Review: Lavish ‘Camelot’ still delightful despite slow start

Few Broadway musicals can flaunt such a consistently stirring score and lyrics as Lerner and Loewe’s 1960 “Camelot,” now being revived at Diamond Head Theatre in a lavish, delightful production that’s guaranteed to satisfy old fans and win new ones.

The stage is set for a grand pageant with a heraldic design by Willie Sabel that combines a checkerboard backdrop with Celtic, Gothic and art deco elements, including stained glass and tall stylized trees reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow Tea Room. Brilliant lighting design by Stephen Clear and colorful, sensual medieval costumes by Karen G. Wolfe bring the perfect weather of Camelot and the moods and revels of all its people to life.

The performances by every member of the ensemble, under the capable direction of Ahnya Chang, are true to the spirit of Lerner and Loewe’s masterpiece, itself faithful to its source: T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King.” The book and play turn the mythical figures of King Arthur, Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot into human, funny, fallible and timeless characters.

That said, opening night got off to a slow start, with heavy pauses weighing down the dialogue between the wizard Merlin (Gerald Altwies) and his pupil Arthur, nicknamed “Wart” (Thomas Johnson), who is about to be married to a princess he’s never met. In his early number, “I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight,” the tall, dark Johnson shows off a fine, full voice — but throws away his asides rather than making eye contact and connecting with the audience.

However, as soon as Arthur, in the woods, bumps into the self-dramatizing Princess Guenevere (Lea Woods Almanza), trying to escape in her bridal dress, the chemistry and repartee between the two set things in focus and motion. “I was ill at ease in the crown until I dropped from the tree and saw you,” says Arthur, who later in the play reverts to Wart and begs the absent Merlin to turn him back into a hawk so he can soar above the fray.

Almanza, whose pretty lyric soprano voice is as tuneful and full-throated as a lark’s, gives a fetching portrayal of a young romantic who, as she sings in “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood,” wouldn’t mind having “a little war” start over her, even though both she and Arthur know that their marriage is intended to avert a war.

The foreshadowing in these comic lyrics sets up the story’s tragedy, seeded in the arrival of the French knight Lancelot (Michal Nowicki) to join King Arthur’s Round Table. Nowicki’s hilarious Gallic delivery of Lancelot’s hymn to himself, “C’est Moi,” as he strokes his blond forelock for inspiration, nearly steals the first half of the show while illustrating the blind hubris that seeds this devout knight’s undoing. And his lacy tights are a brilliant costume touch.

Although he burned bright in the first act, hopefully Nowicki will pace himself better in subsequent performances so that his hearty baritone can soar in the play’s most beautiful love song, “If Ever I Would Leave You,” which sounded a little too clipped on opening night. For this ballad, it’s worth dropping the French accent.

In addition to this production’s high level of musicality under the direction of Phil Hidalgo, who also conducts the small but bright orchestra, the flawless diction of all the principals and chorus allows the audience to clearly hear every word of wit and poetry.

The chorus especially shines in “The Lusty Month of May,” with its sprightly dancers and head garlands and dresses that evoke the goddess Flora in Botticelli’s “Primavera.”

As things turn dark, fight choreographer Jason Cavinder, who plays Sir Guilliam, is to be credited for a convincing display of broadsword combat.

While one has, above all, to praise the entire team, in the limelight and backstage, who put together this “Camelot,” Johnson’s central performance as King Arthur is a beacon that holds the play together. He brings to life a complex and conflicted man whose diffidence, sensitivity, generosity and, ultimately, wisdom take the day.

In short, this production of “Camelot” is simply not to be forgotten.

CAMELOT

>> Where: Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapuu Ave.

>> When: 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays through April 17

>> Cost: Tickets: $15-50

>> Info: Call 733-0274 or visit diamondheadtheatre.com

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Credits: Music by Frederick Loewe; book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner; directed and choreographed by Ahnya Chang; musical direction by Phil Hidalgo.

Cast: Thomas Johnson as King Arthur; Lea Woods Almanza as Guenevere; Michal Nowicki as Lancelot du Lac; Fedrico Biven as King Pellinore; KoDee Martin as Mordred; Gerald Altwies as Merlin.