"Camelot" Musical Show Looking for Performers

Arthur is portrayed first as a timid youth of a king, afraid to face Guenevere on their wedding day. He soon matures into a well-intentioned and wise king, seeking to find the perfect formula to promote goodness and justice in his kingdom. Eventually he seems to be indecisive. He apparently is aware of Lancelot and Guenevere’s affection for each other, but does nothing to stop it. When he is forced to put them on trial, he cannot use the prince’s right to pardon those condemned.

Guenevere is said to be the daughter of Leodegrance of Cameliard in late medieval romance. She marries Arthur and then has a love affair with Lancelot, which causes the downfall of Camelot. She is beautiful, but often petty. Although fundamentally decent, she has somewhat of a "wicked" streak in her. ( T. H. White spells the name Guenever, although the usual spelling in English is Guinevere.

Lancelot is Arthur’s best knight and best friend. But Lancelot betrays Arthur in his love affair with Guenevere. Lancelot is a deeply conflicted figure. Although he is considered to be the greatest knight in Arthur’s court, he struggles constantly with feelings of guilt and inadequacy. He is doggedly faithful to those who love him, even if they do not always have his best interests at heart.

Merlin, Arthur’s adviser, prophet and magician, is basically the creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who in his twelfth-century History of the Kings of Britain combined the Welsh traditions about a bard and prophet named Myrddin with the story that the ninth-century chronicler Nennius tells about Ambrosius (that he had no human father and that he prophesied the defeat of the British by the Saxons).

Mordred (Modred, Medrawd, or Medraut) has become the quintessential traitorous villain in the Arthurian tradition. According to the majority of texts, he is Arthur’s bastard son by his half-sister Morgause, the wife of King Lot.

Sir Lionel was the younger son of King Bors in Arthurian legend, and brother of Bors the Younger. Both brothers became knights of the Round Table.

Knight of the Round Table.

Knight of the Round Table.

Morgan le Fay is Morgause’s sister and Arthur’s half-sister. She lives in the enchanted forest, and shows up now and then to torment knights and others with her magic.

Son of Sir Ector, was one of the Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur’s foster brother. In Welsh his name was Cai, and in Latin Caius or Gaius. He is sometimes known as Sir Kay the Tall for his stature.

Is the Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend. She is also Merlyn’s lover and seducer. In White’s story, she imprisons Merlyn for years. In one story, it is she who gave to Arthur the sword Excalibur. In various versions she is known as (among other names) Nimue, Viviane, Elaine, Niniane, Nivian, and Nyneve.

Is a minor character in Arthurian legend. An older man, father of Sir Aglovale of the Round Table, at times he is a kind, bumbling fool, but at other times he is cunning, cruel, and intelligent. He is also variously depicted as a supporter or an enemy of Arthur and his knights. In this version, and also in The Once and Future King, where, as one of Arthur’s knights, he searches for the Questing Beast and pines for the love of the King of Flanders’ daughter.

Is a magical creature that only a Pellinore can hunt. It needs to be hunted to survive. It seems to be used by White to symbolize some of the folly of knighthood.

Is Sir Thomas Malory, who makes an appearance at the end of The Once and Future King, and this is the Tom that both T. H. White and Alan Jay Lerner had in mind. He is ordered by Arthur to preserve the memory of Camelot.

Sir Galahad was one of the legendary knights of King Arthur’s round table. Galahad was always known as the "Perfect Knight": "perfect" in courage, gentleness, courtesy, and chivalry. Galahad was the son of Sir Lancelot and the Lady Elaine of Corbenic. He was the only knight able to sit in the Siege Perilous. He once rescued Sir Perceval, and he is best known as the knight who achieves the quest for the Holy Grail.

Is a lady in Arthurian legend that falls in love with Lancelot, when he spurns her, she dies of heartbreak, and, per her request, is put in a boat to float down the Thames to Camelot, where her body is discovered. Lancelot explains the story, and then pays for her elaborate funeral. She does not appear in the musical Camelot, but does appear in The Once and Future King. She is also the subject of Tennyson’s poem, "The Lady of Shallot", which is familiar to readers of Anne of Green Gables.