| re: Guinevere - Likable | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 12:51 pm EDT 08/06/20 | |
| In reply to: Guinevere - Likable - Whistler 06:48 pm EDT 08/05/20 | |
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| CAMELOT was my first Broadway show. By the time my mother took me, Burton was gone and his often-standby William Squire was in it. But it was, as you can imagine— not just for the sumptuousness of the emotions and the pageantry but for the high drama of the tension between honor and feelings— unforgettable. And Julie Andrews was unbelievably charismatic. Her desire to “cause a little war” was no more “wrong” than Maria VonTrapp going up to the mountains to sing. She wasn’t vain or flirty, she just hadn’t settled. And when she sees Lancelot bring that knight back from the dead, it’s not simply that she “falls in love” with him. It’s that, for the first time in her life, she sees a greater truth than she had ever thought possible. (It’s similar to what Arthur experiences; Lancelot is the fulfillment of his vision for the Knights.). It works. It’s not just that Lancelot is hot and Arthur is a bit of an odd duck (as in the film), it’s kinda about what’s spiritual and metaphysical and the fulfillment of a higher purpose. Anyway, I agree with everybody who says this show absolutely works. It just needs the director who can bring all of the elements together. And keep pushing for it to be more than a tawdry love-triangle. Corny as it may seem, the leading characters have a “higher purpose” which really informs their personal journeys. Like in “Man of La Mancha.” I don’t think the show is worth much if Guenevere is a minx (which is, kinda, what Christine Ebersole did with it when Burton brought it back to Broadway.). If Arthur grows into being a great man, so too must she grow into being a great lady. Think Deborah Kerr or Jane Alexander or...who do we have now?...a leading lady with gravitas and humor?...Audra for sure. (The broadcast with Marin Mazzie didn’t quite work, though she should’ve been right, but the Arthur’s musicianship was off throughout and there was just too much in the whole show that hadn’t been synthesized.) I’m getting off my soapbox. But I assert it’s a good show. It seems like Laura Benanti would be excellent, too, if she had very clear direction. |
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