CLTP's production of 'Camelot' offers new take on classic story

CHEYENNE — The first show of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players’ main stage season, “Magic and Mystery,” is here, and the season begins in Camelot.

The script and lyrics for the original “Camelot” musical were written by Alan Jay Lerner, with music by Frederick Loewe, and the original production was directed and staged by Moss Hart. The band pit will be conducted by Sean Ambrose, director of the Cheyenne Chamber Singers. CLTP’s production will be directed by Keith Neville, a director from England who just finished directing “Blythe Spirit” in London. This will be the fourth show he’s directed with CLTP.

Neville has been a director for 49 years and has worked on 121 major productions. His first time directing in Cheyenne was in 2011, when he directed Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.”

“The assistant director at the time thought that it might be a good idea to have an English director direct an English play. ... So they (must’ve) liked me, and asked me back. I came back and did ‘Kiss Me, Kate,’ the Cole Porter musical, and a couple of years later (in 2016) I did ‘The Drowsy Chaperone.’ That was my last show in Cheyenne before now,” Neville told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

“Camelot” is a musical retelling of the story of King Arthur. More specifically, it’s based on the 1958 book “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White. It made its Broadway debut in December 1960 and ran for almost 900 performances until its last one in January 1963. After finding major success on the stage, it was brought to the big screen in October 1967 and was followed by numerous stage revivals in New York, London and more.

The show is about the idealistic young King Arthur, who hopes to create a kingdom built on honor and dignity, embodied by his Knights of the Round Table. His ideals, however, are tested when his lovely queen, Guenevere, falls in love with the young knight Lancelot, and the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance.

“I’ve mostly done more modern musicals recently, but my background was in opera and operetta. ... So when Matt Hockersmith (the assistant director) visited me back in February, and told me they came up with ‘Camelot,’ I thought ‘Yes, it’s an old classic.’ .. I felt it would be a challenge, and I was keen to come back over,” said Neville. Hockersmith was in Neville’s rendition of “Sweeney Todd” back in England, and that’s how they know each other.

Neville went on to say that the reason for the show’s challenges is because it’s older and “very long.” He wanted to do the show in an interesting way, even though it’s more old-fashioned. Not only that, but as a director, he said, “You’re usually up against time,” which can be a challenge in itself.

“My favorite part about all of this, though, is rehearsing with the cast and creating the show,” said Neville. “Especially in the early days of rehearsal. My style is to try and encourage actors, too, and push them. ... We’ve tried to make it very spectacular in places, and we work with some marvelously talented people who have come up with incredible props, sets and costumes, and hopefully as a team, we will put on a great show.” The set was originally designed by a friend of Neville’s in England.

He also confessed to taking a different approach to the Broadway classic, saying that it starts oddly, where there’s not a lot of ensemble work in the beginning, unlike other musicals, where ensemble work is prominent from the beginning or there’s a big number.

“We see (the ensemble), but we don’t hear them, so I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to make this work somehow,’ and then I came up with this concept of making it into what was known as a ‘miracle play,’” said Neville. “And so I thought about the idea of mystery players who, in the Middle Ages in England would go from village to village and put on plays (usually about moral values, similar to “Camelot”). So we start with the cast, they don’t put on the costumes until the play begins, and it becomes a play within a play.”

The team behind the scenes is a group of 25 volunteers, while the cast of the show consists of 26 people, who also are volunteers. There are 16 main characters and an ensemble group of lords and ladies of Camelot, as well as “Morgan’s Court.” The cast rehearses for about seven weeks before the show opens.

Tucker Gosbee, who has been in the CLTP Melodrama for the past two years, plays Lancelot. Gosbee told the WTE how his favorite part of working on “Camelot” was the people and the environment the theater creates.

“(Lancelot) is kind of a pompous jerk (in the beginning) … I read the script all the way through first, and then I start going through and dissecting the scenes where Arthur and I are talking. And I try to capture the feeling and then work on memorizing lines,” said Gosbee. “The cast just has an insane amount of positivity. ... The theater community just wraps you up and hugs you. So, truly, that’s what I like the most about working in theater. But I’ve also been blown away by the talent of this crew.”

“Camelot” runs every weekend from Sept. 20 through Oct. 6. Tickets start at $21 for children and go up to $31 for adults. Shows will be at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays, and tickets can be purchased now through the CLTP website, cheyennelittletheatre.org.