Back from seeing Camelot at Arena Stage!
Without any partiality, I can say that I loved it. I've never seen a production of Camelot before (or even the movie cause I've heard it's long, slow paced and pretty bad), but I do love the cast recording so seeing it onstage for the first time was a thrill...especially as performed in a theatre in the round, where the numbers had a wonderfully cinematic and textured feeling to them.
I thought the cast was very strong. I really liked the performances of the three principles. I have to admit that I don't particularly like the character of Guinevere because I find her flighty and selfish, but Kate Suber really made her sparkle, and it was completely understandable how two men could be head over heels in love with her. She brought a slightly daft quality to the character that really appealed to me...(almost like a Middle Ages Woody Allen herione), and I thought in general she acted the more dramatic parts well too. And such a beautiful voice, at times reminiscent of Julie Andrews!
I also liked Matt Bogart as Lancelot....he played up the role quite a bit, but it worked for me, and he was very charming with a rich, full voice. At first I wasn't sure what to make of Steven Skybell's Arthur...he seemed a bit tentative at first...but by the end of the show, he had really won me over. I think he may have lacked the charisma of other Arthurs like Burton, but I thought he really emphasized the frailty, fallibility and conflicted heart of the character without sacrificing his regality. He had a great voice too, and was splendid during the dramatic moments.
Our very own Christianne Tisdale was fabulous in the dual roles of Nimue and Morgan le Fey...I thought her ravenous Morgan was hilarious, alternately sinister and gleefully girlish. I was impressed too by Jack Ferver's Mordred...my friend Isis (who came with me) and I thought he was cute too...though he had brunette Billy Idol hair, hehe.
The costumes blew my mind. Arena REALLY went all out on this production...each brocade was so sumptuous...even the flourishes of the costumes were carefully detailed. It was just a wonderful spectacle of color and ornament and pageantry. Although some of the costumes looked quite heavy, especially on the knights, hehe.
I liked the set...I mean, there really weren't a lot of set pieces, but the round table rose out of the stage and there were other awesome visual effects. The stage itself was gorgeous...it looked like a mosaic, or a stained glass window, and the lighting changed it into Morgan's enchanted forest.
The orchestra sounded wonderful too, and after the show I had the pleasure of saying hi to Jose, who looked quite smashing in his new black shirt, hehe. Jose, you are a doll.
I apologize for the length of this review...is there anything I forgot to mention...oh yes...good choreography (simple without being simplistic) and the ensemble was fab too.
TD--I'm glad the audition went well! I'd love to hear more about the musical you wrote the book for!
Jay--I'm sorry to hear about Roller. My best thoughts to him!
