The 'Exeption'ly Brave, Amazingly Bold' Nathan Gunn

Celebrated Baritone Nathan Gunn has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses all over the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), Paris Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival. He has performed the title roles in Britten's Billy Budd and Thomas's Hamlet; has appeared as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute; Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosí fan tutte; Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville; and the Count in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. Also a concert performer, Mr. Gunn has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and PittsburghPhiladelphia, and makes his debut at the Los Angles Opera. Mr. Gunn last appeared with the New York Philharmonic in May 2004 as part of Charles Ives: An American Original in Context, with Alan Gilbert conducting. He has performed widely in recital. He is an exclusive recording artist for Sony/BMG Masterworks and his first solo album for the label, Just Before Sunrise, was released in August 2007. Upcoming engagements include Kern's Show Boat at Carnegie Hall, and leading roles in two new commissions: Peter Eötvös's Love and Other Demons at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, and André Previn's Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera.

He took a few moments from the very busy Camelot rehearsals to have a brief chat with us here at BroadwayWorld.com

BroadwayWorld.com: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, how have you been enjoying rehearsals?

Nathan Gunn: I'm having a terrific time, everybody in the cast is obviously so very talented, and everyone is working so hard, the chorus and dancers the entire company, the extras, my fellow principals, all of us are really enjoying ourselves.

The show itself if you take it on a superficial level, it can be a bit you know, in some ways silly, but everyone is taking it every seriously and making it very honest in both the humorous and dramatic moments, and our Director Lonny Price is shaping it to be so real and honest.

BWW: Something that is really important when you are dealing with a musical like Camelot.

NG: Lonny is handling the many issues that are touched on this show, for example I think he's treating The Round Table,in a much broader sense, a worldly sense, sort of like the United Nations, in that people from different cultures and different ideas can come together and act in a civil way towards each other to solve whatever problems may exist out there, yet fully well knowing that we are human beings and that things are going to blossom and then decay and finally die.

It's not possible to create something truly permanent, you can't make Camelot exist forever. What you can do is, while you have that opportunity, is to try and build something like that, that's sort of the point, the point is trying, and personally living by those standards rather than forcing them on anybody else. Because you know, the only thing you can do is change yourself, and hopefully that will reflect and inspire others in the world also.

BWW: Once you've taken the time to make the characters and emotions real you have no limits regarding how the audience will care about what's happening on stage and in that story.

NG: And then with the love story it's very interesting because it's quite a dilemma, where you have three people who love each other. You know in this situation, you've got Arthur who loves Guenevere, and loves Lancelot, and Lancelot who loves Arthur and Guenevere, and Guenevere loves them both.

But, there's a natural drawing to the other, and there are laws that bind and govern how we campaign towards one another. And how Lonny is dealing with it, and I really like it, as it fits well in the book and it fits well in the text of the songs is that even though

Guenevere and Lancelot have never really consummated this love that they feel for one another, they are betraying Arthur by acknowledging the attraction.

BWW: And that beautiful score has such yearning in it…

NG: Exactly, and then the tragedy is that you have the real villain, Mordred who is relishing this destruction of a beautiful thing and he hopes to bring it about. Even though by our standards certainly they did nothing wrong, they were tempted, but never physically did anything about that passion. 

BWW: That is so true.

NG: Also one thing that can be viewed as an apology or an argument for them having never really come together or that there isn't truly a betrayal of Arthur is because they are fighting this agonizing torment day in and day out over this physical attraction and real love for one another. A love that know they will, because unfortunately of their situations in life, will destroy everything. So at the moment they come together, they say, we can't do this, it will not only ruin us, it will ruin Arthur, it will ruin probably many other lives too, because it will cause wars. And Guenevere she'll be burned at the stake, or executed in some way.

So when Mordred catches them talking or being inappropriately close to each other, everything falls apart.

BWW: Had you ever sung the role, or any of the songs before becoming part of this production of Camelot?

NG: I'm brand new to it, I think all of us, Gabriel and Marin, we are new to these roles, it's exciting! 

BWW: It must bring such a fresh dynamic to the rehearsals.

NG: The rehearsals in the world of opera are very different from the rehearsals in the world of musical theater. In the world of Broadway things come together very quickly, but I think you touched into it, how everyone is new to it, and it's made this exciting and fresh. 

BWW: And that's certainly what you have with this inspired cast which of course lends itself to this classic and tragic love story, it has to be organic.

NG: It has to be!

BWW: One thing I found interesting is that while you are no stranger to the Philharmonic stage, everyone else is making their debut on it.

NG: It is funny, I'm the only person who's performed with the New York Philharmonic before in the cast.

BWW: This is usually the opposite when it comes to musical theater and opera performers working together…

NG: Right! So I'm the one saying, oh when you step here don't worry about the sound you're going to have microphones here and the soundman will take care of this (Laughs). And Gabriel, I don't think he has ever sung in front of an orchestra before, so it's really fun to share this with one another. In the world of music sometimes, everything has to be put into some kind of box.

BWW: There is such excitement about this kind of fresh creative collaboration.

NG: It's very cool, we all are taking a risk, all of us stepped outside of our comfort zones to do this, that's whats great, what's fun about it, some people here might spend more time in movies or TV, and you know with me in the world of opera. Then of course the amazing dancers and chorus, it's an incredible company. It's just been wonderful working on it!

The New York Philharmonic's five, semi-staged performances of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot will star Gabriel Byrne (King Arthur); Marin Mazzie (Guenevere); Nathan Gunn (Lancelot); Stacy Keach (Merlyn); Christopher Lloyd (Pellinore); Fran Drescher (Morgan Le Fay) and Marc Kudisch (Lionel). All but Mr. Gunn are making their New York Philharmonic debuts in these performances, and will appear alongside the musicians of the Orchestra on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall. Lonny Price will direct; Paul Gemignani is the conductor and music supervisor; and Thomas Z. Shepard is the producer. The cast also includes Bobby Steggert (Mordred); Christopher Seiber (Dinadan); and Will Swenson (Sagramore).

Also collaborating on the production are Josh Prince, choreographer; Tracy Christensen, costume designer; Jim Noone, set designer; and Paul Miller, lighting designer.

Camelot, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, first appeared on Broadway at the Majestic Theater on December 3, 1960. Based on T.H. White's novel, The Once and Future King, about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the musical features songs such as "I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight," "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood," "Camelot," "The Lusty Month of May," "How to Handle a Woman," "If Ever I Would Leave You," and "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" It starred Julie Andrews as Guenevere, Richard Burton as King Arthur, Robert Goulet as Lancelot, and Roddy McDowall as Mordred and ran for 873 performances, winning four Tony Awards. The musical — about the idealized kingdom of Camelot, the love triangle among King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Lancelot, and the treachery of the king's illegitimate son, Mordred — was made into a 1967 film that starred Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero, David Hemmings, and Lionel Jeffries. It won three Academy Awards.

Camelot performances will take place Wednesday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 8, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 9, at 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, May 10, 2008, at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. The May 8 performance will be broadcast nationally on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.

For more information please visit www.nyphilharmonic.org

Photo Credit-Bill Phelps