The Iowa City Community Theatre is the Broadway of Iowa City. Or so it hopes to be. The organization will perform the 1960s Broadway musical Camelot as the second production of the season.

Camelot will open today at the Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., at 7:30 p.m. The musical will continue through Sept. 27, with that show beginning at 2 p.m. Tickets, on sale now, are $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, and $10 for children.

The production focuses on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is based off The Once and Future King, a novel by T.H. White first published in 1958. The book was turned into a musical by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music). Younger generations may know Spamalot, a parody of Camelot.

“It’s a more old-fashioned type of musical — it’s not Wicked, it’s not Spamalot,” director Josh Sazon said. “It’s very musical, and literate, and witty.”

The musical is one of the longer shows the Community Theatre has put on — lasting about two and a half hours.

“[Camelot is] not your typical sing-and-dance, everyone-is-happy kind of show,” actor Jeremy Ping said. “It’s a little dark.”

In addition to a cast of 27, the musical offers a 28-piece orchestra to bring 1950s and ’60s to the stage, including numerous solos and duets.

According to actor Kate Thompson, the hardest task to accomplish was “the big dance number called ‘The Lusty Lump of May,’ because everyone is trying to do the choreography and be natural and sexy.”

This is the first time the musical has been performed in the Iowa City area in 30 years.

“It’s kind of a fresh show in the community,” Ping said.

This is what makes many in the production believe it will be successful this time around. Thompson said theatergoers with a positive Camelot history will appreciate seeing the play again.

“Older generations are familiar with [Camelot] and have fond memories of it — it was their first date, or they got engaged [while attending Camelot],” Thompson said.

Sazon anticipates the audience to be of older generations because they are the “audience who would be familiar with it,” he said. He hopes to attract the core audience the Community Theatre has built up over the years but also hopes younger audiences will attend to find out what the original production is like.

“Hopefully, the entire city of Iowa City comes,” Ping said. “But I expect to see all age groups. It’s a show that is well-known of older generations because of the movie out in the late-60s.”

Ping hopes younger people are also in the audience because “it’s not a boring show — it’s actually really interesting.”

All of those working with the musical are volunteering their time to the Community Theatre. The cast has been rehearsing four days a week since the beginning of August.

“Everyone is very dedicated,” Sazon said. “It’s all a labor of love.”