Xcalibur

COMPOSER - Frank Wildhorn

LYRICIST - Robin Lerner

LIBRETTO - Ivan Menchell

PREMIER:

Theater St. Gallen in St. Gallen, Switzerland on March 15, 2014 

Director - Francesca Zambello

Orchestration and Arrangements - Koen Schoots

German Text - Nina Schneider 

Set Design - Peter Davison

Lighting Design - Mark McCullough

costume design - Susan Willmington

Projection Design - Katy Tucker

Choreographer - Eric Sean Fogel

Fight Director - Rick Sordelet

SYNOPSIS:

A country at war, a people longing for peace, a wizard who ties together the threads of fate, knights who lose their hearts, and worlds from which ordinary people are debarred - this is the setting in which the young King Arthur has to assert himself. With the help of his trusty companions he seeks to realize the utopia of the Knights of the Round Table in the hope of bringing peace to his divided kingdom. At first he appears to succeed effortlessly in everything he does: Arthur marries the beautiful Guinevere, gathers the best knights around him and rebuilds the castle of Camelot. However, Arthur's plans are foiled by his half-sister, the sorceress Morgan le Fay. She first allies herself with the tyrant Lot, the most dangerous enemy of the knights at Camelot. Later Morgan exposes the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, robs the wizard Merlin of his mysterious powers and finally tries to stab Arthur to death. Only Guinevere's spirited intervention prevents the worst. The battlefields in front of the gates of Camelot are still wet with spilt blood. Arthur questions the purpose of his actions and his existence. What has all the fighting achieved? - He is shut out of Merlin's magical world, his best friend Lancelot has fallen in the battle and the knights are scattered in all directions. All that is left is Guinevere's love and the vision of perhaps resurrecting the legendary Round Table at some future date. A dream that spans the ages. The staging of Arthur's world is musically accompanied by symphonic sound strongly inspired by Celtic influences, which creates a powerful contrast between this work and the usual musical soundscapes.