Camelot: A New Musical [libretto]

A fairly straightforward tale about the fabled events regarding King Arthur and the knights of the round table. The scores are set, the stakes are high, but there seems to be something inherently lacking in the play that makes it hard to get into and fully enjoy. I assume that a live version would be better, but suffice to say that there is not as much gracious and flowing dialogue as one would expect in this tale of immense potential.

3 stars.

Classical musical about Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. I will state up front that I find musicals somewhat more difficult to read than straight dramas, but this one was not as difficult because of familiarity with the music. I was able to put the music into the reading, so I could "hear" the words better. This play represents only a slice of the King Arthur story, but it is well developed and interesting. It should be read by all who are interested in musical theatre, because it is a part of the heritage of its time.

The musical based on T.H. White's The Once and Future King. If you've never been exposed to White's originals I recommend reading the old Putnam edition of The Sword in the Stone first (White changed some things after World War II), then seeing the musical, and, finally, if you want more, reading the whole book. Lerner did a good job of picking out the most important stuff, where White sometimes gets lost in his Malory.

This is a copy of the Libretto of the very popular Broadway musical of the 1960's.