to life despite all its overly dramatic silliness.
The only one of this cast who came close was Daniel Narducci as Lancelot. With a stage presence that was a cross between Kevin Costner and the Terminator, Narducci was the pure embodiment of the egotistical knight. His rendition of “C’est Moi” was among the funniest moments of the show, and his deep voice was the best of the cast.
James Warwick, who played King Arthur, may well be one of England’s better-known actors (as he was described in the program bio), but he didn’t appear to be one of England’s better-skilled actors. Constance Curtis, as Guenevere, was always lovely and often quite witty, but neither of the actors ever really accomplished any regalness in the role. Luckily, they had a large variety of Elizabethan costumes to make the look of the show quite impressive — even if the setting was the 12th century.
The seven-piece orchestra, which relied too heavily on a synthesizer, battled with the miked singers, sacrificing voices to volume.
Fortunately, the script has enough funny lines in it and there are enough recognizable tunes to have given the evening some punch.
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