MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW:
CAMELOT
1 JUN/11

JOHN COULBOURN,
QMI Agency
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

STRATFORD - If one is given to counting one’s blessings, then one should be very grateful indeed for the fact that, over the course of half a century and untold incarnations, Lerner and Loewe’s CAMELOT has been trimmed from the 4.5 hours it ran in its world première at what was then known as Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre to a far more civilized run of just under three hours. But even while such pruning proves there’s traction in the old adage that a whole lot less can prove to be a whole lot more, it still seems to take an inordinately long time to get to the story’s end, even in the Stratford Festival’s glitzy new production that opened in the Festival theatre Tuesday.

Camelot is based on T.H. White’s epic, The Once and Future King, and it manages to hit most of the high points of the Arthurian legend and the King who spawned it, played here with an affable, easy charm by Geraint Wyn Davies. We first meet him as a youth, in his final days with his mystical mentor Merlyn (Brent Carver) and the young king is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new bride Guenevere (Kaylee Harwood), pledged as surety in a recently signed treaty.

Their union upon her arrival proves to be a happy one, after a few initial bumps, and soon Arthur and Guenevere are cooking up notions of round tables and law courts and the like — notions which ultimately draw la crème de la crème of the world of chivalry to knightly his service. Indeed the fame of Arthur’s court is such that even the creamy, dreamy Sir Lancelot (Jonathan Winsby) is drawn to Arthur’s court, setting off unrequited fireworks between the knightly newcomer and Arthur’s Queen — fireworks that Arthur’s bastard son, Mordred (Mike Nadajewski), ultimately uses to try to destroy everything Arthur has built.

Under the direction of Gary Griffin, this is nothing if not a lavish production, fairly radiating with colour and sparkling with luxurious appointments, thanks to the combined talents of designers Debra Hanson (sets) and Mara Blumenfeld (costumes).
And while its score may not burn with the enduring flame that has seared Lerner and Loewe’s better-known collaboration MY FAIR LADY, (currently playing down the road at the Shaw Festival) into the public consciousness, it proves hummable nonetheless, with numbers like If Ever I Would Leave You, The Lusty Month of May and Camelot itself, served up under the assured musical direction of Rick Fox.

From a casting point of view, there’s a lovely, old-fashioned sort of chemistry between Wyn Davies and Harwood (once she finds a balance), beautifully supported and accentuated by a wonderfully centred and touching performance from Carver, doubling as the bumbling but wise King Pellinore.

But while the extensive cast, fleshed out by Stratford regulars Dan Chameroy, Lucy Peacock and Bruce Dow, tackles the project with professional enthusiasm, making the most of both the score and Warren Carlyle’s often showy choreography, Griffin seems to lose his way, scarring his production with a certain unevenness of tone. Indeed, it is as if Griffin and the actors are still struggling to reconcile transitions in the characters of Lancelot and Mordred in order to set them comfortably within the complex of the show. Winsby handles Lancelot’s vocal demands with dispatch, but he never really gets a grip on whatever it is that might inspire Guenevere’s passion, while as Mordred, Nadajewski never allows the evil to run any deeper than mere shtick.

Coupled with problems still unresolved in Lerner’s rambling libretto, it all conspires to come together and render that “one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot” so brief, in fact, that it threatens to disappear in a three-hour extravaganza.