Carolee Carmello - Dallas Interview
from the Dallas Morning News
by Lawson Taitte
For Carolee Carmello, ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is a huge change of pace.
Ms. Carmello was nominated for a Tony Award this spring for her work in the most serious of Broadway musicals, ''Parade.'' She played the crusading wife of a man lynched for a rape-murder he didn't commit.
When she steps onstage Tuesday at the Music Hall at Fair Park, it will be her first performance in the lightest lark among recent musicals, Frank Wildhorn's ''The Scarlet Pimpernel.'' She plays a mysterious Frenchwoman – who may be a spy – trying to sniff out an English hero who has come to 1790s France to combat the Reign of Terror. The hero, the pimpernel, turns out to be her useless aristocratic husband.
''As long as you really believe in it, you can make it work,'' Ms. Carmello says. ''This show is very reminiscent of those old movies. It has beautiful songs, and I get to wear some gorgeous costumes. And people love a love story, too.''
This new version, which opens in Dallas, continues one of the oddest sagas in recent Broadway history. The musical opened in New York two years ago to mixed reviews but nabbed enough of an audience to keep it going. A year later, the producers gave the show a completely new production under director Robert Longbottom.
Now, Mr. Longbottom is trimming the show down to run in a smaller Broadway house with a whole new cast. Ron Bohmer plays Ms. Carmello's husband, Percy (secretly the mysterious superhero). Marc Kudisch is the villain allied to Robespierre during the French Revolution.
After a brief tour of Dallas, Houston and Atlanta, this revised production will settle on Broadway in September.
Ms. Carmello found her Tony nomination ''bittersweet,'' because ''Parade'' had already closed when it was announced that it led all other shows in nominations. ''I still wanted to be performing it every night,'' she says. ''People always say they want new musicals, but when something really different comes along ...''
Mr. Wildhorn's fare doesn't pretend to compete with a show like ''Parade'' in profundity.
''But he's certainly achieved his goal of writing popular songs for the theater,'' Ms. Carmello says.
And there's a certain satisfaction in doing a light period piece.
''Playing dress-up for a living,'' she sighs, ''What more can you ask for?''