The original production saw a massive boost in ticket sales following Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet's performance of selected songs on The Ed Sullivan Show.
It was also, quite famously, a favorite of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie, resulting his administration being popularly dubbed "Camelot" after Kennedy's assassination.
A decent number of millennials and gen-zers know about this show from Linkara mentioning his love for it on Atop the Fourth Wall.
"Fie on Goodness" is cut from some productions. Another number, between Mordred and Morgan LeFey, is often cut. Nobody misses it.
Despite being on the original cast album, "Fie on Goodness" and "Then You May Take Me to the Fair" were cut from the original Broadway run to shorten an over-long show.
Oh yes. Multiple songs have different variants (listen to Guenevere here versus here for one example). Act 2 was also said to be much more difficult to write, and different productions tend to cut at least one part of it for time.
During rehearsals, writer Alan Jay Lerner was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer. Soon after he came back, director Moss Hart suffered a heart attack and Lerner temporarily took over the direction without credit. The show ran four and a half hours at the start of its Toronto tryout and without a full-time director, no one could agree on what to cut, leading to conflicts between Lerner and Loewe that would lead to the breakup of their partnership a year later.
For the film:
Actor-Inspired Element: It was Vanessa Redgrave's idea to do "Take Me to the Fair," in a constantly changing setting with new backgrounds and costumes for every change of verse to show the passage of time.
Awesome, Dear Boy: Richard Harris desperately campaigned to play King Arthur, despite being repeatedly refused due to his limited singing ability. At one point he even paid a man to carry a board down the Strand that said, "Harris Better than Burton, Only Harris for Camelot". When Vanessa Redgrave was cast as Guenivere, Harris sent a note to producer Jack L. Warner, which read, "Height of Vanessa Redgrave: 5 feet 11 inches. Richard Burton: 5 feet 10 inches. Richard Harris: 6 feet 2 inch,"
California Doubling: Despite being set in Medieval England, the movie was actually filmed on location in Spain.
Cut Song: "The Jousts", "Before I Gaze At You Again", "The Seven Deadly Virtues", "Persuasion" and "Fie On Goodness!" were cut from the film.
Friendship on the Set: Richard Harris and David Hemmings became lifelong friends onset. One day during a particuarly rocky period in production, Hemmings went to collect Harris from his house in the Hollywood Hills. When he arrived, he found Harris on a balcony above the swimming pool. "I'm going to jump", Harris announced. "You can't do that", Hemmings protested. "There's no water in the pool". Harris replied, "I don't give a fuck. I fucking hate Warner Brothers and fucking Hollywood, the people here are all fucking arseholes". Hemmings climbed out on to the balcony. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" Harris' face fell, and he said "No, I don't. Let's have a drink."
Irony as She Is Cast: Despite the fact that he was the only trained singer in the cast, David Hemmings doesn't get to sing at all during the movie.
Richard Harris insisted on cutting Lancelot and Guinevere's love scene, because he felt that it reduced the dignified aspects of the king. When Jack L. Warner refused to comply, Harris burst into his office and started pounding on the desk.
Vanessa Redgrave insisted on "creative" enhancements to her dialogue, costumes, and character. For one musical number which accents Guenivere's playful attitude towards Lancelot, she baffled the director by singing her lyrics in French. When questioned as to why, she said, "We're making fun of Lancelot, aren't we? And he's French. Well, the whole idea is that by singing it in French we're making more of a joke of him." Luckily, after an exhausting debate, Logan managed to get her to record the lyrics in English.
The original plan was to have Richard Burton and Julie Andrews reprise their stage roles as King Arthur and Guinevere. This fell through when due to salary disagreements. Warner Bros. considered having Burton star opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole as Guinevere and Lancelot, but this was deemed too expensive.
Laurence Harvey, who played the part in the original London production, was in the running for Arthur, but Harris talked him out of it, effectively ending their friendhip. Rock Hudson was early forerunner, a missed screen role he would finally play in a touring stage production of the musical in 1977. Marlon Brando, Peter O'Toole, Gregory Peck and Robert Shaw were also considered.
It emerged only three years after Merlin (2008), as a Darker and Edgier alternative with a lot of narrative similarities exclusive to both series (see below). In fact, showrunner Chris Chibnall had been involved in developing Merlin in its early stages. Merlin ended up lasting for five seasons overall, while Camelot was cancelled after one.
Eva Green once again downplays her French accent to play a British character.
Peter Mooney, who plays Kay, is Canadian, as is Lara Jean Chorostecki (Bridget). The series was an Irish-Canadian co production, hence numerous actors from there.
It did not go unnoticed that this series started up at the same time Merlin (2008) was beginning its fourth season. Though it was probably a coincidence, it also ended up containing several interesting similarities to the other show, including Arthur and Morgan being half-siblings through their father (most versions have Igraine as the shared parent), Morgan having a dark-skinned maidservant, and Arthur being characterized as a Spoiled Brat before his Character Development. These aspects were unique to each show and are seldom (if ever) seen in other adaptations of Arthurian Legend.
Claire Forlani was famous for various love interest roles in American films during the 90s. Playing a Proper Lady in a fantasy piece is very different. What's more is that it's one of the first major roles where she gets to use her natural accent (she's English but normally plays Americans).
Downplayed with Jamie Campbell Bower, who was often cast as evil pretty boys.
Playing with Character Type: While Eva Green playing an eerie supernatural character is hardly new (even at the time she'd already done The Golden Compass), her characters usually fall into Dark Is Not Evil. Morgan however is clearly a villain, and probably the most evil character Eva has ever played.
versus here