Musical Star on the Rise
8/9/1999
By Everett Evans
Houston Chronicle
The Scarlet Pimpernel has scored a coup in acquiring its new leading lady, Carolee Carmello, one of musical theater's brightest young stars.
Carmello comes to the musical adventure after scoring a personal triumph in last season's Parade. Her portrayal of Lucille Frank, valiantly striving to save husband Leo Frank when he is wrongly accused of murder, brought her a sheaf of rave reviews, the Drama Desk Award as best actress and a Tony nomination.
Prizes and critical praise are nothing new to Carmello, whose string of notable credits on and off-Broadway include Cordelia in Falsettos and her Obie-winning turn as the character known as the Young Wife in Hello Again.
Houston audiences get to see Carmello in The Scarlet Pimpernel's Houston run at the Wortham Center, opening tonight and continuing through Aug. 22. The Houston engagement is part of a three-city summer tour, a transitional phase in the show's move from the Minskoff Theater on Broadway (where it played for two seasons) to its new Broadway home, the Neil Simon Theater, where it will re-open in September.
Carmello plays Marguerite, the actress heroine torn between her English nobleman husband Percy (a k a the Scarlet Pimpernel) and her former lover, Chauvelin, the Pimpernel's nemesis. Ron Bohmer plays Percy, and Marc Kudisch is Chauvelin.
Set during the French Revolution, Pimpernel is based on the swashbuckling adventure novels of Baroness Orczy. Percy leads a secret life as a heroic adventurer, rescuing souls doomed to the guillotine during Paris' "Reign of Terror." He's known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel; the flower is the hero's insignia.
After the tragic eloquence of Parade, Carmello finds Pimpernel`s romp fun in a different way.
"It's like a romance novel," she said. "I get to play a glamorous role, the pretty girl in beautiful gowns. It's fun to be fought over by two gorgeous men. Both Ron and Marc are wonderful, great foils for each other."
The music is from Frank Wildhorn, and book and lyrics are by Broadway newcomer Nan Knighton.
"Frank is adept at writing melodies that stay in your mind and are fun to sing," Carmello said, "so I have some beautiful songs -- including a new ballad, I'll Forget You."
Although Carmello is joining Pimpernel well into its Broadway life (and after last fall's major revamping improved it considerably), she is not new to the show -- having played Marguerite in the musical's early readings and developmental workshops. But in fall 1997, as Pimpernel went into production for Broadway, Carmello opted to go to Toronto for Parade.
"I felt so connected, so passionate about that show, that I felt it was where I needed to be," she said.
Parade proved a bittersweet succes d'estime. The only serious new musical last season, it was acclaimed by most critics as an artistic milestone, nominated for more Tonys than any other show, and won Tonys for best book and score. But it ran only three months -- hurt by a few critical dissenters and even more by the financial difficulties of Livent, the Canadian-based company that co-produced it with the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater.
(Livent's bankruptcy also was the reason the earlier, mammoth Ragtime tour was pulled from the road and replaced with the scaled-down -- and, thankfully, still effective -- edition now at Jones Hall, produced by PACE Theatrical Group.)
Hearing Carmello talk about Parade, it is clear the show is still close to her heart.
"There are few things I have felt as passionately about. Lucille was a great role, and they don't come along very often. I looked forward to doing it every single night. Jason Robert Brown's score was so beautiful, and Alfred Uhry's book was brilliant. I'm sure that, in hindsight, the show will be better-appreciated.
"It was unfortunate that Livent went bankrupt just as we were about to open -- the worst possible timing. Lincoln Center Theater very bravely shouldered the financial burden, but they are a nonprofit theater and didn't have the deep pockets for the kind of marketing that's needed to sell a Broadway show these days."
Carmello enjoyed a reunion with Parade co-star Brent Carver when they performed an excerpt from the show at this year's Tony Awards.
Between Parade and Pimpernel, Carmello starred as Ella Peterson in Bells Are Ringing for Los Angeles' Reprise! concert-musical series. Playing the role originated by the great Judy Holliday in the Betty Comden/Adolph Green/Jule Styne romp, she got to sing such hilarious material as Is It a Crime? and I'm Goin' Back, and such classic ballads as The Party's Over, Long Before I Knew You and Just in Time.
"It was great because that was a role I had wanted to do for years and years," Carmello said.
Another of her favorite roles was Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, which she did for a yearlong run at Boston's Charles Playhouse.
Of two favorites she longed to play as a girl, Carmello already played Maria in The Sound of Music early in her career, but she has not gotten around to Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
These days, Carmello is chiefly drawn to new works by young composers like Michael John La Chiusa (Hello Again) and Jason Robert Brown (Parade).
"I try to mix it up a bit -- make a living but keep myself involved in the newer stuff. If I only did the money-making jobs and revivals, it would be less satisfying. A lot of what happens now is that new shows are cast by the time they get to Broadway production. If you're not involved early in the development, you may lose that chance. So I try to get involved in projects that look interesting in their early stages."
As Carmello heads back to Broadway in Pimpernel this fall, her husband -- three-time Tony nominee Gregg Edelman (City of Angels, Cabaret) -- will be joining the cast of the long-running Les Misérables.
Carmello plans to be with Pimpernel on Broadway for some time, noting that the producers are talking about sending out a different cast to tour the show next winter.
"And I hope Parade will come back," she said. "I got a note from (director) Hal Prince saying he hopes I'll be a free for a tour next spring. Of course, it depends on what else is going on at that time. I have a 3-year-old, so touring now is not the easiest thing. But it's a show I would jump at the chance to do again."