‘Camelot’ stars charm way into viewers’ hearts
By MANDI LAMB NDN Staff Writer
Ah, Camelot ” “Where the tables are round and the relationships triangular.”
One cannot help but be captivated by the trio of Lou Diamond Phillips, Rachel de Benedet and Matt Bogart in the recent rendition of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s “Camelot,” now on stage at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines through Sunday. Phillips may be most familiar as Ritchie Valens in the 1987 film “La Bamba” or as an outlaw comrade of Billy the Kid in “Young Guns” and “Young Guns II,” but the actor also is building a respectable stage career, having earned a Tony nomination for Best Actor for his performance of the King of Siam in the Broadway production of “The King and I.” His portrayal of Camelot’s hero, King Arthur, and the ease with which he charms the audience during multiple soliloquies and solos ” combined with the vocal talents of de Benedet and Bogart as Guenevere and Lancelot ” ignites the 1960s Broadway musical for modern audiences, displaying romance, sword-fighting, humor, dancing, chivalry, politics, justice and nobility in all their glory.
The story begins with King Arthur preparing for battle outside Joyous Gard and then flashes back 10 years to the day he first encountered Guenevere, a spunky lady longing for a chance to revel in the “Simple Joys of Maidenhood” over the burden of an arranged marriage. They meet, they woo, King Arthur clumsily introduces himself as “Wart” ” reverting to his childhood nickname to keep the woman from fleeing at the sight of her betrothed ” and soon enough Guenevere is intrigued enough by Arthur to willingly become his bride, even after learning his true identity.
Eight years later they are happily married in Camelot, but Arthur longs to bring civilization to the land by establishing the Round Table and a court of law, desiring that people settle their disputes and nations handle foreign and domestic affairs through discussion rather than swordplay. Enter Lancelot, a comically overzealous French champion who has heard of Arthur’s ambitions and longs to earn the title of knight and the opportunity to sit at Arthur’s table. The two meet and become friends, but few others in Arthur’s court, including his queen, find Lancelot’s certainty of his own strength and virtue to be anything but nauseating. Guenevere quickly concocts a scheme to see Lancelot defeated by pitting him against England’s three best swordsmen, but the plan backfires in more ways than one when Lancelot defeats his opponents, restores one injured challenger to life through his prayers and captures the stunned Guenevere’s heart ” all in one day.
And so King Arthur is thrown into a most perilous dilemma, with the woman he loves best longing for the affections of the man he loves best. Arthur’s dream of peace and civility is further threatened by the arrival of his illegitimate son Mordred, and soon he must choose between the life of his lover and the principles on which he has built his kingdom.
The musical offers a delightful diversion of the greatest (Ex)caliber. For ticket information, visit www.civicventer.org, Ticketmaster.com or call (515) 243-1888.
