More about my book in progress, “More Fog, Please!” – 31 Years Directing Community and High Schol
Musicals. Here’s an excerpt from the chapter on Camelot. (The chapter begins with my director’s note for the
production and I’ve reproduced a section of that to start this blog post.)
Of all the myths and legends that are part of our cultural
heritage, none catches and holds our imagination more than the stories of King
Arthur. The “once and future king” is presented as a ruler of vision, justice,
and nobility, brought to a tragic end by those he loves most.
**********
The tales of Arthur and his knights are far too many to be
telescoped into an evening of theater. Alan Jay Lerner, in writing the book (or
dialogue ) for Camelot, took some
material from T. H. White’s book, The
Once and Future King. (King Pellinore, as he appears on stage, is taken
almost verbatim from White.) He also adapted some material from other sources,
concentrating on Arthur’s attempt to establish a just kingdom in the midst of a
chaotic historical period, and on the story of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.
Arthur’s illegitimate son, Mordred, also plays a key role in the story.
**********
Every age looks for heroes to admire and to emulate. Because of
his courage, and in particular his courage to forgive – and love those he
forgave – Arthur is a hero for all time. In this imperfect world, neither Arthur
nor his kingdom could long survive, but
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief, shining moment
That was known as Camelot.
Susan Jordan
Pocono
Lively Arts (Stroudsburg High School)
July, 1991
It is quite a journey from the Fairy Godmother and
Cinderella to Merlin, Morgan Le Fay, Nimue and Camelot, but the wonderful world
of musical theater takes us many magical places. This was another show I had
long looked forward to directing. And I see that once again I had a rather
lengthy director’s note due to my intense interest in the subject. Researching
the background of a show I always found an engrossing, fascinating part of
preparing a production.
One thing that immediately comes to mind about this show is
performing it in the middle of a sizzling heat wave. Summers in the Poconos can
be just about anything: rainy and cool, dry and hot, stretches of warm days and
cool nights, stretches of cool days and almost cold nights. On occasion, it can
be brutally hot, day and night.
We had such a spell that summer, and it fell mainly during
tech week and performance weekend. The audiences were fine, they were sitting
in air-conditioning, but whatever cooled air there might have been on stage was
burned away by the lights. So actors in heavy medieval garb were walking
through hallways that were stifling onto a stage that was an eyelash away from
Dante’s inferno due to stage lighting.
As a result, when the actors were not on stage, they
generally shed as much of those heavy costumes as decency would allow. Nearly
everyone had on an item of apparel under their costume which could be worn
without shocking anyone … a leotard or a bathing suit, for the most part. Our
Lancelot was a very good looking young college student who was a
swimmer. I don’t think I need to elaborate. Whenever he could, he stripped down
to swim trunks. The ladies in the cast were most appreciative. The words “eye
candy” come to mind. It gave them something to think about other than the
miserable heat.
Morgan Le Fay must have been up to some mischief during our
production because we had some interesting developments during our preparation.
First was the case of the disappearing costumer, a woman who had agreed to
handle costume rentals for the show. We had decided not to stint on this show.
If you do Camelot, you want to do it
right. She came in early in the rehearsal period with a committee who measured
the cast and prepared the forms required by the rental company. Those were duly
sent to the company, and her job was done until it was time to take delivery of
the costumes, fit the actors, handle any necessary alterations and keep careful
tabs on everything during the performances, and then collect everything to be
returned.
Ten days or so prior to show weekend I attempted to contact
her to remind her of our schedule. For a couple of days I called repeatedly and
couldn’t get an answer on her phone. Finally, I reached someone who informed me
she was out of town. “When will she be back?” The answer stunned me.
“We’re not sure.” What??
They were quite serious; no projected return date. She might as well have been
M.I.A. Fortunately, another woman who had helped with costumes for a high
school production was around, and was brave enough to take over. This was a big
rental order; she became my hero.
King Arthur was a tall man with proportionately long arms.
The stuff the costume company sent didn’t fit well; the sleeves were all too
short. We were less than thrilled with Guinevere’s costumes. Merlin worked some
reverse magic to counteract what Morgan had been up to (that wicked girl) and a
trip to the costumer – a drive of about an hour and a half ─ was very fruitful.
We came back with treasure; wonderful costumes for both the King and the Queen.
There’s a dog in Camelot;
King Pellinore has a dog named Horrid. We only need to see him once, but he’s
important to Pellinore’s first entrance. We hoped to find the large, shaggy dog
referenced in the script, and a friend brought his dog Ray to a rehearsal. Ray
was an Irish setter, friendly, very sweet, and seemed just right for Horrid.
Until the second time he went onstage.
Ray managed to get on stage – just barely – and proceeded to
lie down, after which he refused to budge. At all. He wouldn’t even lift his
head. The actor who was playing Pellinore looked to me for help, but I
didn’t have anything to offer. We hadn’t even considered “hiring” a dog: Horrid
is only onstage one time, and is on a leash.
Eventually, Ray’s owner managed to get him offstage, and I
said to him later, “I don’t think this is going to work.” He agreed. The
orchestra conductor had a dog named Penny, who was getting
along in years and half blind, but with her daddy in the orchestra pit she was
fine. Penny had the role.
One last not-so-shining moment … I love stage fog. Or stage
mist; whatever you call it, it’s just fun to spread around for a magical show
like Cinderella or Camelot. To the best of my memory, Camelot was the first show for which we
used a chemical fog machine rather than one which required dry ice. My son Steve was not only lighting director, but technical director for the show.
Chemical fog machines are nifty, because you’re not constricted by having to
keep feeding dry ice to the machine. Merlin was bewitched by Nimue, and the fog
poured out over the stage. It looked great.
It was too great.
It set off the fire alarms in the high school where we were performing, and before we knew it the Stroudsburg
Volunteer Fire Department roared up to the school, at least two trucks and
first responders in full fire-fighting regalia, right on the heels of the
school principal (he lived mere blocks from the school). Apologies all around;
we promised to control the amount of fog we produced and not have a repeat of
the false alarm. The principal was very forgiving under the circumstances. So
we had fog, but it was subdued fog. Too bad … the first attempt had been
glorious.
I still love Camelot,
but I think it’s a show with a flaw. There is far too much dialogue, but it’s
good dialogue and it’s very difficult to cut. Mr. Lerner tried valiantly to
bring this sprawling epic down to a manageable evening and he did a good job.
It’s still too long. But the dialogue is truly wonderful, and our actors did it
well.
Pocono Record
writer Susan Koomar gave us a fine review, referring to the production as
“princely.” “Well-acted and visually lush, this version of Lerner and Loewe’s
classic is entertaining and often enchanting.” She went on to praise many individual
performances and ended the review by referencing my director’s note: “… noble
Arthur and his kingdom could not long survive in this imperfect world. But that
kingdom is revived here in good measure for a short time.”
She liked us. She really liked
us!
Camelot, Pocono Lively Arts, July 1991
Photo by Roselinde Karlson
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