A Dark, Spare, Cavernous Camelot Fizzles

Last night the "revival" of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot opened on Broadway at Lincoln Center. We saw it earlier in preview.

All of the beautiful Lerner & Loewe music is there. But that's about all that remains.

The set is almost non-existent and features a cavernous bare stage that makes the actors look like pawns on a chessboard. The costumes, such as they are, feature mostly spare, drab black and grey materials. The lighting is equally dismal.

Merlin (Dakin Matthews) is completely devoid of any magical powers. In this new production he's just a rather clueless, somewhat disoriented old man. Oh, he has some occasional words of wisdom but they're tossed off as so many sitcom jokes. Perhaps that's because the new book by Aaron Sorkin manages to be at times snarky, condescending and ultimately juvenile. King Arthur (Andrew Burnap) acts like an insufferable preteen and the wispy Guinevere (Phillipa Soo) isn't much better though she does have a lovely voice. Mordred (Taylor Trensch) is loud and combustible but still not disruptive enough to awaken this dreary production. The one shining star in  the bleak night sky that hangs over this Camelot is Jordan Donica who plays Lancelot. Donica is instantly Broadway's new leading man. The voice, the range, the stature, the romantic presence are all there in Donica's portrayal of the dashing Lancelot. How wonderful it would have been to see him in a faithful production of the dreamy flight of fancy that Camelot was meant to be.

Many years ago we saw another revival of Camelot at Lincoln Center, a production that starred the original King Arthur, Richard Burton, reprising his role. Burton was sober that night and on his game and we had orchestra seats that allowed us to fully appreciate his rugged masculinity and regal presence. What a night it was! 

We are left with our memory of the earlier Camelot, contrasted with the couple that we chatted with at intermission who left this new production in a huff. "You're leaving?" I inquired as I saw them putting on their coats. "We damn well are," the gentleman answered. "This is an abomination!"