Re: Reminder CAMELOT Live!

On May 8, 5:48=A0pm, New****tsRe...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Steve New****t) wrote:
> Tonight at 8 on PBS.

Stunningly awful. Easily the most misguided of all the televised
concert musicals we've had in recent years (the "Candide" was uneven,
but better than this by miles; even the underrehearsed San Francisco
"Sweeney," complete with local amateur choristers who thought they
could "act" in bit parts was still perfection compared to this.

Byrne was miscast in every sense of the word. Couldn't sing. Couldn't
(or wouldn't) stay in time with the orchestra, even when speaking the
lyrics. basically shouted or whined his lines. No depth. No king to
root for. I generally like Marin Mazzie, but she seemed miscast here
as well. Gunn sang well, but didn't, IMO, get his real chance to ****ne
(more on that below). No real chemistry in the love triangle. Accents
were all over the place. Everyone seemed to be in a different
production of the show (i.e. there didn't seem to be one cohesive
acting style or approach to the piece). Christopher Lloyd was just
doing yet another eccentric old man - not that he was bad (in fact, he
added some life to the dull proceedings), but he was just so
predictable...

What the hell was up with Lady Mordred and her "Nanny" LeFey? The
former was just idiotic; the latter - well, can she do ANYTHING else,
or is being "The Nanny" her only schtick?

The staging, for such a "concert" version, was superfluous. There
wasn't enough *genuine* staging to warrant all the little gimmicks
that Price felt he had to put in. I might have preferred everyone in
fancy evening dress (i.e. concert attire) simply standing in front of
the orchestra and delivering. The stuff with the stagehands was
distracting and silly.

My god, even the orchestra didn't sound all that interested or full.
Some of the ballads ("If Ever I Would Leave You" for instance) were
rushed, and not lush enough.

Shouldn't a *concert* presentation like this one at least put some
value on the score, for god's sake? This was shoddy and sloppy -
certainly not worth a TV broadcast, and absolutely not worth the high
ticket prices to see it live. Shame.