Happily Ever-Aftering in Camelot!

Josh and his dressing room sign!

"Camelot" in Fresno had the best Tom of Warwick ever!

When I saw the post on Facebook announcing auditions for a local young actor for the part of young Tom of Warwick on the Camelot tour, Josh was my first thought.  

Spunky and self-possessed, with bucketfuls of theater experience (but not a lot of height!) for someone his age, and even having played Gavroche in the Saroyan Theater a year before, I thought Josh was the perfect candidate -- and when his mom sent in his audition materials, the production team agreed! 

Overnight, Josh was a local celebrity.  A car was sent to take him to a local TV news interview. (Link Click here!) 



The Visalia newspaper wrote an article and took tons of great pictures. (All images Here)
  

 The rehearsal process was short and intense -- a few short hours before the first performance!

Soon we were waiting in the spacious and beautiful Saroyan Theater...  

Having done Camelot several years before, we came with original-production expectations -- large orchestra, set changes that can be cumbersome and large chorus numbers.  How different this production was!  The orchestration was entirely re-imagined with a five player pit -- focusing heavily on percussion and early instrument sounds which created a sparse authenticity that was very exciting and interesting.  The sets centered around a large abstract sculpture that suggested a tree at one moment and a throne at another.  Projection, fog, and specialty lighting were used to create a fresh new ambiance for each scene that was not dependent upon major scene changes, though the fly used for many castle scenes was a thing of absolute beauty, creating the illusion of a multi-layered tapestry.  I especially liked the chorus work in The Joust, which was very tight and exciting.   Overall I found the production very fresh and interesting -- and Josh NAILED IT! :D

After the show, we were allowed to come backstage and see the set pieces up close.  We were especially glad to see the construction of Guinevere's bed, which was simple and looked great on stage!  

Cool fog and light effects!

The castle tapestry (and Guinevere and Arthur!) that I liked so much -- the colors changed with the mood!
I loved how all of Guinevere's dresses moved, and this is a beautiful example!

The icing on the cake of this production... was the opportunity to meet a friend-of-a-friend who was playing percussion in the pit.  Over dinner we got to hear all the fabulous details of life on tour, the amazing machinery of move-in and move-out, and the thoughts behind the re-imagined orchestration, as well as make a new friend!  The musical theater world is small and fabulous!