Camelot

Thanks to the stage and screen Lerner-and-Loewe musical Camelot, Americans know something about the legends of King Arthur. Maybe it's the keenly weighted three-way love tale, with the good king's nearly perfect knight, Lancelot, falling for his queen, Guinevere. Maybe it's the dueling magic of Arthur's slippery half-sister Morgana and his mentor-wizard Merlin, or the villainy of (depending on the version) his cousin, nephew, son or brother, Mordred. Maybe it's Arthur's proof of destiny when he wrests a sword from a stone, or his formation of his Round Table and its codes of chivalry.

WASHINGTON -- It had been nearly 35 years since John F. Kennedy Jr. romped through the private quarters of the White House, 35 years since Camelot's violent end.But when President Clinton granted the younger Kennedy a sentimental tour of the residence area at the White House in March 1998, the memories came rushing back."

LACROSSE, Wis. -- The impressive crowds that turned out for Democratic candidates Bill Clinton and Al Gore on their second bus tour through small-town America bring inevitable comparisons with the past. And whenever the talk among political junkies turns to famous presidential campaign days, one stands out in the size and intensity of the crowds that flocked to see the candidate.It was Robert F. Kennedy's bus motorcade across northern Indiana in early 1968, when he launched his insurgency for the Democratic nomination.

A stage version of the super-popular Disney TV movie High School Musical, three recent Broadway shows and two Lerner and Loewe classics highlight an all-musical season to be announced today at the Hippodrome Theatre. High School Musical is typical of the family appeal of the Hippodrome season -- and of a broader trend seen by Marks Chowning, executive director of the theater. "There's been a whole push in the entertainment business in the broad sense in recent years about creating more family-friendly opportunities," he said.

"Jackie: Behind the Myth" is one of the more misleading titles of the television season. Not only does the two-hour documentary on Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis not take us behind the myth, it so celebrates Jackie that you are certain the final scene is going to be played out on Mount Olympus.And yet, as maddening as it is in the unpleasant facts it ignores, the documentary is ultimately quite moving. In fact, it left me feeling more kindly disposed and impressed with her than I would have believed possible after all the Jackie hagiography I have endured these past 40 years or so.But let's start with some of the more outrageous punches it pulls, given the title.

THE CHOREOGRAPHY, impeccable to behold, begins yesterday on the sidewalk outside Shepherd Community Baptist Church. The TV cameras are lined up, and here comes Mayor Martin O'Malley, on a gloriously sunny election morning, with his wife, Katie, on one arm and his 2-year-old son, Jack, in his arms. What could go wrong? The TV people await a few words from the mayor of Baltimore as he slips inside to vote. O'Malley understands the dance. "The renewal of the United States of America has begun," he declares.

Four kids. Two careers. One family dog. And one race for governor. How much chaos can a family handle? Apparently a lot. The O'Malleys have adopted a puppy from the pound. What were they thinking? If you suspect the Dems are trying to match Michael Steele's "I love puppies" campaign, think again. "Everybody hates him except me and William," Katie O'Malley said. "Grace said this morning, `I hate that dog.'" Two out of three O'Malleys want Scout out of the house, whether it's Government House or their current Walther Avenue digs.

THE MAGIC began on a Saturday afternoon when my parents, sister and I climbed the steps to the balcony of the Curran Theater in San Francisco. We took our seats. The lights dimmed, the overture began and a scene from Edwardian England appeared far below us. I was 7 years old. It was my first trip to the theater. And I was ready. Seven is young to be attending a full-length Broadway musical. As an adult theatergoer, I would not be pleased to find myself seated next to a child that age, especially when paying $100 for the ticket.

WASHINGTON -- The message in President Clinton's press conference the other day is that he's just going to brazen it out. And the lesson for the rest of us is that he's probably going to get away with it.Meeting with reporters five weeks after his impeachment trial, the president seemed alternately defiant and aggrieved but hardly contrite. It was clear that this most skilled politician has digested the opinion polls that show most Americans want to forget Monica Lewinsky and move on to even greater economic success.

"The Sandlot" is essentially a $15 million "Our Gang" comedy, and it has exactly the amount of warmth, spontaneity, nostalgia and humor that such a huge amount of money can buy: none.If awards were given for phoniness, this one would retire the prize. It's one of those treacly plastic jobs that looks back on a childhood no human could ever have lived, in a tone of such exaggerated cuteness that by contrast it makes the Disney oeuvre seem neo-realist.Set in the baby-boomer Camelot year of 1962, it's about a "new kid" named Scotty (Tom Guiry)