Movie star Jeremy Irons has been cast opposite Melissa Errico in the Hollywood Bowl's summer production of Camelot.
The Lerner and Loewe classic, which recounts the love triangle between King Arthur, his queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot, will be presented on August 14th at 7:30 PM for one night only. Gordon Hunt will direct the performance, while
John Mauceri will lead the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
While best known as a film actor, Irons is no stranger to the stage. He played the title role of
Richard II and Leontes in
The Winter's Tale for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and his sole Broadway appearance in Stoppard's
The Real Thing brought him a 1984 Tony for Best Actor in a Play. This will be Irons' second role in a Lerner and Loewe musical; in 1987, he played Henry Higgins in a concert production of
My Fair Lady.On screen, the intense actor has often been cast in villainous roles, but has played his fair share of leading men as well. Film credits include
Kingdom of Heaven, Being Julia, The Time Machine, Stealing Beauty, The Lion King (as the voice of Scar),
M. Butterfly,
Reversal of Fortune (for which he won a Best Actor Academy Award in 1990),
The Mission and
The French Lieutenant's Woman. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in the TV minseries
Brideshead Revisited, and also starred in the telefilm
The Last Call (as F. Scott Fitzgerald) and the HBO remake of
Lolita.
Camelot, with its Alan Jay Lerner book based upon the T.H. White novel
The Once and Future King, opened at the Majestic Theatre on December 3, 1960; it ran for 873 performances. Richard Burton,
Julie Andrews and
Robert Goulet starred, with Burton winning a 1961 Best Actor in a Musical Tony. The show won 4 of its 5 nominations, yet was puzzlingly not nominated for Best Musical.
The Hollywood Bowl has staged prior concert productions of musical theatre classics. Past musicals include
Christine Ebersole and
Michele Lee in
Mame, Errico and
John Lithgow in
My Fair Lady and
Eric McCormack and Kristin Chenoweth in
The Music Man.
The Hollywood Bowl is located at 2301 Highland Avenue in Hollywood, CA. Tickets for
Camelot may be purchased by calling (323) 850-2000, and more information can be found at www.hollywoodbowl.org.
