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==Awards and nominations==
==Awards and nominations==
===1998 Tony Award nominations===
===1998 Tony Award Nominations===
* [[Tony Award for Best Musical]] - Produced by Pierre Cossette, Bill Haber, Hallmark Entertainment, Ted Forstmann, Kathleen Raitt
* [[Tony Award for Best Musical]] - Produced by Pierre Cossette, Bill Haber, Hallmark Entertainment, Ted Forstmann, Kathleen Raitt (Nominated)
* [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical]] - Nan Knighton
* [[Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical]] - Nan Knighton (Nominated)
* [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical]] - Douglas Sills
* [[Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical]] - Douglas Sills (Nominated)


===1998 Drama Desk Award nominations===
===1998 Drama Desk Award Nominations===
* [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Douglas Sills
* [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Douglas Sills (Nominated)
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Frank Wildhorn
* Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Frank Wildhorn (Nominated)


===1998 Theatre World Award===
===1998 Outer Critics Circle Award Nomations===
* [[Outer Critics Circle Award]] for Best Actor - Douglas Sills (Nominated)
* Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical (Nominated)
* Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Costumes - Jane Greenwood (Nominated)
* Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Lighting - Natasha Katz (Nominated)

===1998 Theatre World Award Nominations===
* [[Theatre World Award]] - Douglas Sills ('''WINNER''')
* [[Theatre World Award]] - Douglas Sills ('''WINNER''')


Revision as of 00:39, 23 April 2009

The Scarlet Pimpernel
Original Cast Recording
MusicFrank Wildhorn
LyricsNan Knighton
BookNan Knighton
BasisBaroness Orczy's novel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Productions1997 Broadway (SP 1.0)

1998 Broadway (SP 2.0)
1999 National Tour Engagements (SP 2.5)
1999 Broadway (SP 3.0)
2000 National Tour (SP 4.0)
2001 Finland
2002 Mexico
2003 Germany

2007 Sweden
2008 Hungary
2008 Tokyo

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the spy fiction and the superhero genres, where a hero hides under a mild-mannered alias.

The musical ran on Broadway from 1997 through January 2000 in several theatres, in several revised versions. It also had a US National tour.

Productions

The Scarlet Pimpernel started as a workshop with Carolee Carmello as Marguerite and directed by Nick Corley, following a concept album (and Top 40 Adult Contempory Hit - "You Are My Home").

The musical debuted on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on October 7, 1997 in previews, officially on November 9, 1997. Directed by Peter H. Hunt, it starred Douglas Sills in the lead role of Sir Percy Blakeney, Christine Andreas playing Marguerite, and Terrence Mann in the role of the villain, Citizen Chauvelin.

In June shortly before the Tony Awards were announced, the show was slated to close. The show's fans known as "The League" decided it should have another try. With falling ticket sales, the show ushered in new producers and reopened with Sills and two new leads, Rex Smith and Rachel York and a vastly rearranged production in October 1998 (a year after the previous opening). The show closed at the Minskoff Theatre on May 30, 1999. It had a mini-tour of a scaled-down version in the Summer of 1999 with three new leads. The revised version (called the 3.0 version) opened on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on September 7, 1999, closing on January 2, 2000 for a grand total of 772 performances and 39 previews. The cast starred Ron Bohmer, Marc Kudisch and Carolee Carmello. Like Wildhorn's two other big budget Broadway efforts (Jekyll & Hyde and The Civil War), the musical closed having lost money.[1]

A US National tour began on February 20, 2000 through April 1, 2001, directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom with Douglas Sills re-creating his role and with Amy Bodnar as Marguerite and William Paul Michals as Chauvelin.[2] [3] Sills was replaced by Robert Patteri and finally Ron Bohmer.

The musical has had numerous regional US productions and has been produced in Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Mexico, as well as Malta and Norway, among others.

It has also been produced by the Japanese Takarazuka Revue under the guidance of Frank Wildhorn, which had previously commissioned Never Say Goodbye from Wildhorn in 2006. The show ran from June to October 2008 and was performed by the group's Star Troupe. It starred Kei Aran as Percy, Asuka Tono as Marguerite, and Reon Yuzuki as Chauvelin.

