Reimagining ‘Camelot’
January 30, 2025
Southwest Florida Theater presents a magical, intimate version of the classic tale with live orchestra
By Kristin Voit, Florida Weekly Correspondent
January 29, 2025
Photo Courtesy of Bruce Jaeger
For a brief, shining moment this winter, the Southwest Florida Theatre Company brings to the stage Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner’s masterful musical theater production of “Camelot.” Accompanied by a chamber ensemble orchestra comprised of fellowship members of the Gulf Coast Symphony, the show is sure to dazzle audiences with its rich score and fantastical story based on the legend of King Arthur as adapted from T.H. White’s 1958 novel “The Once and Future King.”
Through its affiliation with the Gulf Coast Symphony, the Southwest Florida Theatre Company brings musical theater to local audiences that are backed by the symphony’s reputation for quality and excellence. Housed in the Music and Arts Community Center in Fort Myers, the Southwest Florida Theater Company is quickly gaining recognition and prestige.
Dr. Andrew M. Kurtz, the president, CEO and music director of the Gulf Coast Symphony, founded the symphony 30 years ago. His extensive resume includes conducting the Pennsylvania Opera Theater, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Charlotte Symphony, the Gonzaga Symphony and the Ocean City Pops.
Named as the 2007 Performing Artist of the Year at Lee County’s Angel of the Arts Awards, Kurtz also served as past president of the board of the Lee County Alliance for the Arts, general director of Center City Opera Theater, resident music director at the Luzerne Music Center, music director of the Florida Jewish Philharmonic Orchestra and producing artistic director of Synergy Productions. In 2001, he won first prize in the Dell’Arte di Firenze International Conducting Competition and has conducted nationally and internationally in Europe and Tel Aviv.
“We are music first, and the thing that distinguishes us is everything we do is with live music,” Kurtz said. “So, unlike some theater companies that will use canned music or will just use a piano, we’re using the orchestration as it was asked for and envisioned when the show was on Broadway or off-Broadway.”
Kurtz explained that the Southwest Florida Theatre Company’s production of “Camelot” is an eight-person revival with a small orchestra and cast.
“It’s just a beautifully conceived conception of how to rework,” Kurtz said. “It’s a pretty old show, but a show that still has a lot of magic and is very exciting and romantic and adventurous — and that has some great, great tunes by Lerner and Loewe, and that’s the attraction of the show. I think that’s what the formula for golden-age musicals was: great tunes with really wonderful singing voices and really lush orchestrations. What I’m excited about is whoever they had reimagine the orchestration still managed to capture a real sense of fullness in the tunes without it becoming thin or underwhelming. I was really excited when I saw it, and I heard it and was like, ‘This is really well thought out.’
“This smaller version gave us an opportunity to do it at the MACC because the MACC theater is a much more intimate space. The acoustics in the space are terrific, and it’s a really good proscenium type or thrust stage experience,” Kurtz added
Julie Bearden Carver, the artistic operations manager and music director of the Southwest Florida Theatre Company, is an accomplished professional musical director, voice and acting coach, orchestrator and arranger who made her Broadway debut playing First Piano for “Mary Poppins” at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City. Her distinguished career boasts collaboration and performance with The Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fisher Hall in the Lincoln Center) and the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, she has performed with many conductors, composers and vocalists, including Andrea Bocelli, Bernadette Peters, Eric Whitacre and others.
“I’m the music director for the Southwest Florida Theater Company, but I’m also the artistic operations manager for the symphony, so I kind of wear two hats,” she explained. “When I’m here, I’m rostering the orchestra and working on housing, artist servicing and casting with them, and then I am the music director once we start the rehearsals.”
Professional theater rehearsals are often condensed to a few short weeks, in which Bearden Carver helps the director and actors fine-tune the songs in each show.
“The first two days (of rehearsals) is music, so I’ll start with all the harmonies, and then I work individually with the cast on their solo or small ensemble things. Then the staging starts, and we (she and the director) sort of decide together what scenes we’re going to work together. Usually, I will go in and sing through it again, sing through the material of the scene, and then he (the director) blocks it, and then we run it,” she said.
New York-based director Jeremy Webb acts and directs throughout the country. He returns to the Southwest Florida Theater Company as director of “Camelot” after performing in last season’s production of “South Pacific.” “I’m so excited to come do this project — really, truly. It’s been such a warm process reacquainting myself with this with this story. The story of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot is such a timeless fable,” Webb said. “It’s an incredible piece, and the adaptation that Andrew has chosen for this version is a reduction for eight actors, and that’s really interesting to think about — like, what happens to the story when we pare it down to just the essential characters. I think what’s new about this production, the fact that we’re stripping it down. The fact that there’s no chorus and the fact that it’s just the principal characters allows us to really to focus on these things.”
Webb described how the play showcases one of the most classic love triangles ever created in musical theater in the relationships between the principal characters Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot.
“You have three people, each of whom is falling in love with another person, and no one is sort of getting what they want from the person that they’re in love with, so that’s sort of classic musical-theater structure. We see in Arthur a person who has tremendous power, and I think this relates to modern times, but he’s trying to not just lob off people’s heads and he’s trying not to be an authoritarian leader. He’s trying desperately to create this thing which becomes known as the roundtable,” mused Webb.
Kurtz and Bearden Carver believe that diversity and variety are keys to serving the community. By playing music that audiences love to hear, experimenting with the additions of jazz, chamber, world music, classical and musical theater, the symphony brings a broad range of cultural experiences to Southwest Florida. Additionally, they offer a wide variety of educational programs including after-school string programs, a highschool and middle school jazz ensemble and theater internships.
“The people who’ve been discovering what we’re doing will really be amazed at just the quality of the work that’s been on our stage and the musicians and the actors that we’re hiring,” Kurtz said. “They really represent the best people that we can get around the country, and we’re getting very talented designers to work with us and directors. As it continues to grow, there are more opportunities. Right now, we’re in a focused-growth mode, so we’re doing things that are more familiar, focusing on titles that for me are happy or funny. I want people to get to know us and really trust our work, and I think that’s what this season will be about. I think ‘Camelot’s’ cast will be equally as good in a really well conceived production because the director already has this whole vision in his mind of how he wants to bring this piece fresh to life.”
For exceptional music and a timeless story woven into musical theater mastery, audiences won’t want to miss this adaptation of “Camelot.”
“I just think what Arthur’s grappling with feels relevant. ‘Camelot’ lets us believe we can be better. I just want people to remember that every number in this show is a classic and a terrific story song, a great song for performers. I can’t wait for people to come and see what we’re able to accomplish with this incredibly witty and sort of new adaptation of the show,” said Webb. ¦
In the KNOW
Lerner & Loewe’s “Camelot”
· When: Now through Feb. 8
· Where: Music & Arts Community Center – Gulf Coast Symphony, 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912
· Tickets: Prices start at $60
· Info: .gulfcoastsymphony.org or (239) 277-1700