Full circle

Robert Goulet is back in Camelot

by Bill Rodriguez

Any singer who gets an accolade from Frank Sinatra -- "What a reed. He's got a voice as wide as Sophie Tucker's ass" -- has to have quite a set of pipes. Any dignified performer who pitches product in drag, wig and all -- for ESPN college basketball commercials -- has to be quite a sport. Robert Goulet pleads guilty as charged.

The career of the man with the honeyed voice and square-jawed good looks was launched in 1960 when he stepped onto a Broadway stage as Sir Lancelot de Lac, the chivalric popinjay of Camelot. And now, at age 65, he is coming back as King Arthur in the Lerner & Lowe classic, which will be at the Providence Performing Arts Center October 13 through 18.

Born in Lawrence, Mass., and raised from age 13 in far-off Alberta, he was a celebrity in Canada, first as a radio announcer and later in theater and TV, before his big Broadway break at 27. When Ed Sullivan was so smitten by the musical that he devoted a quarter-hour of his hit TV variety show to a showcase, Camelot was launched into pop history. Two years later, President Kennedy quoted from it in his first inaugural address, and the Knights of the Round Table, with their idealistic "Right, Not Might" ethic, became a mainstay of America's image of itself.

Over the years, Goulet has recorded more than 60 albums, starred in several TV specials and Broadway shows. The 1988 staging of South Pacific that he headlined started the trend of taking Broadway shows on national tours. This production of Camelot is only his second and, he swears, his last.

He spoke by phone recently between performances in Philadelphia.

Q: Has your attitude toward King Arthur changed, as you've gotten older and grown in the role? And has your performance changed as a result?

A: I'm having more fun doing him now because I find little things that I didn't find before. I didn't expect to play this part ever again, and now in doing it again little things are sneaking in. I'm taking more time with it, I'm having a better time with it as well, onstage. Enjoying the subtleties of the role. They're things that you would never notice and the audience would never notice, but I do. It all creates a rounder, fuller king.

Q: Arthur fails as a husband and fails as a king. Yet he maintains his dignity and the audience's respect. Has this surprised you, since Americans are so concerned with winning?

A: This is universal peace [that Arthur champions], not just American peace. And when I do it now, some of the lines I read, occasionally near the end, I find myself in a parallel to the Clinton situation now. I feel that Arthur and Clinton are symbiotic brothers, in a sense. And it becomes even more painful, because I'm so angry at what's happening with our country at the moment.

Q: You're on stage 80 percent of the time. Do you sometimes wish that the story belonged more to the young lovers? It's quite a burden on you.

A: It's a burden. If you're going to get top billing in the piece, you better get used to that burden, because that's what they're hiring you for. So I don't mind that at all. I remember playing in South Pacific, where I opened the first scene and the second scene, and then I was off for 50 minutes while she did all her work. I was the so-called star of the piece, and I just sat there and played cribbage with the house manager. But I don't care for that. I'd rather be moving, moving, moving and getting it done. Because if you sit back and do nothing, you lose context, you lose the flow, the hurl and sweep.

Q: Most people think of you as a singer, what with your 60-plus albums. But you also got yourself a Tony for Best Acting in a Musical, for The Happy Time in 1968. Is acting in a musical trickier than acting on film, since you have to compete for attention with the spectacle of the show?

A: Acting in a musical and acting in a film are two different kinds of acting. Acting in television, a lot of times you play yourself only. Acting onstage, you've got to be a little bit larger than life. When you're doing television and film you've got to hold it down to nothing. I mean, you raise an eyebrow and you're over-acting. Here people are like 5000 feet away from you, and you've got to move your arms to give an emotion.

It's incredible how much I'm taking time now to do nothing. And waiting for the silence. You don't want to wait too long, because you'll lose the audience. But if there's a thought behind you and you have the silence, then it's incredible how much power you have by doing nothing. And it's a delight, because it enhances the entire performance. But you don't do it too often -- just once in a while.

Q: You love being on the water on your boat. But that's a long way from being on the road, touring in whatever show. You'll be 65 next month, retirement age. Is this your last tour?

A: Hell, no! I'm just not going to do this one again. I'm not going to stop working -- I've got to pay for a new roof! Actors and performers never retire, you know that. They die with their boots on. I mean, to retire means you're a sissy! When they stand up and give you an ovation -- and you've worked your bananas off the whole night -- when they do that, it makes it all worthwhile.