Camelot (musical)

Camelot
Original Cast Recording cover
MusicFrederick Loewe
LyricsAlan Jay Lerner
Book
BasisThe Once and Future King
by T. H. White
PremiereOctober 1, 1960: O'Keefe Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Productions1960 Broadway
1963 U.S. tour
1964 West End
1980 Broadway revival
1981 Broadway revival
1982 West End
1984 Australian tour
1993 Broadway revival
2007 U.S. tour
2008 New York Philharmonic Concert
2023 Broadway revival

Camelot is a musical with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and a book by Alan Jay Lerner. It is based on the legend of King Arthur as adapted from the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White.

The original 1960 production, directed by Moss Hart with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang, ran on Broadway for 873 performances, winning four Tony Awards. It starred Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guenevere, and Robert Goulet as Lancelot.

It spawned several notable productions including four Broadway revivals and a 1967 film adaptation. The 2023 Broadway revival features a revised book by Aaron Sorkin.

The musical has become associated with the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, which is sometimes called the "Camelot Era", because of an interview with Jackie Kennedy in which she compared her husband's presidency to King Arthur's reign, specifically mentioning his fondness for the musical and particularly the title song's closing lyrics, which end Camelot.[1]

  1. ^ "Jackie Kennedy's Post-Assassination Interview With LIFE". LIFE Magazine. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.