Lots of Energy, a Little Glory, Too


 

 

 

 TriArts’ "Camelot," the venerable Lerner and Loewe musical originally staged in 1960, tells an old story.

Based on "The Once and Future King," by T.H. White, "Camelot" follows the rise and fall of Arthur, king of Britain, whose Knights of the Round Table pledged themselves to fight for justice, not for power.

Arthur’s rule crumbles when his wife, Guenevere, and his most noble knight, Lancelot, engage in an adulterous tryst. England and France go to war, Camelot and its ideals are abandoned. But we’ll always remember, as Arthur says in his last song, "once there was a fleeting wisp of glory called Camelot."

This production is full of energy, especially in Cheryl Swift’s whirlwind choreography of "The Lusty Month of May."

Kelly Strandemo, as Guenevere, and Al Budonis, King Arthur, carry the show with their strong voices and impish expressions.

But it is Budonis, who last appeared at TriArts in the 2005 production of "Annie Get Your Gun," as King Arthur who makes this production of "Camelot" worth the ticket price. He is wonderfully awkward as the young king afraid to meet his bride-to-be and eventually settles in as the king-next-door type — congenial, robust and always ready with the right thing to say, or sing.

When the plot turns dark in the second act — made visible by the clever costumes designed by Caitlin Brown, which reverse the ladies’ bright dresses of the first act to more somber tones in the second — Michael Baldwin’s Mordred offers a welcome respite from the good-intentioned but overly perky court at Camelot. He has a maniacal laugh to rival Vincent Price and Dr. Evil.

The one place the production drags is in the blooming love affair between Guenevere and Lancelot, played by Michael Padgett. Strandemo doesn’t have the spark with Padgett that she has with Budonis and it’s hard to believe she would be tempted by Padgett’s single-faceted Lancelot.

But for the two-and-a-half hours of the show, the audience is transported to the fantasy of Camelot, lost in the quick jokes and beautiful music.

 

 


TriArts’ "Camelot" runs at the Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, CT, through July 20. For tickets, call 860-364-7469, ext. 201, or go to www. triarts.net.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But really, it is Al Budonis, who last appeared at TriArts in the 2005 production of "Annie Get Your Gun," as King Arthur who makes this production of "Camelot" worth the ticket price. He is wonderfully awkward as the young king afraid to meet his bride-to-be and eventually settles in as the king-nextdoor type — congenial, robust and always ready with the right thing to say (or sing).

 

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