Camelot coming to Opelika

One of the greatest love stories of all time is coming to the stage of the Opelika Center for the Performing Arts this week as part of the Arts Association of East Alabama’s Performance Series.

The curtain will go up on the Lerner and Loewe classic “Camelot” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The musical follows the love triangle of King Arthur, his Queen Guenevere and his young knight Lancelot and has one of Broadway’s most familiar scores, featuring “If Ever I Would Leave You,” “I Loved You Once in Silence,” and “Follow Me.”

“The legend of King Arthur and his court and Guenevere is something everybody grows up with,” said Phillip Preston, executive director of the Arts Association of East Alabama. “This is a whole different take. ... It’s like dusty old literature come to life.”

Preston said that even if a person has seen the musical, Opelika’s show will be different.

“This is a new staging, so if you’ve seen ‘Camelot’ before, you haven’t necessarily seen this version,” he said.

Actor Jayme Armstrong, who portrays Guenevere, said the enduring characters, along with other themes, bring people back again and again.
She described it as a classic story with characters that are iconic, flawed and interesting.

“There is a beautiful message of hope.” she said. “King Arthur’s vision to create a new order of life in his kingdom to serve his people more effectively is incredibly honorable. ‘Camelot’ instills the idea that we should all strive for the betterment of our world.”

The actors not only have to act, but they also have to sing. That, combined with costumes that include medieval dresses for the women and suits of armor for the men, makes this a difficult production to pull off.

“It is different every night. I often equate it to running a marathon. We require the stamina of athletes and the commitment to our craft, the show, and each other to perform to the best of our ability ...” she said.

The set is kept simple, Armstrong said.

“The set has been designed to be more simplistic to accommodate the need to travel and be set up daily in a new place. Part of the original intent for the set was to use it as more of a canvas to highlight the actors, putting more focus on the relationships between the characters themselves,” she said.

The show runs about two-and-a-half hours with intermission.

The music in Camelot is familiar to many. Armstrong said it is “amazing” to sing the classic songs every night.

“‘If Ever I Would Leave You’ (Lancelot’s big song in Act II), is one of my favorite moments in the show. It was such a popular song ... We can often hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the audience when Lancelot starts to sing,” she said.

For more information or to get tickets, go to http://www.eastalabamaarts.org or call 334-749-8105.