Show Synopsis:
King Arthur and Guenevere are engaged to be married, but neither are particularly ecstatic about it until they actually meet. After five years of marriage, Arthur starts the Round Table to promote a new kind of knighthood, and Lancelot comes from France to join. Guenevere and Lancelot begin to fall in love, and it torments them for years. Mordred and Morgan Le Fay plot against Arthur to overtake the throne and Lancelot and Guenevere give into their passion. Lancelot is arrested and escapes, and Arthur is torn between letting Guenevere be happy and being a suitable king with an obedient wife. Lancelot takes Guenevere to France, prompting Arthur to go to war with France, though Mordred is also waging war against his army. Guenevere and Lancelot's relationship fails, Arthur forgives both of them, Guenevere goes to a nunnery, and Arthur tries to maintain the optimism and idealism that built the Round Table in the first place.
Character:
Arthur, a young man who is unsure he can handle the responsibility of being king and husband to a woman he has not yet met; a hard worker.
Song Context:
Arthur finally meets Guenevere and tells her about the perfection of Camelot to assuage her fears about marrying him and moving there.
Fun Facts:
1. This musical was originally based on T.H. White's The Once and Future King.
2. Frederick Loewe, the lyricist of Camelot, intended for this score to be his last if the show was unsuccessful.
3. Richard Burton originated the role of Arthur on Broadway, and it was his first Broadway musical role.
"It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear.
The climate must be perfect all the year.
A law was made a distant moon ago here:
July and August cannot be too hot.
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot.
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot.
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Camelot, Camelot
Those are the legal laws.
The snow may never slush upon the hillside.
By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot."