{"id":8170,"date":"2023-03-10T21:40:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T21:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/?p=8170"},"modified":"2023-06-10T21:42:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-10T21:42:18","slug":"jordan-donica-on-how-the-camelot-revival-is-more-diverse-and-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/?p=8170","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Donica on How the Camelot Revival Is More Diverse and &#8216;Real&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YIZKZOkIphM\" title=\"Jordan Donica Sings \u201cI Loved You Once in Silence\u201d From \u201cCamelot\u201d on Broadway\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>With a revised book by Aaron Sorkin, the actor says that the upcoming Broadway production feels like a new musical, rather than a revival.<\/p>\n<p>Four years ago, director Bartlett Sher asked Jordan Donica to star in a one-night-only gala performance of Lerner and Loewe\u2019s Camelot at Lincoln Center Theater. Ever since, he\u2019s been digging into the character of the dashing Lancelot and will soon turn all his preparation to action in the upcoming revival of the musical at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.<\/p>\n<p>Donica previously graced the Broadway stage as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera and Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the 2018 production of My Fair Lady; on regional stages, he\u2019s starred as Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in the Angelica tour of Hamilton. As the actor realized mid-conversation, \u201cI\u2019ve played a lot of French people.\u201d It\u2019s one of a few coincidences for Donica, who returns to the Vivian Beaumont for his second Lerner and Loewe musical there.<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P1ShuciEN10\" title=\"Jordan Donica Performs \u201cIf Ever I Would Leave You\u201d From Camelot\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Based on the novel The Once and Future King by T.H. White, Camelot tells the story of the mythical land and the love triangle between King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and the knight Lancelot du Lac. It&#8217;s about the mission to improve a society, and the tragic struggles between love and loyalty which catalyze the kingdom&#8217;s fall. This new Broadway revival will begin previews March 9 and open April 13 with Andrew Burnap and Phillipa Soo leading the cast alongside Donica.<\/p>\n<p>But this Camelot is vastly different from its original because of revisions made to the book by Aaron Sorkin, who has \u201ca very specific style and cadence to his work and to his rhythm,\u201d in Donica\u2019s words. The West Wing scribe is writing a version of the Camelot book that makes the characters more realistic, more human. \u201cYou&#8217;re seeing a man struggle with what he knows, what he thinks he knows, and what he doesn&#8217;t know,\u201d the actor shares. \u201cAnd you&#8217;re seeing someone who is praying for a better world. Lancelot is very aware of the \u2018evils\u2019 of the world around him. He considers himself a part of that evil, which is a very Catholic viewpoint: the idea of original sin, you&#8217;re born evil, nothing you do can fix that.\u201d It\u2019s a deep dive into Lancelot\u2019s worldview which is a natural move for the actor, who studied religion and philosophy continuously throughout university. How the revised book shifts the whole story\u2019s tone, for Donica, has created a production that feels more like a new musical rather than a revival.<\/p>\n<p>The development of the characters isn\u2019t the only way the production is leaning into realism. This new version portrays Camelot not as a fantasy tale or a fable, but a story about real people, with flaws and failures. Here\u2019s how Donica puts it: \u201cThe story has evolved into something that is very fantastical and magical, filled with embellishments that make the story that much cooler. If you distill that down to what the reality probably was versus what the story is years later, that&#8217;s essentially the version that you&#8217;re going to get from us. You&#8217;re gonna get the reality of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s perhaps not a surprise that the charming Donica has starred on Broadway as some of musical theatre\u2019s dreamiest lovers. Donica grew up with the music of Lerner and Loewe, having sung numbers from several of their musicals in voice lessons growing up. As Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady, he sang their famous love song \u201cOn the Street Where You Live,\u201d and will sing another as Lancelot: \u201cIf Ever I Would Leave You.\u201d His pick for a favorite Lerner and Loewe love song? Brigadoon\u2019s \u201cCome to Me, Bend to Me.\u201d But, Lancelot is quite different from Donica\u2019s previous dreamboat roles, in the actor\u2019s view. He doesn\u2019t wear his heart on his sleeve like Raoul or Freddy; as an honorable knight, Lancelot falling in love with the married Guenevere is a violation of his oath. That struggle is what Donica finds so compelling about the role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLancelot is much more reserved in his love, how his love manifests is entirely different than how Raoul\u2019s love manifests. He&#8217;s not the type who would come and walk your street every day in the hopes of seeing you,\u201d says Donica. He goes on to explain, \u201cLancelot thinks it&#8217;s embarrassing to be loved. So, there&#8217;s a lot of psychological play at work with, \u2018OK, well, if it&#8217;s embarrassing to let others love you, how then do I express love? I know I feel love. But how does that expression manifest if I don&#8217;t believe I am worthy of love?