Camelot

Pasadena Theatre Company's production of Lerner and Loewe's "Camelot" opens tomorrow night at Chesapeake Center for the Creative Arts in Brooklyn Park -- the first show in the main theater of the new arts center to have an extended run. "Camelot" boasts a cast of 45, with a 14-piece orchestra in the pit, for its four-weekend stand. The 23-year-old Pasadena Theatre Company has staged shows over the past five years at Baldwin Hall, Woods Community Center, and Humanities Hall at Anne Arundel Community College -- at the latter, PTC President Sharon Steele produced shows such as "Jekyll and Hyde," "Godspell," "I Hate Hamlet" and "It's a Wonderful Life."

Despite a small number of books criticizing President John F. Kennedy since his assassination, many continue to think of him as an unblemished paragon - a glamorous, intelligent, hard-working chief executive. They like the image of Camelot perpetuated by Kennedy partisans.At least some Americans want the truth about their presidents, though, even when comfortable myths are shattered. That is where Seymour Hersh comes in. His book, "The Dark Side of Camelot" (Little, Brown, 498 pages, $26.95)

WASHINGTON -- This is no book tour.Seymour M. Hersh blows into the hotel lobby like a cyclone in a suit and declares: "I'm in a war."At the end of week one of what he calls "pimping away" -- traveling around the country to promote his controversial and much-maligned new book on John F. Kennedy -- the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist has arrived for an interview armed and combat-ready.His briefcase is stuffed with documents to back up the many sensational and devastating charges he's made in "The Dark Side of Camelot" (Little, Brown, $26.95)

LOS ANGELES - Mixing sentimentality and partisanship, Democrats summoned the spirit of John F. Kennedy last night with nostalgic convention appearances by his daughter, Caroline, and his brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. But the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson stole the evening with an old-fashioned liberal plea for social justice on behalf of the underclass that set the Staples Center rocking. Given a second-tier place on the program that guaranteed him no network TV coverage - even CNN chose not to carry his remarks live - the civil rights leader had the largely liberal convention crowd chanting along with him. "I say America, stay out of the Bushes!

1966: "Mission : Impossible"1967: "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave1967: "Camelot" premieres1969: "The Brady Bunch"

Before there was Kate and Leo. Before Brad and Angelina. And long before Kristen and Robert, there was Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero. The lush musical film "Camelot," starring Redgrave and Nero, came to theaters my sophomore year in high school, when I was as vulnerable to romance as I ever would be. As if the doomed love affair between Guinevere and Lancelot were not enough to wring the heart of a schoolgirl, there was the rumor —...

NEW YORK -- Once it was shiny and new, the fine, black alligator briefcase that a father bought for his son to symbolize the launch of a promising career.The son and the briefcase fulfilled those dreams of ambition: Together they went, through the halls of Congress, to the Senate and, triumphantly, to the White House. Along the way, the handle had to be repaired and the edges frayed a bit, but the owner would not replace the trusty carrier.How the briefcase of John F. Kennedy ended here, on an auction block in New York -- even though JFK's children had staked their own claim to this particular piece of Camelot -- is an emblematic tale of the '90s.

POLICE LOG* Ellicott City: 3100 block of Normandy Woods Drive: A VCR and some change were stolen Friday after someone entered through an unlocked front door.16000 block of Frederick Road: A sander and book ends were stolen from Camelot Antiques sometime between Wednesday and Friday. Police said a side window was pried open.8300 block of Montgomery Run Road: An attempt was made to steal a 1989 Chevrolet Camaro Saturday morning.

WHAT FOLLOWS are some footnotes to footnotes of history regarding Jacqueline Kennedy and Camelot.As is fairly well known, she put the "Camelot" tag on the administration of her husband President John F. Kennedy.What happened was, the journalist Theodore White was known to be preparing an article for Life magazine on John Kennedy shortly after his assassination. At her request he interviewed Jackie. He wrote in his article that Mrs. Kennedy told him that at her husband's request she played the album of the songs from the musical "Camelot" each night as they were drifting off to sleep.

"Quest for Camelot" is more than the name of a movie - it's a mystery from history.For more than a thousand years, stories have been told of brave King Arthur and his courageous knights of the Round Table. All that time, people have been searching western England for Arthur's castle, Camelot.Some historians believe Arthur is just a legend that grew out of an even older myth. But others think Arthur dates back to the 5th century, when the Roman Empire was falling apart.Britain, no longer protected by Rome, faced invasions.