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| In the midst of the bloody French Revolution, a group of Englishmen led by the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel have made it their business to rescue doomed aristocrats from the blade of Madame Guillotine. The Pimpernel is none other than London's richest man Sir Percival Blakeney, who is known throughout the country as the biggest fool ever born. He is madly in love with his new wife, French actress Marguerite St. Just, only to discover she is responsible for the death of one of his close friends and may be a French spy, and thus turns his feelings away from her and carries on his secret business. The French are growing irritated by their continuing ruined guillotines, and send the die-hard revolutionary Chauvelin to discover his identity. Chauvelin has had a past affair with Marguerite, and uses his influence over her to make her help him along with the news that her beloved brother Armand has been arrested as a traitor. To save her brother's life she agrees. All the while Marguerite and Percy wonder what went wrong with their marriage. It ends with Armand being rescued, and a final duel between Percy and Chauvelin in which Percy triumphs and his marriage with Marguerite is revived. |
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| Favorite character? Sink me! How can I choose? Percy, Chauvelin, and Armand are all awesome characters and great roles to play. They are all comedic, emotional, attached to great songs, and frankly just those kind of roles that actors want. (Heaviside knows I do!) Percival Blakeney himself is just plain spectacular...one of the funniest roles probably ever written for musical theatre and doubling as the lead with some seriously awesome scenes to act. Plenty of good songs and some demmed hilarious monologues! But then, everyone who knows the show knows that already, right? Chauvelin (personally I prefer Paul over Armand as his first name) is the antagonist, so of course that accounts for something. You know, without badguys life would be boring, and all that rot. A little suspiciously similar to Javert from Les Mis, maybe, in the notion that they are both Frenchman nearly obsessed with finding a certain man, but still a cool part. Armand, well, I'm not sure why I like him, but I think his role would be a good one to have. Percy's obediant dog, I've heard him called, perhaps a sort of wimp physically, but considering he still wouldn't talk after getting beaten up in prison... As for Marguerite, well, I'm not sure what to say. She's a great role and character, really, but I can't identify with her much. |
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| I saw this show only once live starring Ron Bohmer, Amy Bodnar, and William Michals. The costumes were extravagant, the music and songs able to pull anyone through a variety of emotions, and if I laughed any harder I would have fallen out of my seat. Definately a musical worthy of memory. My favorite recording that I've heard is the Original Broadway Cast with Douglas Sills, Terrence Mann (I heard Falcon in the Dive once by Rex Smith...sheesh!), and Christine Andreas. All great, but you don't have to take my word for it. When I first heard the CD I thought Marguerite was played by Barbra Streisand, Andreas sounded so much like her. (Yes, that is a compliment.) |
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| Drawn by Kaysha, aka Amarie...the Winter Garden meets Minskoff! |
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| A school near where I live put on a production of The Scarlet Pimpernel 3.0 awhile back. It was good, I'll admit, for a high school, but having seen the professional show done in full-scale I prefer not to really critique it. Their Chauvelin was a fantastic singer, as was their Marguerite, and although Percy was a vast disappointment voice-wise he was quite funny. Now if only I could talk my drama teacher into doing the same thing... |
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| Alright, this is just something I noticed, but what is it with Scarlet Pimpernel songs that has to do with asking questions? Don't these people know anything?! Where's the Girl? We all know that She Was There, right? But that referes to it in the past tense, so where is she now? Where is my Storybook ending...who knows? Who is The Scarlet Pimpernel? I don't know that, either. It must all be a Riddle! (Okay, that was lame...oh well.) |
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| "...and demmed proud of it!" --Douglas Sills |
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| As much as I like writing about the musical version of this story and its characters, about what happened before, after, and sometimes re-writing what went on during the story, I can't think of anything I would really want to be changed about it. These little fanfics that I've come up with are just the results of certain bursts of inspiration here and there and don't really mean much. In fact, some of them came out too much like the actual story anyway. *shrug* Oh well. Call it exercise. |
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| Masquerade - Marguerite meets the Pimpernel...in this version face-to-face. (More like POTO than SP...and stupid me didn't know the waltz hardly existed back then!) |
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| Percy's Death - Alleged death, actually. Don't get mad. Unwittingly it came out too much like the real thing, anyway. |
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| Scarlet Fever - Armand is sick and Marguerite has a little surprise for Percy. |
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| Sibling Rivalry - Armand and Marguerite have a fight...*gasp!* Blasphemy, I know. |
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| Moving On - The unthinkable has happened...based really on parts from "Ennui." |
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| Young Flower - Emotional rant on little Percy's view of his ailing mother. |
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| Christmas - Absolutely useless spin on Armand and Marguerite around Christmas before they know Percy. |
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| Interrogation - Armand defending Percy while in prison...and taking a great responsibility. |
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| Confrontation - Percy finds someone else. I know, I know...it's sacrilege. Also based a bit on "Ennui." |
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| Has there been a fan cast recording of this yet? If there hasn't, I've got dibs on Percy, Chauvelin, or Armand! |
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| One awesome site that is totally Scarlet Pimpernel. |
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