Changes to CAMELOT — Page 5

This thread reminds me of discussions I've had with others about "Show Boat". So many versions, none really definitive. Intriguing....

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[quote from lovesclassics:]

"...Morgan's scene with Merlyn is still in the show."

You mean Nimue, don't you?

Burton was fabulous - especially in the "Proposition" monologue that closes act one. But so was Andrews. I sometimes don't think people understand the power of Julie ndrews because so few of us have ever seen her in a GREAT show, live and in her youth. The night I saw Camelot, I was a very little boy, but I can still remember almost every minute of it and one of the things I remember best was theregal bearing of Julie Andrews. Burton was a king, no matter what. He exuded confidence onstage and his voice, even in a whisper was a roar that I've only hear one other actor match and that was Rex Harrison - and he was a very old man when I saw him. Andrews, however, just brought such tall, thin majestic bearing to the role. The way she watched Burton, watched him act, watched him dominate the scene - and yet at the same time, watched him as if he WAS her husband - reminds me very much of the current English queen. She just oozed bearing and polish and class and then she upped the ante every time she opened her mouth. For many of us, she IS the voice of British women and has been all our lives. Her accent is what I believe would be called "received English" in that she has been taught to speak in the upper-class manner (she wasn't born to nobility) but she does it so effortlessly, you get the feeling she spent her youth with the Royal Family and not vaudeville performers.

And then she sings and that incredible soprano pours out so utterly effortlessly, sweet and sharp and with flawless diction....

Seeing her live was one of the greatest nights of my life. What a tragedy that her singing voice has been stilled. Even in her 70's, she would be a formidible competitor for anyone else performing today.

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