Recordings

Commercial recordings

Concept Album (1992)
Features Chuck Wagner as Percy, Linda Eder as Marguerite and David Clemmons as Chauvelin. Orchestrations on this album are more contemporary versions than are found in other recordings of the show. Songs that are exclusive to this release are: "Home Again," "Marguerite" (Substituted later for "Where's The Girl?"), "Now When The Rain Falls," "Our Separate Ways" and "There Never Was A Time."
Original Broadway Cast Album (1998)
Features Douglas Sills as Percy, Christine Andreas as Marguerite and Terrence Mann as Chauvelin. This recording has songs from the first version of the Broadway production which had some major alterations later on.
Encore! Album (1999)
Features the same cast as the OBC Album. This recording was created to reflect the changes in the production when the first version didn't live up to expectations on Broadway. Only four songs were re-recorded for this album. Rex Smith recorded "Where's The Girl" and "Falcon In The Dive" while Rachel York sings "Storybook" and "I'll Forget You." Also included are two songs from the concept album, "You Are My Home" and "Only Love."
German Highlights (2003)
Features Christoph Goetten as Percy, Ann-Christin Elverum as Marguerite and Christopher Murray as Chauvelin.
See: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/5205
Austrian Highlights (2007)
See: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/7787
Norwegian Cast (2008)
See: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/12632

Demo/Promotional recordings

Pre-Broadway Demo (1996)
Features Chuck Wagner as Percy, Linda Eder as Marguerite and Michael Lanning as Chauvelin. Similar to the concept recording above but with a few new songs and orchestrations that aren't in the contemporary style that the concept recording featured. Rob Evan and others also sang on this demo. The one song exclusive to this release is "High Time."
See: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/6619
Hungarian Promo (2007)
See: http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/6802

Plot

The following is the current version, The Scarlet Pimpernel 4.0.

Act 1

The play opens at La Comedie Française, an elegant theatre where Marguerite St. Just is performing in her final show ("Storybook"). As she announces to the crowd her marriage to Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English aristocrat, Citizen Chauvelin, a fanatical agent of the French republican revolutionaries, closes the theatre, before the performance is finished. The two leave for England, and Citizen Chauvelin oversees several executions by guillotine in the miserable streets of Paris ("Madame Guillotine"). Percy and Marguerite wed in England ("You Are My Home"). However, on the night of their wedding, Percy learns that his wife betrayed his friend the Marquis de St. Cyr to the revolutionary government, ultimately leading to the Marquis' execution by guillotine ("Prayer"). The Blakeneys' marriage grows cold and Percy determines to make amends for his friend's death by saving other innocents from the guillotine. He takes on the identity of "the Scarlet Pimpernel" and convinces some of his friends (subsequently called "bounders") to join him in his daring rescue attempts. The band pretend to be inane fops, effectively throwing off any suspicions about the identity of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel ("Into the Fire").

The League rescues several potential victims of the guillotine in Paris the following day ("The Rescue"). Chauvelin is sent to England with orders from Robespierre to discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel ("Falcon in the Dive"). He departs for England, in hope that Marguerite will help him once more.

Marie, Marguerite's old costume designer and best friend, is painting Percy's portrait. Marguerite cannot seem to understand how he is so drastically different from the man whom she married ("When I Look At You"). She excuses herself when talk of the Pimpernel comes to fluster and bewilder the women in her parlor ("The Scarlet Pimpernel"). Armand, Marguerite's brother and a secret member of the League, tells her that he is leaving; upset because he is the only one whom Marguerite feels she can fully trust, she begs him to stay, but he leaves ("You Are My Home (Reprise)"). Percy looks out of his balcony to see her in awe, yet at the same time confused at how he should act around her ("When I Look At You (Reprise)"). Chauvelin enters and attempts to convince her to join him in his mission to snatch the Pimpernel, who the French believe is a member of their circle ("Where's the Girl?"). She tells him to leave.

Percy and the league are getting ready for the big ball the following evening. He tells them it is a man's duty to dress elegantly and flamboyantly, and they all display the latest fashion ("The Creation of Men"). Marguerite receives a note from Chauvelin, now standing in the house, who enlists her aid, threatening to have her captured brother Armand guillotined if she refuses ("Marguerite's Dilemma"). Confused, she is unsure if she can trust him. Chauvelin is unsure that he can trust her; furthermore, can Percy trust his wife whom he sees speaking to Chauvelin? ("The Riddle")


Act 2

At Lord Grenville's Ball, Percy and the others discuss the Pimpernel, whom they all know is there that evening, but whose identity will not be revealed ("The Scarlet Pimpernel"). He then tells them a poem he has created in honor of the Pimpernel ("They Seek Him Here").

