Camelot Tickets

Details of Camelot and the Ticket Luck value

Camelot is a 1960 musical play written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Loewe. It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White novel The Once and Future King. The main conflict of the novel and the play is the affair between Arthur's wife, Guenevere, and his friend, Sir Lancelot. The show eventually ran on Broadway for 873 performances.

Background:
In 1959, Alan Lerner and Moss Hart decided to adapt T. H. White's Once and Future King as their next project. Frederick Loewe, who had no interest in the project, agreed to write music, but if things went badly, it would be his last score. After the tremendous success of My Fair Lady, expectations were high for a new Lerner and Loewe musical. However, the show's production met several obstacles. Lerner's wife left him during the writing process, which caused a delay, and when the production began rehearsals, it still needed considerable work. However, the producers were able to secure a strong cast including Andrews, Burton and McDowall, as well as Robert Goulet in his first Broadway role. John Cullum's, also making his Broadway debut, later replaced McDowall during the Broadway run.

The show first played in Toronto, at the O'Keefe Theater. The opening night script was very long. Lerner later noted Only Tristan and Isolde equaled it as a bladder endurance contest. The curtain came down at five minutes to one in the morning. The morning papers, though kind, hinted that the show needed much work in order to succeed. Lerner was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer and had to withdraw from preparations for a time. Hart then suffered a heart attack, and Lerner stepped in as temporary director for the rest of the out of town run. Burton rehearsed the understudies. Camelot then moved to Boston, nearly an hour and a half shorter and still running very long. Lerner and Loewe disagreed on what to do, as Loewe did not want to make any major changes without Hart's guidance.

On December 3, 1960, after two previews, the show opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theater. Guenevere's song The Lusty Month of May was given to Andrews at the last minute before the first New York preview. Finally, Hart was released from the hospital, and he and Lerner began cutting the play even further. Two songs, Take me to the Fair and Fie on Goodness were cut.

Fortunately for the show, Ed Sullivan approached Lerner and Loewe to create a segment for his TV show Toast of the Town, celebrating the fifth anniversary of My Fair Lady. They decided to do very little from their previous hit and instead to perform four highlights from Camelot. The show stimulated ticket sales. It was also publicized, just after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, that the show's original cast recording had been favorite bedtime listening in the White House, and that Kennedy's favorite lines were in the final number.

The spirit of Nimue, who sings Follow Me, lures Arthur's tutor, the magician Merlin, away from Camelot. But Arthur has learned the wisdom of peaceful ways from Merlin, and brings tranquility and justice to his domain with the establishment of the celebrated Round Table. News of the Table even crosses to France, engaging the sympathies of young Lancelot, who arrives at Camelot proclaiming his intentions in C'est Moi.

Arthur introduces Lancelot to Guenevere and the court at a castle outing held during The Lusty Month of May. Lancelot is insufferable, and everyone, especially the Queen, takes an instant dislike to him. Guenevere goes so far as to make sport of him through her invitations to three Round Table knights in Then You May Take Me to the Fair. When the knights are challenged to joust with Lancelot, Guenevere permits them to wear her kerchief as a token of favor. The King tries to dissuade her from siding with the court against Lancelot, but she is adamant, and even King Arthur himself is forced to wonder How To Handle a Woman.

This is the tale of King Arthur, Guenevere, Lancelot, and others in Camelot. The show centers on the king and his strife to make Camelot a peaceful and happy place as others butt in and make things worse.

On a wintry morning many years ago, the strains of a march sound out as King Arthur's court parades forth to greet the arrival of Guenevere, the King's bride. Everyone is on hand except Arthur himself, who is as nervous as any bridegroom, singing I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight. Guenevere is more romantically inclined but equally uncertain. She dodges the welcoming committee and hides, wondering where are The Simple Joys of Maidenhood. When she and Arthur meet unexpectedly, without recognizing each other, he outlines the pleasures of life at Camelot. Upon introducing themselves, they find themselves charmed, and go forth happily to the wedding.