CAMELOT (2023) - Reviews

Three stars from TimeOut

Lerner and Loewe's musical returns to Broadway in a disenchanted revival.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/camelot-musical-broadway-review-aaron-sorkin

"For all the changes this Camelot attempts, its most traditional aspect comes out on top: Loewe’s music, which is faithfully and beautifully served by a luxurious orchestra of 30 pieces, including six violins. But the production is essentially dispassionate, and there is only so much one can be swept up by the strings. (In the most misguided of his edits, Sorkin sabotages the central love triangle at the finale.) This musical is nearly three hours long, and despite occasional gestures toward liveliness—a maypole dance, an extended sword fight—you can’t help feeling the length. It moves like a funeral procession for itself."

Updated On: 4/13/23 at 08:50 PM

Theatermania:

Review: A Lusty Camelot, With Shades of The West Wing, From Aaron Sorkin

AMNY:

Review | Cracks in the round table at ‘Camelot’

"The idea of Sorkin revising “Camelot” was intriguing and promising. After all, “The West Wing” was marked by a similar kind of political idealism, and Sorkin’s recent stage adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” was well-received. Unfortunately, his new book (which removes all magical elements, turns Morgan Le Fey as a scientist, and questions how Arthur could have pulled the sword from the stone) is too clumsy and self-conscious in its attempt to draw contemporary parallels and critical viewpoints. Sorkin has also seriously disrupted the integration of the songs and dialogue."

https://www.amny.com/entertainment/theater/cracks-in-the-round-table-at-camelot/

Deadline:

‘Camelot’ Broadway Review: Aaron Sorkin Leaves The Magic To His Cast

https://deadline.com/2023/04/camelot-broadway-review-aaron-sorkin-phillipa-soo-lincoln-center-theater-1235323423/

NY Times:

Jesse Green:

A revival of the 1960 musical with the famously great score and infamously bad book gets a gorgeous makeover that makes no difference.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/theater/review-camelot.html

Daily Beast:

Review: ‘Camelot’ on Broadway Is a Magic-Free, Dull Dud

This Broadway revival of “Camelot” is lost on a cavernous stage, its characters mired in a tension-free love triangle while listlessly pondering questions of fairness and justice.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/review-camelot-on-broadway-is-a-magic-free-dull-dud

The Wrap:

‘Camelot’ Broadway Review: With Aaron Sorkin, What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Vulture:

Camelot Is Back, Achieving a Wisp of Glory

https://www.vulture.com/2023/04/theater-review-camelot-sher-sorkin-lincoln-center.html

"Yet Sorkin falters on — of all things — the dialogue. The characters all sound too much like everyone on Sports Night: relentlessly talky and prone to predictable rhythms of patter, deflating the grandeur of the setting. Sher conjures a beautiful opening tableau of Arthur’s men standing in the snow waiting for Guinevere’s carriage to arrive and then Sorkin provides some annoyingly colloquial banter among them, with one muttering to another, “I have the exact same amount of information that you do!” When Arthur first sings the title song to Guinevere, she makes fun of him for emphasizing the nice climate of a place in England. He says it’s a metaphor. She says she knows what a metaphor is. Etc. Later on, they bicker about his referring to her as a “business partner,” a phrase that punts you right out of the Middle Ages, unless these two are involved in the Hanseatic League. I admit I’ve never been a fan of Sorkin’s ping-pong witticisms, but the problem with the dialogue goes beyond taste. Sorkin mistrusts the audience’s ability to follow a story told in a fanciful tenor, so he keeps puncturing its majesty. Humor that leans against the fourth wall of a show is fine in small amounts. It might even work if Arthur were the only one who kept pointing out that these circumstances are a bit silly while his court remained more serious. But the accumulation of “so … that happened”–style jokes starts destabilizing its load-bearing columns."

Updated On: 4/14/23 at 09:38 PM

Wow. These are pretty rough.

there are plenty of pull quotes from these that the ad teams can use, but it certainly seems like the battle will be Parade v Sweeney come June.

PipingHotPiccolo said: "there are plenty of pull quotes from these that the ad teams can use, but it certainly seems like the battle will be Parade v Sweeney come June."

Into the Woods might still have a fair shot. I say it’s a three-show race.

That’s an excellently written piece of criticism by Green.

As for the Tonys, I still think it’s a 3way race between Woods, Sweeney, and Parade, probably in that order.

MemorableUserName said: "dan94 said: "These are really not good. It doesn't get more crushing than " How many more Golden Age musicals can Sher and Lincoln Center Theater lavish their love on before the project turns into Encores! with elephantiasis?"


The best part is the bit that follows: "Is Kelli O’Hara in “Flahooley” next?

Well, to be honest, I’d be there for that."



As would I!"



I'm right behind ya!