Camelot - Lerner and Loewe
by Claire J Rottenberg
In 1960, after the enormous success of "My Fair
Lady," the Lerner and Loewe musical
"Camelot"
opened on Broadway. The play, based on the T.H.
White book, "The Once and Future King," about the
legendary King Arthur and his kingdom of Camelot,
had a long history before making its way to
Broadway. Tryouts started in Toronto and the
original play was so long that evening
performances ended long after most people's
bedtime. It was cut by an hour and a half before
it went to Boston and additional numbers were cut
prior to the Broadway opening.
The original 1960 Broadway version of "Camelot"
starred Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. It had an
impressive supporting cast that included a young
Robert Goulet, Roddy McDowell and John Cullum.
"Camelot" ran for 873 performances.
"Camelot" has some of Lerner and Loewe's most
beautiful songs. "If Ever I Would Leave You" became a
popular hit song and it helped launch the career of
Robert Goulet. The score includes songs with
meaningful lyrics, such as "How to Handle a Woman"
("simply love her"), and some with humorous lyrics,
such as "I Wonder What the King Is Doing
Tonight."
"Camelot" is the story of King Arthur, Lady
Guenevere, Sir Lancelot, and the kingdom of Camelot.
King Arthur decides to change the ways of living in
Camelot by creating a peaceful society where disputes
are settled by courts and laws instead of with swords
and duels. Lancelot comes from France to serve in
King Arthur's civilized court and he and Arthur
become close friends. Eventually, Guenevere and
Lancelot fall in love and Mordred, Arthur's
illegitimate son, uses the romance to overthrow King
Arthur's civilized kingdom of Camelot.
The movie version of "Camelot" was released in 1967
and it starred Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave and
an unknown Italian actor, Franco Nero. The film
version was not a success, although it retained most
of Lerner and Loewe's wonderful score and it had a
story that was particularly well-suited for film.
I've written an article comparing the film versions
of "My Fair Lady" and "Camelot," explaining why I
believe "Camelot" failed as a film and you can
download a PDF copy of it.
Movie Musical Success: What Are the
Key Factors?
Learn more about the movie version of
Camelot