| Our trip to The Scarlet Pimpernel was a bit more involved than we intended. :-) We had tickets for Tuesday night’s performance, but were very disappointed to arrive at the theatre and discover Douglas Sills, one of the main reasons we wanted to see the show, was out that evening. However, we ended up exchanging our tickets for Thursday night’s show instead (on the assurance of Kelly, who knows these things! :-), that Douglas would be back in) and the show ended up being the perfect finale to our trip. Once again, my review needs to begin with the performers, and Mr. Sills in particular. Douglas’ performance was fantastic -- very touching at times, and absolutely hilarious. Plus, what a voice on the man! I was informed after the show that Douglas wasn’t totally “on” for that performance, but if that was an “off” performance, I can’t even begin to imagine a better one!!! |  Douglas Sills as Percy |
 Rex Smith as Chauvelin |
Douglas was certainly not the only reason to see the show, however. I personally was very interested in seeing Rex Smith perform as Chauvelin - regular visitors to this page will know my ... interest ... in the man. :-) He certainly doesn’t get the same chance to dazzle as Douglas does - there’s only one star in this show! :-) - but he gave a fantastic performance. I especially enjoyed his “Madame Guillotine” and “Falcon in the Dive,” but every moment he was on stage was pretty special, as far as I’m concerned. And both Rex and Douglas had the best possible leading lady in Rachel York - it would be hard for any actress to hold her own against two actors like Rex and Douglas, but Rachel’s performance was excellent. | 
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 Douglas and Rachel during the wedding scene |
The three leads were supported perfectly by the rest of the cast. Special mention has to go to James Bohanek as Armand (what a cutie!!!) and Tom Zemon as Farleigh - once again I found one particular member of the supporting cast highly amusing, although the fact that Tom has played Javert might have had something to do with this particular performer! (I have a *slight* fetish when it comes to Javert - nothing to worry about! :-) But the entire ensemble was fantastic, and a good time was had by all. |
The show itself was exactly what I was expecting - a good old-fashioned romp. It is at times hilarious, exciting and touching - sometimes all three at the same time!!! I do have a couple of songs and moments that I miss from the old version (especially the version of “You Are My Home” in the jail, although I do like it as the wedding as well), but these certainly didn't take away from my enjoyment of the show! :-) “Into the Fire” was as rousing as I could have hoped, and every number and scene was pulled off beautifully (with a brief spelling mistake by Rex, but only someone familiar with the show would have picked that up! :-). The sets and costumes were gorgeous - very lavish, and often breath-taking. All in all, it was an extremely entertaining production, one I would see again in an instant!!! Douglas Sills’s performance is worth the price of the ticket itself, and the rest of the production certainly lives up to the same high standards. A thrilling evening of theatre!!!
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