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The actor traces the character\u2019s mindset back to his religious nature and Lancelot\u2019s subsequent belief that he isn\u2019t good\u2014and his analysis comes with textual evidence. Pulling from The Once and Future King, Donica shares, \u201cThere&#8217;s a line in the book that says in his deepest parts, he was disabled. He loved Arthur and he loves Guenevere, and he hated himself \u2026 That&#8217;s the seed of toxicity that I&#8217;m working with, that&#8217;s planted deep within Lancelot.\u201d It\u2019s that self-hatred that drives his ambition to try and become a good person, creating a struggle that Donica finds absent in Raoul and Freddy.<\/p>\n<p>Though it\u2019s arguable that Camelot will find Donica at his fittest: He\u2019s put on 15 pounds of muscle, since Lancelot is a sword-wielding knight. He also mentions how he has been getting to know Burnap and Soo as the three, all near each other in age, build that chemistry in what many theatre fans on Twitter are calling \u201csexy Camelot.\u201d \u201cFor the last few months, we&#8217;ve been building a rapport and it&#8217;s been easier for me now to make choices knowing who I&#8217;m going to be working with. They\u2019re also reading the book, so we all have a language and dialogue with each other that is very centered around our characters,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>As he works through making those decisions, the actor faces a challenge in one song: \u201cC\u2019est Moi,\u201d because it\u2019s usually played as a joke song, which might run counter to Sher\u2019s serious conception of Camelot. \u201cThe trap of a song like \u2018C&#8217;est Moi\u2019 is to be over the top and to play into the perceived comedy of it all. When, really, it&#8217;s just a guy saying exactly who he is,\u201d explains Donica. \u201cIt can sound conceited, but for him, it&#8217;s just the truth. That is both a blessing and a curse. Exploring both sides of that within the song and within the character of \u2018I&#8217;ve never \u2018failed,\u2019 How much pressure does that actually put on someone?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Donica\u2019s constant stream of questions to interrogate Lancelot\u2019s strengths, weaknesses, wants, and motives all reflect an ambitious drive to flesh out his version of the character as much as possible.<\/p>\n<p>As he digs into his character, Donica also keeps focus on what the production as a whole is communicating to theatregoers. He wants the musical to open the audience\u2019s eyes to their own agency, because at its core, Camelot is about the nature of being human. These are the questions the cast have been asking themselves as rehearsal commences: \u201cWhat are we doing? How do we end up in the same destructive cycles? What are ways that we can actually communicate and give each other space and time and love?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These questions guide a Camelot which is more realistic in the very nature of how diverse the cast is, rather than the white-focused story it has frequently been: Donica is Black, Soo is Asian, Marilee Talkington is legally blind, and Anthony Michael Lopez uses a prosthetic, to name a few of the cast members. This diversity has led some on social media to compare this new Camelot to Bridgerton, though Donica doesn\u2019t quite agree with the comparison. \u201cIt\u2019s real people telling a real story, and not in the Bridgerton sense, but in a sense that allows people to reframe and expand what they think they know about history,\u201d Donica says.<\/p>\n<p>The actor\u2019s emotional investment in that mission carries over into how he believes real art can be created. For Donica, acting should be about getting the right people to play roles that hold up a mirror to humanity, and that the only thing it should be about is the character\u2014not race, age, gender, or any other factor which as a society we categorize people by. Identity politics doesn\u2019t interest Donica. Audiences should be connecting with the characters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where art is found,\u201d Donica says. \u201cAt the end of the day, people are people. And people just want honest storytelling. And if you are an honest storyteller, people see people, they don&#8217;t see anything else. And that&#8217;s always been my mission in life since I was a kid.\u201d By focusing on the right people, Camelot has a cast with the kind of diversity that makes this formerly mythical story more immediate to today\u2019s audiences. \u201cYour average everyday person is also being represented on that stage here. And that is something I&#8217;m so proud of personally,\u201d Donica says, before exclaiming with joy, \u201cOh my god, I&#8217;m gonna cry. It&#8217;s really cool.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a revised book by Aaron Sorkin, the actor says that the upcoming Broadway production feels like a new musical, rather than a revival. 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