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align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#333333><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>Mercury’s
‘Camelot’</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "> <B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">offers too few brief shining
moments</B></SPAN></FONT></FONT><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Member, International Association of Theatre
Critics</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; tab-stops: 1.0in 5.25in"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Sometimes classic musicals come across as museum
pieces.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">It’s as if the designation “classic” automatically places
these works behind purple ropes so they are off-limits to creative
interpretation. Only reverence can be rendered and fresh formaldehyde
administered when productions of these musicals – reproductions, really – are
dusted off and put on public display.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">“Camelot” is one of those musicals.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Based on the King Arthur legend as interpreted in T.H.
White’s novel “The Once and Future King,” the show revolves around the love
triangle between King Arthur, Guenevere and Sir Lancelot and their enlightened
vision of a world where “violence is not strength and compassion is not
weakness.”</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The 1960 Broadway musical featured theater royalty in the
leading roles, including Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guenevere,
and Robert Goulet as Lancelot.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">The story is beautifully conveyed through Alan Jay
Learner’s magnificent lyrics and Frederick Loewe’s memorable music. These two
were also considered musical theater royalty, having just come off of the
remarkable success of “My Fair Lady” – another classic that demands due
diligence when given a modern-day staging.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">In addition to its lineage, the aversion to altering
“Camelot” is tied to its linkage to the Kennedy administration, which took place
shortly after the show’s opening. The administration’s ideals, youthful
leadership and tragic ending are forever associated with the final words in the
show’s final song: “Don’t let it be forgot/that once there was a spot/for one
brief shining moment/that was known as Camelot.” Mess with the musical and,
according to traditionalists, you mess with the nation’s collective and highly
romanticized memories.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">And yet Mercury Theatre Company Director/Choreographer
Pierre-Jacques Brault and Music Director Eddie Carney dared to do so.
Their current production is a labor of love that respects<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>the original work but hopes that a
dramatic simplification in its staging will strip away the thick and cloudy
veneer that has built up over generations of veneration.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
face="Times New Roman">For the rest of this review, go to </FONT></SPAN><A
style='href: "http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/"'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi'><FONT
color=#0000ff
face="Times New Roman">www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</FONT></SPAN></A><SPAN
style="COLOR: "></SPAN></P>
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