Alotta Camelot

Thankfully, the bizzare emails about Nathan Gunn's personal life that I got after I posted the Camelot videos to YouTube stopped after I added a line to each one asking people to STOP ASKING BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T CARE! Ahem.

People do still occasionally ask me to post specific parts of it. The truth is, I'm too lazy to do that. But I do hate saying no, so this time I did a google search and came up with this - looks like someone posted it to google videos in three parts. Here they are:

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:


There. Done. Enjoy. Whew.

EDITED TO ADD: Someone just emailed me to say that it's not the entire thing, that some scenes aren't there. Too bad, enjoy anyway.

"Umm... I don't know?"

Wow. Before Camelot, I'd get one or two comments or questions a month regarding the Magic Flute videos on YouTube.

Then... Camelot. I put up a few videos and suddenly I'm getting all these emails from people asking me the strangest questions - like stuff about Nathan Gunn's personal life - or where he'll be performing - Umm... I don't know? And... I don't know? His personal life is, uh, personal? To him? And his professional life, meaning, his performance schedule, is on his professional website? I know if he's going to be performing somewhere where I could potentially attend... but that's pretty much it...

So here are some excerpts and parts of my replies:

Hi Susan,

I noticed you are one of the most distinguished fans of Nathan Gunn and opera in general. I am emailing you to ask if you know whether he is performing in New York in 2008. Apparently he is not in Met's 2008-2009 season.

Reply:

I don't know what Nathan's future schedule is. It's on his website, and sometimes he mentions in his journal what he's working on before it gets into the schedule section. Sometimes people hear things and post it to the board.

You can also look here: http://www.metmaniac.com/future.html to see some of the unofficial future met schedule.

***

I just Nathan Gunn's performance at Live at Lincoln Center
in "Camelot". What a voice.

Do you know if he ever comes to Houston, Texas? I was wondering how old he is? Does he have an e-mail address because I would like to tell him how much I enjoyed his singing as Lancelot in "Camelot".

Reply:

I would check his website - www.nathangunn.com. He has his schedule posted there, although it's not always up to date. But I do think he is going somewhere in Texas next year.
The best way to tell him how much you enjoyed Camelot would be to send him a MySpace message. He's in his mid 30's... 37 I think? Married, 5 kids.

As if I'd give out his email address? Or anyone's for that matter? And to tell the truth, I felt weird giving the marital status/kids info, even though that's all over the press. Can anyone say, Google search?

***

Hi,
I saw your upload of Nathan Gunn and Marin Mazzie in Camelot and was wondering if you had the complete recording of the performance. Please let me know.
Thanks.

***

I LOVE your clip of Nathan Gunn singing "C'est Moi!" I watched the whole opera on TV and really want to see it again, but I didn't tape it. Do you have the entire thing? If so, is there a way you could send it to me?

I told both of these people that I'd see if I could make a copy of the DVD. Many other people have posted comments under some of the videos asking if I could upload the entire thing. Umm... I don't like it enough to do that. I'd try to post all of Magic Flute though, if someone would only ask ...

***

I'd like to ask your vocal opinion about something Nathan Gunn is doing in "If Ever I Would Leave You." But I don't wish to make this a discussion at large as there are so many critics afoot.

I did exchange a few emails with that person about her concern, even though I don't feel qualified to have a vocal opinion on, well, anything. The "critic" reference was because one person was making nasty comments on that particular video, starting with "This sucks... are you people all unicorns?" Which made me laugh because who calls someone a unicorn as an insult? But the flurry of messages that followed was interesting.

And I saved my favorite one for last:

Lundriel,

Since you know all about NG, I am wondering about his wife and family. I know she is a musician. Do you know anything about her? Also, I am wondering how it works with all those kids, him often on the road and often appearing with half dressed, voluptuous women, plus all his female groupies. I would think that would give a marriage lots of huge challenges.

There are very few men who could keep their feet on the ground in his situation.

