| re: Andrew Burnap out of Camelot tonight | |
| Posted by: juliabway 02:05 pm EDT 07/13/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Andrew Burnap out of Camelot tonight - mikem 11:31 am EDT 07/13/23 | |
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| Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, mikem. I find this production so meaty and fun to discuss, just because the flaws are so obvious and there are so many different retellings of the King Arthur story that you can change around the plot points and characters any which way you like. My friends and I have had a ball sorting out how we'd fix it. As I've said elsewhere on this forum, I really did find the good in this production to far outweigh the bad, but also with all these myriad flaws I can also understand why I'm standing more or less alone in my Camelot love. To answer your question -- yes, I saw it again this past Saturday, five days ago, with the same cast you did. That's interesting you noticed Burnap walking gingerly too. I had wondered if it were just me. Poor guy. It's particularly a shame that injury is keeping him from performing when the only real moment of physical exertion is that sword fight. Which I don't think Arthur should have been involved with anyway. It makes no sense! Lance has already knocked him out cold once, why on earth does he think he'll do better than his knights? He's weirdly cocky about it too. And the fight aftermath doesn't make sense either. We find out later that Jenny is by that point deeply in love with Arthur and praying every night for him to notice her. So when he barely survives a blow to the head, you'd think she'd be thinking of nothing but her beloved husband lying bloody on the floor. But actually this is the very moment when she realizes she is very very very attracted to Lancelot? Pfft One friend pointed out that Bart Sher should really have hired someone other than a straight white guy to retell this story, and I think this was such an astute point. I also wonder how much you can really do without adding in any new songs. My friend also pointed out there should probably be a song about the round table (this hadn't occurred to me, and I immediately started wondering why Lerner didn't write something like that in the first place. Like a hopeful version in the first act turning to fie on goodness in the second act). Not that I want new songs, because I don't think any modern lyricist can match Lerner's wit. (Side note: right now I'm rereading Alan Jay Lerner's memoir and holy cow is he ever a raging misogynist. I want to be done with this guy altogether... Then I remember a delightful lyric in My Fair Lady or Camelot or Brigadoon and I think "ok ok, AJL, you got me again, I still like you.") Anyway back to my pro-Camelot propaganda. I don't know. I get it, most everyone hates it but I just really feel like it deserved better than it got. It's just a really heartfelt and earnest production. The cast, costumes, orchestra, songs, and story are all really engaging. I liked the spare sets. I even love all the plot holes because my friends and I have had so much fun analyzing it since then. I found the plot holes in NY, NY to be far more grating. Now that couple was so awful for each other, just totally unpleasant to be around and I was aching for them to just break up already during the whole show. Whereas I was always rooting for Jenny and Arthur in this Camelot. I know everyone says that is a problem, and I'm supposed to be torn between Lance and Arthur along with Jenny, but eh. I never really have been that sold on Lancelot in any production of Camelot. (And I've seen many.) Even in the original script, Arthur has always been the far more attractive and charismatic character. I think that it's fine Sorkin leaned into that. |
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