Happily Ever Aftering

Heather Marie and I went to see Camelot this afternoon at the Arts Center of the Ozarks. It was a really good production, and for us it was a nice break from the hustle and bustle we've been stressed about lately. We have some friends who were in it, and it was a blast to see them performing.

I have mixed feelings about Camelot itself, though. I've known the music all my life. When I was little, my mom put an old stereo record player in my room, and I fell asleep every night listening to old albums, most of which were classic musicals. Camelot was my favorite, but I never actually saw the musical itself until a few years ago, and I was really disappointed.

Of course I knew the basic gist of the Arthurian story when I was listening as a child, but I didn't know the specifics of the musical's version. All I had to go on was basic Arthuriana and the bits and pieces my mom told me of the musical story so that I would know who was singing what and why. Based on that information, my mind filled in the gaps with a suitable version of Camelot. When I finally saw the actual musical, I was underwhelmed because the actual dialog and story weren't nearly as good as my imagined version.

I'm not talking about the vague, dreamy mental versions of stories that we construct based on things like movie trailers, I'm talking about what basically amounted to a full-scale production, with dialog, sets, costumes, and blocking. When I finally got to experience the real version, I found that I preferred mine.

So, I'm off to bed. I think I'll put our Camelot soundtrack in the CD player, and replay my version as I go to sleep.