Whoa. Now this is someone with whom I've exchanged a few messages on YouTube, and I must admit that this message surprised the heck out of me. My reply:

Nathan's wife teaches at the University of Illinois. I met her once and she was very nice. I don't know what their personal life is like. I don't really think about it - everyone deserves their privacy, right? :)

Ok, for the record:

I do not know what Nathan Gunn's personal life is like. I don't know how he arranges childcare with his wife. I have no idea if appearing with half-dressed voluptuous women affects his marriage or his kids. I have no idea if he has groupies and if they throw themselves at him. (No I didn't and wouldn't.) Not only do I not know, I don't really care. It's none of my business. I do know that he is married with 5 kids because it's been published and he's said so in interviews. I know he's in his mid-30s because MySpace lists ages on profiles, and I've probably read it somewhere. Is it true that there are very few men who could keep their feet on the ground in this situation? And what does on the ground mean? That he's down to earth? Or hasn't lifted his feet from the ground to some floozy's bed? I met the guy for 5 or 10 minutes on two occasions. He seemed pretty down to earth each time... but what does that mean? In those 15-20 minutes, split between two events, I did not detect a bloated ego or a lascivious temperament. He maintained eye contact and did not do the bewb-glance while I was looking. He did squeeze me very tightly for the photo and I was sort of squished into him... is that scandalous? I don't think so... Would his wife mind? I have no idea. Some women care about that kind of thing, others don't. I wouldn't care if Husband squished some chick into him for a pic, as long as he came home with me that night and not her...

I'm reluctant to once again bring Real Life to my blog, but... I do have my own personal life with Husband and Child and the truth is I'm too tired to pay attention to the personal lives of people I don't know.

I don't mean to come across as harsh to these information seekers. But just because I posted a few videos to YouTube does not mean that I have the inside scoop to what side of the bed he sleeps on, and if he sleeps diagonally when he's alone in the bed.

However, if you ask nicely, I'll tell you if I do.

By (Anon) Request - More Sap

Ok, ok. Here's another. I already posted 4 Camelot vids to YouTube but since someone made a special request and all... but I'm going to embed it because I'm too lazy to upload.



I still prefer the opera. This is just a bit too sappy for me. But like I said, it was by request, and who am I to refuse to share something Gunnish with a new fan? But go to YouTube and see the opera videos, OK??????

Edited to add:

Ooh crippy quality from YouTube. Ok ok I'll upload it.

Oui, C'est Toi Indeed

I'll get this and a few others from Camelot onto YouTube later. Meanwhile, enjoy, link to it and add a comment or two or twelve.

Mother Knows Best

It is Mother's Day, after all, so of course I called my 80 year old mum today to wish her a happy. I asked her if she watched Live from Lincoln Center last week. "I did," she replied, "but it was so boring that I fell asleep... except for when Lancelot was on. He was gooood, don't you think?"

"Always listen to your mother."

Whine and Drool

So I raced home from my voice lesson (more on that in another post) and got home at about 8:20. King Arthur was reminiscing with Jenny about pulling the sword out of the stone. Well it was more like whining. Then he whined through the “when I was a hawk I saw that there were no borders” and the rest of the “why can’t we all just get along… I know… let’s make the table round instead of square,” speech. I was like, ok, if he’s going to whine through the entire thing I don’t know if I’m going to be able to watch.

So out went the notices: Knights wanted. And in comes Lancelot. Shiny shirt, blue vest, black leather pants. Oh my. (go ahead, chant it like Dorothy...) Lancelot’s “C’est Moi” was hilarious. Hill-lair-ee-yuss. For anyone who didn’t see it… he’s reading the notice that the king sent out, that the king needs men who are brave, noble, daring, pure, and so on. He’s totally egotistical about it, “Why, that’s me! I am all those things!” The best was when he mouthed it. So he dedicates himself to the king and makes his way to Camelot. Maybe I sneezed or something but suddenly we see him standing over some guy he’s knocked down, and it turns out, of course, that it’s the king. They become fast friends. Then he meets the queen. You can see his heart just melt, and he struggles with it, because the king is like his BFF, and also I think he’s trying to be pure, blah blah blah. Good luck with that. At first she’s kinda bitchy because he’s so pompous, but then he cures some dead or dying dude and suddenly she loves him. So they struggle to ignore how they feel… then along comes Mordred, an evil drag-queenish teen love-child of the king, who, with the aid of a giant Hershey bar, convinces a whining Fran Drescher to trap the king in the forest overnight. Of course everyone knows that with the king out of the castle, Lancelot is going to come and uh, say hi to the queen. They decide to keep it at “hi” and not venture into “howareya” but it’s too late – Mordred and his buddies catch them in the act of whatever it is they’re trying not to do and the queen is put on trial for cheating. Or treason. Or something. Lancelot swoops in and saves her from being burned at the stake and everyone goes their separate ways. The end.

