“Camelot” (or Camelittle)

[rating=3] There are times that I miss the good old days of Music Theater Works (when it was Light Opera Works) and Cahn Hall in Evanston. Yes, they did fewer shows, for fewer performances, but it seems the quality of the shows was stronger than under the new larger season program. When they began, over 40 years ago, they were a unique company designed to do operas and operettas. Then they slipped into Musical Comedies ( because that is what the audience wanted) and one concert per season. Now, in their new home in Skokie they have expanded their season to five musicals. This is a huge undertaking and I give them credit for doing this.

One of the problems with doing more shows than in prior years and doing more performances is that often you make selections that do not draw the audiences of the past, leaving you with empty seats. In this, the comeback season after the pandemic, they have selected the Lerner & Lowe musical “Camelot”. Many are unaware of the many mishaps this show had along the way to making its Broadway opening. The version that Music Theater Works is doing is the “streamlined” version and they are doing this production on a smaller stage with a smaller, very diverse cast so for the true “Camelot” fan, happiness will not find you.

The set is as simple as one can do and still make one feel that they are seeing a Broadway show (set by Ann Davis) and the direction by Brianna Borger is also simple seeing as the cast is made up of 9 actors. Ms Borger has changed part of the story to another time, rather than the 12th century and most of this is reflected by the costumes (Martha Shuford) and the limited props (Caitlin Wagner).

The fight choreography ( Nick Sandys is the best) is one of the highlights of the production and Diane Fairchild’s lights as well as Matt Witney and Eric Backus’ sound were pretty solid. There was a mic problem in a major scene that could not be fixed. The actor could have helped himself, and the scene, by getting closer to Guenevere’s microphone. Speaking of Guenevere, I was impressed with the voice of Christine Mayland Perkins. Her rendition of “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood” and “Before I Gaze at You Again” as well as “I Loved You Once In Silence” were terrific. On the other hand, Lancelot (Nathe Rowbotham), was not a strong singer or for that matter a strong Lancelot. Rowbotham’s  fighting was far superior to the rest.

There were times that this production felt more like a community theater production ( not that Community Theater is not good theater), but for the most part Music Theater Works always appears to be as good as any other musical theater in the area. Having a limited number of players which means a small ensemble hurts a large scale show such as this. We need Knights and Ladies galore. We had three knights ( Sarah Patlin, Hannah Mary Simpson and Tommy Thurston), two of these knights also played Ladies as did Ari Magsino ( who played young Tom in act two) and Parker Guidry who plays Mordred , and does a solid job with this character and also handles one of the Ladies in the first act.

King Arthur ( Michael Metcalf) is very underplayed. One always thinks about Sir Richard Burton for whom the role was created, and thinks he need not be a singer to carry the songs “I Wonder What The King is Dong Tonight”, “Camelot”, “How To Handle A Woman” and the wonderful “What Do The Simple Folk Do” with Guenevere. Metcalf tried to give us the emotion of a man betrayed by those he loved, but maybe the opening night timing was off a bit and he will grow into the role over the time span of the run.

The orchestra under the direction of Linda Madonia does a splendid job. They are also much smaller in numbers with 8 members ( in the old days, 20 plus instruments were used)

I am sorry to say that this is not up to the usual standards that Music Theater Works has set for itself, but it is a nice show with great music and will bring back some wonderful memories of the 1960’s- The Kennedy Years!

We now have the “genderless years”.

“Camelot” will continue Thru November 13th with performances as follows:

The theater is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd ( just south of Old Orchard) with plenty of free parking

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Camelot”.