Davis Gaines Will Be King Arthur in Music Circus Camelot; Complete Casting Announced

By Andrew Gans
08 Jul 2011

Davis Gaines
Davis Gaines

Playbill.com has learned complete casting for Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, the fourth of the seven musicals that comprise the famed Music Circus summer season at the Wells Fargo Pavilion in Sacramento, CA.

Directed by Glenn Casale with choreography by Dan Mojica and musical direction by Craig Barna, performances are scheduled for Aug. 2-7.

Former Phantom of the Opera star Davis Gaines will head the cast as King Arthur with Lisa O'Hare as Guenevere, Sean Hayden as Lancelot, Time Winters as Merlyn/Pellinore, Karen Culliver as Nimue/Lady Anne, Shannon Stoeke as Mordred and Alex Greenlee as Tom of Warwick/Squire Dap/Young Arthur.

The ensemble includes Deanna Aquinaga, Lauren Blackman, Kate Bodenheimer, JD Daw, Lisa Ferris, Michael McGurk, Christopher Nachtrab, Amanda Peet, Natalie Ross, Joseph Sark, Jonathan Stahl, Michael Thatcher, Joseph Torello and John B. Williford.

Camelot — featuring music by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner — originally opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre in December 1960, playing 873 performances before closing Jan. 5, 1963. The premiere company included Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet, Robert Coote, John Cullum and Roddy McDowall. The classic Lerner and Loewe score boasts such tunes as "If Ever I Would Leave You," "I Loved You Once in Silence," "Follow Me," "C'est Moi," "I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight" and the title tune.

Davis Gaines received the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor for his work as the Phantom in the West Coast production of The Phantom of the Opera, a role he repeated on Broadway. His other theatrical credits include the world premiere of Whistle Down the Wind as well as Encores! The Boys From Syracuse; Hello, Dolly!; Forbidden Broadway and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Gaines has sung with virtually every major symphony orchestra in North America, and his two solo recordings, "Against the Tide" and "All My Tomorrows: Songs of Sammy Cahn," are available on LAP Records.

The Music Circus season will kickoff with the Tony-winning Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan musical The Producers, running July 12-17. The remainder of the season will include Oliver! (July 19-24), Anything Goes (July 26-31), Camelot (Aug. 2-7), Annie Get Your Gun (Aug. 9-14), I Do! I Do! (Aug. 16-21) and Miss Saigon (Aug. 23-28).

The Music Circus season is presented by California Musical Theatre under the direction of executive producer Richard Lewis.

The Music Circus is located at 1419 H Street in Sacramento, CA. For ticket information call (916) 557-1999 or visit www.californiamusicaltheatre.com for more information.