The king was good - the whining ended once Lancelot came along, go figure. The queen was great - what a beautiful voice! And did anyone else notice just how big her mouth is? She must be a dentist's dream - they can probably stick their entire head in her mouth for the exam. Anyway... Christopher Lloyd was awesome. He was typecast of course, as the flighty spacey old guy, but he plays it so well.

*

Ok, on to the fun stuff.

Nathan was a great Lancelot. And cuter than ever, I must say. Seriously. Ok not as cute as in person (yes you should be jealous, I’d be). The way he and the queen almost kiss, but then don’t… aye aye aye. How can she resist? Seriously. If he were leaning in to kiss me... ahem, where was I? Right...those leather pants, that shiny shirt…

I imagine there’s going to be a surge of new members at the fan site. He really should have someone check his MySpace page – how many pending friend requests must be out there. *Raising arm wildly like a know-it-all school kid* I’ll do it Nathan, just send me your MySpace password! I promise not to reply to messages or post any comments – I’d just approve friends and moderate the comments people make. Oh wait he doesn’t read my blog, never mind.

So did anyone else notice that the microphone on the stage picked up all the stage chatter that the audience doesn't usally hear? The dancers with their, "Over here, no over here, Ok," and then after the curtain calls you could hear the cast giggling and talking over the PBS announcer.

More later, after I see it again.

Meanwhile, if you go to the NY Times Review you can see a little video of the gala dinner, including Nathan giving Fran Drescher a big hug before he runs off for his beauty sleep.

A Lusty Month of May? (photo added)

Just saw Camelot on Live from Lincoln Center. Will do a full review tomorrow, however, just wanted to post some initial impressions.


Like, I like shiny things. For example, shiny shirts paired with leather pants. And people who wear things like that are A-Ok in my book. And no you may not borrow my book. It's mine and I'm not sharing. But as usual, I digress... where was I?

Yes... initial impressions...

What's-her-name, Fran the whiner, should stick to The Nanny and stay off live stage. She looks good in the dress but could she please just keep her mouth shut?

And... if we play 6 degrees of separation... Nathan Gunn has now worked with Christopher Lloyd who worked with Danny Devito and also Michael J. Fox. Danny Devito has worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger (sp?) and also Bette Middler, who has worked with Barry Manilow... Nathan Gunn is that close to Barry Manilow in this game? Ok I'm stopping now before this truly gets out of hand.

A vaguely more serious post about the performance will follow tomorrow or Saturday. And by serious, of course, I mean, mostly silly.

Warming Up...

...for tonight's voice lesson. The last lesson before next week's eval. Of course my throat is tightening up and generally not cooperating. I'm sure my teacher will have her virtual psychiatrist's couch out tonight.

I'll get home around 30 minutes after Camelot begins. I've decided to watch it from there and "catch up" on the first half hour afterwards.

Camelotta

Well, lookie who saves the show. See the full story here.

There was, however, one thrilling exception to the rule, as anyone watching the delayed broadcast of this performance tonight on PBS, or sitting in the audience for the remaining four performances, will undoubtedly attest.

He's the One

When baritone Nathan Gunn launched into Lancelot's preening ``C'est Moi,'' nostalgia for Robert Goulet's career-defining delivery of the song melts away. Even lovelier is Act Two's ``If Ever I Would Leave You,'' which comes across here not as a tired old chestnut but as fresh an expression of devotion as ever sung by knight to queen. Checkmate.

Camelot!

I'm laughing as I type this. Check out these photos and captions from Opera Chic.
I'm especially lovin' that she uses the nickname I came up with!

Big hands, what about that huge chin? What's up with that?

You can see the whole slide-show here.

Too bad tickets are outrageously expensive - from $120 in the 3rd tier, to $250 on the main floor! That's more expensive than opera! Talk about excluding the masses...

Hooray for live broadcasts!