In this production of
Camelot for Theatre Under the Stars, director Richard Stafford has gone with lead actors who are younger than those typically seen in the classic tale of love, loss and high principles, with music by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. ''We felt going into it that to bring the youthful energy and excitement of the story to the stage was an important element. We found people that we thought were really right for this, agewise, temperamentwise, with a lot of enthusiasm.'' Broadway veterans Robert Petkoff and Sean MacLaughlin are King Arthur and Knight Lancelot, while Margaret Loesser Robinson is Queen Guenevere. The show also features fight scenes using real broadswords. ''It was a time of warriors and we want to really show that. We have a fight captain on the show. They rehearse every night before they go onstage and they’re actors; they know how to move.'' Stafford, who began his artistic life as a dancer and then choreographer, says he's kept a dancer's eye to movement onstage as well, although promising he didn't overdo it. ''It's not like everyone in Camelot went to ballet school.''
7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through February 3. Hobby Center, 800 Bagby. For information, call 713-558-8887 or visit www.tuts.com. $24 to $114.
Tuesdays-Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Starts: Jan. 22. Continues through Feb. 3, 2013