The Scarlet Pimpernel

Talented cast makes
The Scarlet Pimpernel shine Reviewed by Sam Morishima/Sacramento Stage & Theatre

Brad Little (left) stars as English aristocrat Percy, who disguises himself as the Scarlet Pimpernel to save the French from the guillotine, in the Music Circus premiere of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Aug. 17-22. Leah Hocking stars as Percy's French wife Marguerite and William Michals is Percy's nemisis Citizen Chauvelin. Photo by: Steve Kolb.

    So what do you have when you mix the talents of Brad Little (National Tour of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), Leah Hocking (Broadway's DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES and JEKYLL AND HYDE), and William Michals (the infamous Chauvelin in the National Tour of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL)?
    Toss in the directing of Glenn Casale, choreographer Dan Mojica and Tom Griffin as musical director and you get a powerful all-star team, or should I say league, that has produced a must see production of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL.
    THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at the Music Circus was a spectacular delight rivaling the original Broadway production. The voices of the three were so powerful it riveted you to your seat during the performance - and exploded you out of it - when it came time to give them a standing ovation.
    What made this production so remarkable for both the new and the veteran Music Circus goers besides the fabulous performance of the main and the supporting cast was the fast paced plot that quickly draws in the audience. As if diving into a swift moving river, this adventure packed musical sweeps you down stream into the French Revolution's horrifying madness and their obsession with Madame Guillotine. You gasp for air as you watch a league of heroes form (Doug Carfrae, Michael Dotson, Ken McMullen, Rob Sutton, Kevin Covert, Joe Paparella) and you again become pushed downstream as you venture forth with them to do right and sail across the English channel into the abyss of the revolution's injustice.
    The sailing scene is one of my favorites as the buccaneers go forth to save innocent lives. The set designer captured the essence of the ship, drawing the audience onto the deck, and you realized this was not to be a Princess Caribbean Holiday Cruise.
    This is a story that has shaped our views of super heroes. The first super hero with a dual life was not Superman with his alter ego mild mannered Clark Kent, nor is it Zorro or Batman or even Captain America but it is the Scarlet Pimpernel.
    In 1905, Baroness Orczy, a young Hungarian writer, created a swashbuckling character that used wit and skillful talent to outsmart and rescue innocent people from the unjust blade of the French Revolution's guillotine. As the musical lines sings:

"He meddles with the Frenchie Revolution,
Popping in and out each week,
Spoiling every lovely execution -
La, what cheek!"

    The musical is intertwined with elements that capture even the comic book reader's mind: A questioning loyalty of two lovers, the band of brothers who fight for justice and friendship, a villain who was once a down trodden human being but is now hardened with vile and contempt and shows no mercy in his Machiavellian methods for power. It then stirs with sophisticated flavors that remind us of police commandant Javert's pursuit of Jean Valjean in LES MISERABLES and then pulls us away to a LA CAGE AUX FOLLES as the alter Clark Kent identities of our heroes are sprung into action. However, it is a reverse of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES where instead of making people with frills into stiff collars it is stiff upper lip people to frou frou types.
    The musical opens upon the last performance of the star performer Marguerite (Leah Hocking) at the Comédie Francaise. While she sings, her fiancé Sir Percival Blakeney (Brad Little) and Citizen Chauvelin (William Michals) watch from opposing ends.
    Quickly the story establishes the selfishness of Chauvelin as he shuts down the theater for the sake of the new Republic (but deep down it is because of his jealously for Marguerite) and to top off his evilness he sentences the costume designer Marie (Christy Morton) to the guillotine. Percy reveals his wittiness by tricking the henchmen into abandoning the captives long enough for all of them to escape from the clutches of Chauvelin's steel mistress, the guillotine, but not so for Percy's friend the Marquis de St. Cyr and his family. A betrayal dominates the play as Percy suspects his new wife Marguerite had passed the whereabouts of the Marquis de St Cyr to Citizen Chauvelin. Percy must hide his Scarlet Pimpernel identity from his wife and buries his love for her under a fashion obsessed fob character.
    To distract the trail and suspicion of his wife and the public, Percy and his league of heroes disguise there personalities as frilly fashion seeking, prissy prancing ninnies traveling between England and France to obtain the latest in colorful and fanciful attires. Throwing off suspicion they rescue as many people from the French guillotine through wit and daring feats.
    Taking advantage of a past dark secret of Marguerite and an unfortunate capture of one of the league members Chauvelin calls upon Marguerite. She is forced to find and reveal the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel. The musical moves to the pivotal scene at the Prince of Wale's Royal Ball where Chauvelin, Marguerite, the nincompoop Percy and the Scarlet Pimpernel all converge. Through the encounters Marguerite realizes and gains her strength for action, while Percy learns the truth about her recovering what he thought was lost. Chauvelin becomes further frustrated as the Scarlet Pimpernel slips yet again through his grasp.
    In the final scenes Chauvelin sets a trap to snare the league using Marguerite and her brother Armand (Shannon Stoeke) as bait.
    One of the many other things I enjoyed about this musical was the music itself. The orchestra set the mood with harpsichord and woodwinds that transported you back to 1794 Europe. I was not only spellbound by the powerful voices of Brad Little, Leah Hocking and William Michals but also the quality of the music by the orchestra.
    As Chauvelin (William Michals) sings Madame Guillotine you get an eerie chill of how obsessed he is with the warped ideals of the new Republic. Percy (Brad Little) and his League raises the roof of adventure in their song "Into the Fire" and Marguerite's frightening thoughts of losing Percy's love in the song "When I Look At You" strikes anyone who has lost the love of someone. This musical production has the breadth to scale the pleasure of both sight and sound and move your emotions at the same time.
    The story of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy was put into a musical and opened on Broadway in 1997 with music written by Frank Wildhorn and lyricist and Book writer Nan Knighton.
    THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL performs at the Wells Fargo Pavilion, located on the corner of 15th and H streets, through Aug. 22. Performances will take place Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m., and matinee performances Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m.
    Single show tickets are priced from $32 to $47, on sale at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street, or by phone at (916) 557-1999. Tickets can also be purchased from Tickets.com at (916) 766-2277.
    For more information on the Music Circus, visit CaliforniaMusicalTheatre.com.

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