Revamped 'Pimpernel' Both Polished and Fun
August 13, 1999,
05:34 p.m.
By Everett Evans
Houston Chronicle
What a cliffhanger The Scarlet Pimpernel has been on Broadway!
Critics condemned the lavish musical to the guillotine when it premiered in fall 1997, yet it eluded the executioner for a full season. Faltering after a year, it found a rescuer in canny director Robert Longbottom, who leapt into the fray -- overseeing extensive rewrites, reshuffling the components, restaging the whole production.
It was a heroic feat that rivaled the Pimpernel's 11th-hour rescues of doomed victims of the French Revolution. And it paid off when Pimpernel reopened last fall to approval from critics and audiences.
Now playing a three-city tour before returning to Broadway at the Neil Simon Theater -- scaled down to suit its new, smaller home -- The Scarlet Pimpernel is making a highly entertaining Houston debut at Wortham Center, presented by Theater Under The Stars.
The show still is no masterpiece. But as reconfigured with theatrical flair, its strengths are more formidable. Boasting three appealing, capable new leads and the handsome physical production that was a chief asset from the start, Pimpernel provides rollicking fun for much of its running time.
Nan Knighton's book tells its colorful story (drawn from Baroness Orczy's novel) with dramatic punch, relishing its outlandishness. English nobleman Percy decides to become a rescuer of victims of the Parisian Reign of Terror, motivated by the execution of friends. He suspects that his new bride, Marguerite, may be in league with the bloodthirsty French regime.
The comic relief derives from Percy and his comrades posing as preposterous, froufrou-obsessed fops in order to deflect suspicion about their true identities.
The show's strong dramatic center is the triangle formed as Marguerite, bewildered by her husband's coldness, falls into the web of her former lover Chauvelin, the coldblooded revolutionary who has forced her cooperation in the past via blackmail. Chauvelin uses his power to make Marguerite use her influence in learning the identity of the Pimpernel.
Frank Wildhorn's score, with workmanlike lyrics by Knighton, is both a plus and a minus. It hits its peak midway through the first act with Percy and the male chorus' Into the Fire, one of the most plot-engaged numbers, whose robust bravado is reminiscent of Sigmund Romberg or Rudolf Friml. The Creation of Man, with Percy and the boys parading their male plumage, is the score's comic high point, built into a show stopper by Longbottom's deft choreography.
But too much of the score rides on mere bluster. Most of the ballads have a generic sound that makes them indistinguishable from the others in this score -- or in other Wildhorn musicals. Several key songs struggle toward a big payoff before they've even established themselves as songs. Wildhorn needs to keep his music involved in the storytelling and make each song specific in terms of character, situation and the show's period.
Longbottom's theatricality, so strongly displayed in Side Show, gives the revised Pimpernel a consistent visual style that helps make up for its wavering music. He keeps the show moving with vigor, glossing over the weak passages, capitalizing on the strong ones.
New Pimpernel Ron Bohmer may not be quite as dashing and charismatic as Douglas Sills, the role's originator, but he is a splendidly agreeable chap with a powerful voice, a neat comic sense and swaggering heroism. His presence and athleticism suit the part.
Carolee Carmello, the unforgettable Lucille Frank of Broadway's recent Parade, again finds an outlet for her tremulous, character-rich singing and strong actor's instincts in the pivotal role of Marguerite, torn between hero and villain. She brings unexpected emotional colors -- womanly in her passion, wounded at Percy's neglect, furious at Chauvelin's betrayals, urgent in her efforts to rescue her captive brother.
Marc Kudisch makes a dark, determined Chauvelin. He, too, sings with force, while instilling his villain with a coldblooded relentlessness worthy of Les Miserables' Inspector Javert.
Kirk McDonald projects innocent fraternal devotion as Armand; Elizabeth Ward Land is a spunky Marie; and David Cromwell, held over from both previous casts, does versatile multiple duty in character roles.
Andrew Jackness' picturesque settings have an attractive, storybook quality, with the striking false proscenium and scarlet curtain a classy tone-setter for the evening. Jane Greenwood has designed a ton of sumptuous costumes that dazzle the eye as lighted by Natasha Katz, especially in the two act openings -- the first onstage at the Comédie Française, the second at the glamorous masked ball.
While not a classic, this Scarlet Pimpernel supplies smoothly professional escapist entertainment.