Most people will remember
Camelot from the 1967 film starring
Richard Harris,
Vanessa Redgrave, et. al. But fewer, will know of it's origins beyond the Broadway Musical.
It opened on
December 3, 1960 at the
Majestic Theatre and ran for two years -- 873 performances -- and then went on to a two-year tour of the
USA with
Louis Hayward in the ead role. The libretto was based on
T.H. White's
The Once and Future King -- the first volume of which,
The Sword in the Stone has been turned into a successful
Disney cartoon-film.
The music was by Frederick Loewe, and the main songs, as I'm sure many will know are:
- I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight
- The Simple Joys of Maidenhood
- Camelot & the Wedding Ceremony
- C'est moi
- The Lusty Month of May
- Follow Me & Children's Chorus
- How To Handle a Woman
- Take Me to the Fair
- If Ever I would Leave You
- What Do the Simple Folk Do?
- I Love You Once in Silence and
- Guenevere(*)
(*) N.B. This is, astonishingly enough, the actual
correct English spelling of the name!