My mother saw this version of Camelot live and had been telling me for years how great it was. When it finally came out on DVD, shortly before we went to see it ourselves, she ordered a copy.
This version lived up to all of my expectations. Having seen it live shortly before, I noted that Richard Harris's King Arthur was very different than Michael York's and Meg Busset's Guinevere was very different from Rachel York's, but it was nonetheless a wonderful edition. The omission of certain songs--"Take Me to the Fair" and "Fie on Goodness" are the two that come to mind--definitely surprised me, but I won't say that the musical wasn't all the better for not having them; "Take Me to the Fair" was my least favourite song in the production. Harris's tortured Arthur made for a truly emotional experience, and Richard Muenz's Lancelot du Lac actually made me care about the character, something no other Lancelot has quite been able to do. His rendition of "C'est Moi" almost made me fall over laughing at its casual brilliance.
10 out of 10 stars. I will definitely be watching this again.
This version lived up to all of my expectations. Having seen it live shortly before, I noted that Richard Harris's King Arthur was very different than Michael York's and Meg Busset's Guinevere was very different from Rachel York's, but it was nonetheless a wonderful edition. The omission of certain songs--"Take Me to the Fair" and "Fie on Goodness" are the two that come to mind--definitely surprised me, but I won't say that the musical wasn't all the better for not having them; "Take Me to the Fair" was my least favourite song in the production. Harris's tortured Arthur made for a truly emotional experience, and Richard Muenz's Lancelot du Lac actually made me care about the character, something no other Lancelot has quite been able to do. His rendition of "C'est Moi" almost made me fall over laughing at its casual brilliance.
10 out of 10 stars. I will definitely be watching this again.