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:
Lancelot, a handsome and confident French knight in his 20s; very religious and pretentious; persistent in his love for Guenevere.
Song Context:
Lancelot has just arrived from France to join King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, and believes that he exudes every quality Arthur is looking for in a knight.
Fun Facts:
1. This musical was originally based on T.H. White's The Once and Future King.
2. Robert Goulet's breakout role was Lancelot in the original production of Camelot, and he won a Theatre World Award for his performance.
3. Frederick Loewe, the lyricist of Camelot, intended for this score to be his last if the show was unsuccessful.
"Camelot! Camelot!
In far-off France I heard your call.
Camelot! Camelot!
And here am I to give my all.
I know in my soul what you expect of me,
And all that and more I shall be.
A knight of the Table Round should be invincible,
Suceed where a less fantastic man would fail.
Climb a wall no one else can climb,
Cleave a dragon in record time,
Swim a moat in a coat of heavy iron mail.
No matter the pain, he ought to be unwinceable,
Impossible deeds should be his daily fare.
But where in the world
Is there in the world
A man so extraordinaire?
C'est moi! C'est moi, I'm forced to admit.
'Tis I, I humbly reply.
That mortal who
These marvels can do,
C'est moi, c'est moi, 'tis I.
I've never lost
In battle or game;
I'm simply the best by far.
When swords are crossed
'Tis always the same:
One blow and au revoir!
C'est moi! C'est moi! So adm'rably fit!
A French Prometheus unbound.
And here I stand, with valour untold,
Exeption'ly brave, amazingly bold,
To serve at the Table Round!
The soul of a knight should be a thing remarkable,
His heart and his mind as pure as morning dew.
With a will and a self-restraint
That's the envy of ev'ry saint
He could easily work a miracle or two.
To love and desire he ought to be unsparkable,
The ways of the flesh should offer no allure.
But where in the world
Is there in the world
A man so untouched and pure?
(C'est moi!)
C'est moi! C'est moi, I blush to disclose.
I'm far too noble to lie.
That man in whom
These qualities bloom,
C'est moi, c'est moi, 'tis I.
I've never strayed
From all I believe;
I'm blessed with an iron will.
Had I been made
The partner of Eve,
We'd be in Eden still.
C'est moi! C'est moi! The angels have chose
To fight their battles below,
And here I stand, as pure as a pray'r,
Incredibly clean, with virtue to spare,
The godliest man I know!
C'est moi!"