River City Community Players "Camelot" review by BRN2ACT33

RCCP's Camelot Ruled Magnificently by Arthur
Rating: 4

Camelot
River City Community Players

The River City Community Players can be very proud of their current production of "Camelot". It is one of their best offerings in a long time. Director Tisha Entwistle and musical director Catherine Hammer are to be congratulated for assembling an excellent cast of local talent and putting together a well stage production that sounded terrific from beginning to end.

Let me say up front I have known and worked with Jeff Adams for some time and thought I knew his talent. And in my mind's eye I would never have considered him to play Arthur. Boy, was I ever wrong (sometimes I like that when that happens). He is absolutely magnificent in the role of King Arthur. I've been associated with the RCCP for over 24 years and there is no doubt in my mind that his portrayal of King Arthur is one of the top 5 male vocal leads at the RCCP during that time period. It was truly a pleasure to watch him throughout the production. Everything from timing, delivery, accent, energy, presence, emotions, you name it - he was spot on!
Sarah DaMetz, as Guenevere, has a very nice strong voice and carried all of her songs very well. She has a nice look for Guenevere. However, a lot of her dialogue was not clear and I kept wanting more from her character. Essentially she lacks any depth in her performance. It was a safe, don't take any chances, good performance.

Coby Anderson, as Lancelot, worked very hard at being Lancelot. The desire was there. You could see it. But he lacked the maturity and panache to carry the part. The old saying "Never send a boy to do a man's work" holds true here. But he was the best choice for the role. While his attempt at a French accent was pretty good and consistent throughout, he would fair far better backing off a little and being more understandable and focusing on the character. Just my opinion.

The chemistry between Arthur and Guenevere was pretty good as was the chemistry between Arthur and Lancelot. But the chemistry between Guenevere and Lancelot just wasn't there for me. Developing the characters and relationships, and ultimately the chemistry between the characters, is the only minor shortcoming that stood out.

Another standout was Spencer Williams as Mordred. His portrayal, although close to being over the top, was truly outstanding. If ever there was a character you love to hate, it is Mordred.

Other notable and enjoyable performances were put in by John Van de Voort as Pellinore, Leah Albee as Morgan Le Fey, and Tracy McClung as Lady Elaine.

Costuming Camelot was a major undertaking and the costumers and costume crew deserve all the accolades possible for making the inhabitants of Camelot look so magnificent. Great job. Tisha did an excellent job with the set design and staging of the show. Scene changes went smoothly and were seamless keeping the show running at a good pace. The use of the silhouetting for the fight scenes, a dance number, and other things was very well done. The lighting design enhanced the production setting very nice moods and changes in scenery. The only distraction was the first time the silhouetting is used as Merlin is talking. Too much lighting on Merlin took away some of the silhouetting effect.

This was a very well put together production and I highly recommend that if you haven't seen it yet, come to the final weekend performance. It will be an evening well spent.

Just a couple of weak points to mention. While there were several ushers to hand out programs and help people with their seats, there was no house manager (not always but usually lacking at RCCP productions)to provide guidance. So most of the ushers stood around handing out programs looking pretty while people were sorting out where their seats were. Also, as noted in a previous review, the character of Merlin who starts out the show, sets the tone for the rest of the play. This was very poorly done. Fortunately, the rest of the cast carried the day nicely.