Plot & Song Synopsis CAMELOT

CAMELOT (1960) -- Plot Synopsis  (Musical numbers in Bold Italics)
(Overture).  The play opens with the festive arrival of Guenevere from abroad to marry Arthur,  the young king of Camelot (Parade March).  Shy and nervous about his upcoming marriage, Arthur is hiding in the nearby woods (I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight).  Guenevere herself is uncertain about her future and the loss of youthful dreams (The Simple Joys of Maidenhood) when she stumbles into Arthur, not knowing who he is.  He reassures her about the wonderful place that will now be her new home (Camelot) and then identifies himself as her new husband.  They both seem to be charmed with each other and look forward to the future together.  Arthur has been tutored from childhood by the wise wizard Merlyn who has fostered in him the concepts of peace and brotherhood.  But aging Merlyn is seduced and called away to his last resting place by the nymph Nimue (Follow Me) and Arthur must face any new challenges alone.  Arthur establishes his Round Table for knights who want to share his dream of establishing peace and justice.  The news of this reaches the handsome young knight Lancelot in France who comes to Camelot to join Arthur's knights (C'est Moi). After he arrives, a gala outing takes place (The Lusty Month of May), where Arthur introduces his wife to Lancelot, but Guenevere and the rest of the court take an instant dislike to this arrogant fellow.  She encourages three knights to engage him in a jousting match (Then You May Take Me to the Fair).  Arthur tries to dissuade Guenevere from taking sides against Lancelot, but he gives up and remembers Merlyn's advice (How to Handle a Woman).  In the jousting match Lancelot handily defeats all three knights and brings one of them back to life to the amazement of the Court and gains the respect and admiration of Guenevere and perhaps the beginning of something more.  Lancelot also has unspoken romantic feelings for the Queen that causes him internal conflict over his feelings for her and devotion to Arthur.  He asks permission to leave Camelot to engage in foreign good works.  As he leaves, Guenevere begins to realize her own deep unspoken feelings for him (Before I Gaze on You Again).  He comes back to Camelot two years later, and in an impressive ceremony Arthur now makes him a Knight of the Round Table.  But Lancelot's feelings for Guenevere have not changed during his absence and he finally reveals it to her (If Ever I Would Leave You).   She acknowledges her own love for him but feels she must remain true to her husband.  Arthur begins to fully realize the romantic feelings Lancelot and Guenevere have for each other, but he feels powerless to do anything about it.  To further complicate matters, Mordred, Arhur's illegitimate son by a sorceress, now arrives on the scene with an evil plan to dishonour and replace his father on the throne (The Seven Deadly Virtues).  Still loyal Guenevere tries to rally Arthur's spirits (What Do the Simple Folk Do?).  To add to Arthur's problems, the knights are unused to peace and harmony and long for battle and heroic deeds (Fie on Goodness).  One night Mordred prevails on the sorceress Morgan le Fey to trap Arthur in her enchanted forest. While Arthur is gone, Lancelot visits Guenevere in her chambers where she breaks down and tells Lancelot how much she loves him (I Loved You Once in Silence).  Mordred bursts into the room with some of the knights to accuse Lancelot of treachery and to imprison him. Lancelot succeeds in escaping from prison, but Guenevere is sentenced to burn at the stake. At the last minute, however, with the secret connivance of Arthur, she is saved by Lancelot who escapes with her to France (Guenevere).  For the sake of his own honor and that of Camelot, Arthur must now wage war on Lancelot. Just before the final battle which will kill both Arthur and Mordred and many of the knights, Arthur meets Lancelot and Guenevere and forgives them both.  But the battle must go on.  In camp Arthur meets a young stowaway who wants to join the Round Table.  Arthur knights him and sends him back to England to grow up there and keep the memory and spirit of Camelot alive (Camelot reprise and Finale Ultimo).