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Book Cover
E-book
Author Woller, Megan, author.

Title From Camelot to Spamalot : musical retellings of Arthurian legend on stage and screen / Megan Woller
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]
©2021

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xvi, 227 pages) : illustrations
Contents Musical storytelling and revision in Rodgers and Hart's A Connecticut Yankee -- Bing Crosby's stardom and the depiction of legend in Paramount's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court -- Interpretation and characterization in Lerner and Loewe's Camelot -- Naiveté and the depiction of Arthur's childhood in Disney's The Sword in the Stone -- Parody and the role of song in Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- Notions of place, legend, and Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot
Summary "This book explores musicalizations of Arthurian legend as filtered through specific versions of the tale as told by Mark Twain, T.H. White, and Monty Python. For centuries, Arthurian legend with its tales of Camelot, romance, and chivalry has captured imaginations throughout Europe and the Americas. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, musical versions of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have abounded in the United States, shaping the legend for American audiences through song. The ever-shifting, age-old tale of King Arthur and his world is one which thrives on adaptation for its survival. New generations tell the story in their own ways, updating or enhancing the relevance for a fresh audience. Taking a case study approach, this work foregrounds the role of music in selected Arthurian adaptations, examining six stage and film musicals. It considers how musical versions in twentieth and twenty-first century popular culture interpret the legend of King Arthur, contending that music guides the audience to understand this well-known tale and its characters in new and unexpected ways. All of the productions considered include an overtly modern perspective on the legend, intruding and even commenting on the tale of King Arthur. Shifting from an idealistic utopia to a silly place, the myriad notions of Camelot offer a look at the importance of myth in American popular culture"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (Oxford Scholarship Online, viewed on August 6, 2021)
Subject Arthur, King -- Legends -- Drama -- History and criticism
Arthur, King -- Legends -- Songs and music -- History and criticism
SUBJECT Arthur, King fast
Subject Musicals -- History and criticism.
Musical films -- History and criticism.
Musical films
Musicals
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2020042109
ISBN 0197511058
9780197511060
0197511066
9780197511046
019751104X
9780197511053