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Saturday, December 3, 2016

THERE'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER CAMELOT AGAIN

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2148

CAMELOT WAS JFK'S FAVORITE SONG

New York City (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, December 3, 1960, the musical Camelot* opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre.  The popular show closed after 873 performances on January 5, 1963.  Although today most people associate Camelot with the Kennedy years, that was not true until after the President's death.

Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy gave an interview for Life Magazine's Theodore H. White which appeared in the issue dated December 6, 1963.  Mrs. Kennedy revealed....

"At night, before we'd go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records; and the song he loved most came at the very end of this record.  The lines he loved to hear were...

'Don't let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment
That was known as Camelot.'"

Mrs. Kennedy added...

"There will be great Presidents again....but there'll never be another Camelot again."

So Jacqueline Kennedy forever attached her husband's "brief shining moment" as President of the United States with the song he loved the most.

*Camelot (1961-1963) starred Richard Burton as King Arthur, Julie Andrews as Queen Guinevere & Robert Goulet as Sir Lancelot.  The musical won Tony Awards in 1961 for Best Actor, Best Screen Design, Best Costume Design and Best Conductor & Music Director.

SOURCE

"For President Kennedy:  An Epilogue," by Theodore H. White, December 6, 1963, Life Magazine.


Julie Andrews & Richard Burton
Camelot:  The Musical
Photo by Friedman-Abeles
New York City (1961)