{"id":9919,"date":"2014-11-12T07:49:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T15:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=9919"},"modified":"2014-11-13T09:30:51","modified_gmt":"2014-11-13T17:30:51","slug":"themes-in-classic-tale-of-camelot-still-ring-true-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2014\/11\/12\/themes-in-classic-tale-of-camelot-still-ring-true-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Themes in classic tale of Camelot<\/em> still ring true today"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the curtain rises on a new production of Camelot<\/i>, Victorians will get a chance for some time travel. The musical brings King Arthur\u2019s Round Table, with costumes, music, chivalrous knights and all, to life in song, drama, and humour.<\/p>\n

The storyline of the Victoria Symphony\/Pacific Opera Victoria c0-production explores the fallout from a love triangle between King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Sir Lancelot, Arthur\u2019s most trusted knight. Their doomed love destroys the ideals that bound the knights together and causes the downfall of Camelot. But the story ends on a note of hope and renewal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Giuseppe Pietraroia is the music director and conductor for Camelot (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Giuseppe Pietraroia, the show\u2019s music director and conductor, there\u2019s more to the story than just love gone bad. In fact, there\u2019s a bit of everything when it comes to the themes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoss of innocence, loyalty, duty, honour, perseverance, all of that,\u201d says Pietraroia. \u201cThe whole idea of democracy in a sense, and all of the ideals of King Arthur\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n

These themes are presented through music that is both catchy and fun, says Pietraroia. \u201cIt\u2019s a charming work,\u201d he says. \u201cThe music is very lyrical, and there are a lot of little motifs that bring us back to that era of old English knights.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 1960s, Camelot became associated with a bygone, golden age in America. After John F. Kennedy was assassinated, many Americans felt their country had lost the faith of a more innocent time, mirrored by the loss of the golden ideals of Arthur\u2019s Camelot.<\/p>\n

Sound familiar? It should: Pietraroia says that these were the same things being talked about in the wake of the recent shootings in Ottawa.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were talking about how Canada lost its innocence. It always seems that when something like this happens, there is a sense of change and loss. We believe the world will never be the same. But we come through it, and we persevere, and there\u2019s a renewed sense of hope,\u201d he explains. \u201cI think that\u2019s what keeps mankind moving forward; we go through it, and then we become stronger because of it, or despite it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pietraroia believes it\u2019s the function of the arts to help process these public tragedies in a shared way. He argues that this is why funding and supporting the arts is so critical to society. They provide us with tools to process our private response to grief and loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic has always been a great healer,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s always been something that we can come back to. There were a lot of great works that were written and inspired by tragic events, because it becomes a great consolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the reasons for Camelot<\/i>\u2019s enduring popularity is its ability to present the good alongside the bad, a fusion very true to life. And it leaves us on an upbeat note, says Pietraroia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always try to find a bit of hope in any story, and I think that\u2019s also why Camelot<\/i> is still very popular,\u201d he says. \u201cThis renewed faith that no matter how awful things get, there is always good in anything. That comes through, and it will renew our faith in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camelot in Concert
\n<\/i>Saturday, November 22 and Sunday, November 23
\n$40 and up ($15 for students 60 minutes before showtime), Royal Theatre
\npov.bc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the curtain rises on a new production of Camelot, Victorians will get a chance for some time travel. The musical brings King Arthur\u2019s Round Table, with costumes, music, chivalrous knights and all, to life in song, drama, and humour. The storyline of the Victoria Symphony\/Pacific Opera Victoria c0-production explores the fallout from a love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-november-12-2014"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9919"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9953,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9919\/revisions\/9953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}