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| Camelot last night | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 09:13 am EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| For its current revival of “Camelot,” Lincoln Center Theater has made minimal revisions to the score but major revisions to the book. The score revisions work well. The book revisions work less well. The score revisions involve cutting one song sung by a character who also has been cut and reassigning “I Loved You Once in Silence” from Guenevere (Phillipa Soo) to Lancelot du Lac (Jordan Donica). I would have enjoyed that song if sung by either character. Aaron Sorkin’s new book has received mixed reviews, and I will merely speculate why: Alan Jay Lerner’s original book was thoroughly rooted in its time (early 1960s), when Christianity was a taken-for-granted in the US populace. Mr. Sorkin has eliminated the magic with which Merlyn (Dakin Matthews) was imbued (and which appeared in T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King”) and substituted overt Christian devotion (characters crossing themselves) in its place. Doing so reduces Merlyn to a wise old man (and allows Mr. Matthews to play Pellinore, another wise old man, as well). The Christians tend to be French, while the nonbelievers such as King Arthur (Andrew Burnap) tend to be British. I suppose that Mr. Sorkin wanted to set up a British-French conflict, but that’s a guess, as the production doesn’t make much of any national rivalries. Interestingly, Mr. Sorkin states in an interview published in the elaborated program (which I highly recommend contributing a dollar to obtain) that there are no dances in “Camelot,” while Bartlett Sher’s production credits a choreographer (Bryon Easley), as well as dance captains. Also interestingly, the program thanks Gregory Maguire (Wicked, another beneficiary of Mr. White’s original) for his financial support. Despite the problems, I’m glad that I saw “Camelot.” I’m also glad that I walked back to my hotel, which allowed me to stretch my legs and breathe deeply after a long sit. Today’s menu: “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Funny Girl.” Hoping for a Lea Michele performance tonight. Bill |
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| I checked out when | |
| Posted by: dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: Camelot last night - BillEadie 09:13 am EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| Voltaire was referenced as a French poet—someone that lived a millennium after king author. | |
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| That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 12:15 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: I checked out when - dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| In The Once and Future King, Merlyn own a complete set of the Encyclopeadia Britannica, first published in 1768—during Voltaire's lifetime, in fact—and references the as-yet-undiscovered island of Bermuda. | |
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| re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - MockingbirdGirl 12:15 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| For Merlyn it's in the spirit of The Once and Future King, but is it for Guenevere? It's not a future thing in this version because a character lives backwards. It's a present thing. | |
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| re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 09:43 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| I haven't seen this staging, but assigning such a line to Guenevere does seem... odd. (I saw the Westport Playhouse version with Robert Sean Leonard a few years ago. It was fine... but the show is creaky and it did not inspire me to rush out to see another version.) |
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| re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 08:24 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| And Merlyn is no longer a magician in this version - and he doesn't live backwards. So the line IS in the spirit of the book - but the spirit of the book has been removed in Mr Sorkins WEST WING/THE CAMELOT EDITON. LCT has managed to have CAMELOT's mediocre, but functional book be replaced by an inexplicably awful one. I am still puzzling this out. Guinevere comes to England to marry King Arthur, as part of a peace treaty. She is in a glorious 'wedding carriage'. She is virtually at the spot where she is supposed to meet the king. Apparently Mr Sorkin has decided that Guenevere - who isn't too sure about this arranged marriage - has her carriage stop by a copse in the woods. She grabs her suitcase and runs into the undergrowth, and changes from her 'Arriving bride' outfit into black trousers, leather boots, and straps on a long life and cape and runs off - thru the snow which is borrowed from the film of CAMELOT. Then, in between screaming at Arthur and brandishing her knife at him - she takes pauses to sing 'Simple joys of maidenhood' sweetly, without irony. WTF. [If you want to know how to write a strong woman who isn't angry, or unhappy, or screaming, visit GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR] Sorkin's revised book never allows for the songs to flow from the book. Not to mention the fact that they restored FIE ON GOODNESS and THEN YOY MAY TAKE ME TO THE FAIR, two songs cut after opening by Moss Hart, when he finally was well enough to fix the show. Moss Hart knew best. |
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| re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: sirpupnyc 08:49 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - NewtonUK 08:24 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| Well, the snow is actually original. "Scene: A Hilltop near the Castle at Camelot. There is a large tree with great branches reaching high and out of sight, and a small hillock beyond the tree. A light snow is falling." And so is all of the "the carriage stopped at the bottom of the hill, not the top where tradition dictates" stuff. I suppose the idea is that she had the pants on under her gown. They're very nice pants, but even in the non-Arthurian timeframe of the new book, she wouldn't have access to pants! |
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| re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 09:16 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - sirpupnyc 08:49 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| You are correct - 'a light snow is falling'/ It falls for a long time, and there is a white groundcloth of 'snow' - which if I'm not mistaken, disappears before Gwen enters .... | |
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| re: I checked out when | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 06:11 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: I checked out when - dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| To each his own. I’m sure that Sorkin would argue that the Arthur legend would transcend time. :) Bill |
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| I’m sure he would. | |
| Last Edit: dramedy 06:19 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| Posted by: dramedy 06:16 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: re: I checked out when - BillEadie 06:11 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| But history is pretty definitive that king author did not reign during the 1700s of Voltaire’s life. I think there was some unknown ruler called king George III in England at that time. Had some colonies revolt. Had a play written about his madness and Netflix series about his queen Charlotte. I don’t think King Arthur was referenced in those adaptations. | |
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| re: I’m sure he would. | |
| Posted by: mikem 11:33 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: I’m sure he would. - dramedy 06:16 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| I was confused as to why Sorkin had the characters talking about Voltaire. The anachronism was presumably trying to make some kind of point, but I really didn't understand what Sorkin was going for here. Has he ever talked about it? | |
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| re: Camelot last night | |
| Posted by: theatreguy40 02:34 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: Camelot last night - BillEadie 09:13 am EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| I am seeing the production next Tuesday -- but I have a question concerning the re-distribution of "I Loved You Once in Silence" from Guinevere to Lancelot. My question being: How can Lancelot sing "I Loved You Once in Silence" AFTER already declaring (rather boldly, determindly and resolutely) "If Ever I Would Leave You" ?????? |
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| re: Camelot last night | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 06:03 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Camelot last night - theatreguy40 02:34 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| Well, there had been a lot of water under the bridge by the time he sang that song. Thanks for asking, Bill |
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| re: Camelot last night | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:23 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Camelot last night - BillEadie 06:03 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
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| Well, there had been a lot of water under the bridge by the time he sang that song. And perhaps some snow too? :-) |
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