Theater: “Camelot” at Lincoln Center

Lerner and Loewe’s musical “Camelot” did not have the most auspicious beginnings. Alan Jay Lerner's wife left him during the writing process, causing him to seek medical attention and delaying the production.

The show premiered in Toronto on October 1, 1960 and clocked in at four and a half hours. The curtain came down at 12:40 AM. Noël Coward is supposed to have remarked that the show was "longer than the ‘Gotterdammerung’ and not nearly as funny!"

When the show was finally whipped into shape and premiered on Broadway in 1960, it won four Tony Awards, with a cast that included Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guinevere, and Robert Goulet as Lancelot. Goulet’s delivery of “If Ever I Should Leave You” was so swoon-worthy, it became his signature song.

Soon after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, his widow Jacqueline gave an interview to Theodore White in which she said, “There'll be great presidents again... but there'll never be another Camelot.” The association between Camelot and Kennedy's tenure as president formed immediately and has remained so in the decades since.

Since then, umpteen productions of “Camelot” have been staged, including the wan 1980 revival I saw with Burton and Christine Ebersole. Critics have traditionally savaged it, including most recently the NYT critic Jesse Greene.

I am delighted to report that Mean Jesse Greene can stick his opinion up his royal buttocks.

The plot is fairly unchanged: Arthur draws the sword from the stone, is anointed king of England, and a marriage to French Princess Guinevere (whom he calls “Jenny”) is arranged to avoid war. Arthur is advised by his wise adviser Merlin to rule “Camelot” as he calls England, on the principles of equality and justice, rather than revenge.

Lancelot du Lac, a French mercenary, is sufficiently inspired by Arthur’s message to come serve him but in the process falls in love with the beautiful Queen. Meanwhile to complicate matters, Arthur’s illegitimate son Mordred shows up at court and does his best to undermine Arthur’s peaceable kingdom.

Fortunately we have Aaron Sorkin, the genius behind the recent “To Kill a Mockingbird” revival to pour some snark into what could be a hoary 60-year-old tale. We also have the direction of Bartlett Sher, the brains behind “South Pacific” (2008) and “The King and I” (2015) to again amaze us. The handsome, stark set by Michael Yeargan is free from pomp which gives more circumstance to the production.

Which brings me to the stellar cast. The sexual fireworks between Guinevere (the charming and beautifully voiced Philippa Soo from “Hamilton”) and Lancelot (the irresistibly hunky Jordan Danica) will overpower any fireworks you will hear on July 4. Danica’s rendition of “If Ever” stops the show and if your eyes are not misting over, I fear for your humanity.

Specifically, it’s the performance of Tony Award winner Andrew Burnap (“The Inheritance”) as Arthur that surprises and delights. The man who would be king didn’t really know how to be king at first, and his nerdiness, counterpoised against Soo’s impertinence, is touching and real. His discovery that the world beyond Camelot is filled with enemies eager to see him fail is relevant to our own times.

Beyond the title song and “If Ever”, the score is candidly not my favorite Lerner and Loewe nor was the musical itself. But that was before this production. And if you are fortunate enough to have tickets, I am confident you will be happy ever aftering as much as I was tonight.