This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2019) |
Camelot | |
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Music | Frederick Loewe |
Lyrics | Alan Jay Lerner |
Book |
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Basis | The Once and Future King by T. H. White |
Premiere | October 1, 1960: O'Keefe Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Productions | 1960 Broadway 1963 U.S. tour 1964 West End 1980 Broadway revival 1981 Broadway revival 1982 West End 1984 Australian tour 1993 Broadway revival 2007 U.S. tour 2008 New York Philharmonic Concert 2023 Broadway revival |
Camelot is a musical with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and a book by Alan Jay Lerner. It is based on the legend of King Arthur as adapted from the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White.
The original 1960 production, directed by Moss Hart with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang, ran on Broadway for 873 performances, winning four Tony Awards. It starred Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guenevere, and Robert Goulet as Lancelot.
It spawned several notable productions including four Broadway revivals and a 1967 film adaptation. The 2023 Broadway revival features a revised book by Aaron Sorkin.
The musical has become associated with the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, which is sometimes called the "Camelot Era", because of an interview with Jackie Kennedy in which she compared her husband's presidency to King Arthur's reign, specifically mentioning his fondness for the musical and particularly the title song's closing lyrics, which end Camelot.[1]