Marguerite leaves to have a conversation with the Scarlet Pimpernel, who remains hidden in the shadows, keeping his identity concealed. She tells him of Chauvelin's plans and explains that she betrayed the Marquis de St. Cyr under coercion. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Percy, now understands why he has loved Marguerite all along - and that she has remained the same ("She Was There"). The league then sets out for France in order to save Armand ("She Was There (Reprise)").

Still unaware of the Pimpernel's identity, Marguerite does the same. Disguised as a tart, Marguerite attempts to uncover information about her brother, but is quickly recognized and apprehended by Chauvelin ("Storybook (Reprise)"). While Chauvelin admires her courageous efforts, he is angry that she was defying his threats, and sends her to prison ("Where's the Girl? (Reprise)").

Marguerite finds her brother Armand in prison, and the two console in each other; Armand assures her that The Pimpernel, who he reveals by accident to be Percy, will save them ("You Are My Home (Reprise)"). Refusing to believe that Percy is the Pimpernel and that anyone will save them, she mourns the loss of him and of her life ("I'll Forget You"). However, Chauvelin allows the two to escape, knowing that Armand will head for the hide-out of the Scarlet Pimpernel. They find him in a town on the French coast, where Marguerite learns her husband's true identity ("Armand and Marguerite Escape Prison").

Chauvelin confronts the Scarlet Pimpernel, Percy, in a duel. Marguerite steps in several times to help Percy, but Chauvelin still wins ("The Duel"). Percy is then immediately sentenced to the guillotine. However, he outwits Chauvelin one last time - Marie (who having married Tussaud is revealed to be Marie Tussaud) has created a fake wax head to fool Chauvelin.

Percy, Marguerite, and Armand escape safely to England, after tying Chauvelin up and "revealing" him to be the Pimpernel. Marguerite and Percy confide in each other the true love that they have always had for each other ("When I Look at You (Reprise)").

Characters

  • Marguerite St.Just**
  • Percy Blakeney** (Grappin & The Scarlet Pimpernel)
  • Chauvelin**
  • Armand St.Just**
  • Marie Grosholtz**
  • St. Cyr*
  • Tussaud
  • Mercier (aid to Chauvelin)
  • Coupeau (aid to Chauvelin)
  • Jessup (Butler to Percy)
  • Ozzy* (Bounder)
  • Dewhurst* (Bounder)
  • Elton* (Bounder)
  • Farleigh* (Bounder)
  • Hal* (Bounder)
  • Ben* (Bounder)
  • Prince of Wales*
  • Robespierre
  • Sentry (Royal Palace)
  • SATB Chorus - Cupids of the Comedie Française, Soldiers, Prisoners, Paris Street Mob, Royal Ball Guests, Six Girl Servants at the Blakeney Estate

(**) five principal vocal parts
(*) eight sub-principal vocal parts

Songs


However, changes were made to the song list after a number of previews on Broadway:

Cast Lists

(Roles are listed in order of importance)

SP 1.0 : The Original Broadway Cast (Minskoff)

SP 2.0 : The Replacement Broadway Cast (Minskoff)

SP 3.0 : The Neil Simon Theatre Broadway Cast

SP 4.0 : The National Tour

Awards and nominations

1998 Tony Award Nominations

1998 Drama Desk Award Nominations

  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical - Douglas Sills (Nominated)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music - Frank Wildhorn (Nominated)

1998 Outer Critics Circle Award Nomations

  • Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor - Douglas Sills (Nominated)
  • Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical (Nominated)
  • Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Costumes - Jane Greenwood (Nominated)
  • Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Lighting - Natasha Katz (Nominated)

1998 Theatre World Award Nominations

Notes and references

  1. ^ McKinley, Jesse."On Stage and Off:'Jekyll and Hyde' Among Closings",The New York Times, November 10, 2000
  2. ^ Taylor, Markland, "Legit Reviews: Road; The Scarlet Pimpernel", Variety, February 28, 2000 - March 5, 2000, p. 58
  3. ^ Jones, Kenneth."Douglas Sills Will Buckle His Swash For Scarlet Pimpernel Tour in 2000",playbill.com, December 22, 1999


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