This is the review I sent my friends…I’m basically comparing it to the old show, so if you want to know what I thought of the old show, check out my first experience!
I’m not quite sure why the overture was changed. I liked it more before, but it’s fine now too. The first time I saw the Storybook opening, I found it a little slow, probably just because I was used to Madame Guillotine, which is a very fast-paced opening. But by the third time I’d really grown to like it – it’s as if Marguerite is inviting the audience to go with her into this story – “Let’s live on dreams” – very nice. The whole opening scene is very good at establishing who’s who and the basics of everyone’s characters – Chauvelin shuts down the theatre, Marie speaks out against it, Percy comes to her aid … especially the last one, as it makes his later decision to go all out in helping these people not seem quite so sudden. And then, of course, there’s Marguerite giving the information to Chauvelin, telling the audience right away that she is someone to be pitied, not suspected. Little is left for the audience to piece together themselves. Whether or not that’s a good thing, I don’t know.
Madame Guillotine is alright – it’s a nice effect with Chauvelin levitating off the ground (or so it looks from the front rows :-). I miss the chorus though, with their mob mentality, and what happened to Chauvelin as being “not a man who hungers for blood”? He seems pretty bloodthirsty in this scene. Rex does a really good job of it though, and that last note is incredible.
You Are My Home is lovely for the wedding song. I especially like the new lyrics, which are like wedding vows. “From this day on, I give myself to you” and so on. Although I do find it a little strange for them to be saying to each other “You are all I know”, etc, when they’ve really just met. But overall, it works. I was not a huge fan of “Believe” though, so maybe that’s why I like this so much.
I do miss “Vivez!”, particularly the ladies Digby and Llewellyn. The underscoring of Vivez during Percy and Dewhurt’s conversation seems a little odd. Of course Prayer is still gorgeous and I ADORE that last note! I was a puddle on the floor every time.
I miss some of the silliness of the old library scene, with the cards and everything, but I find the bounders seem a bit more sensible now. Percy’s motives are perhaps explained a bit better as well. Into the Fire is fabulous, as always! I love Elton’s new line about the butterflies. But does Douglas really need to be climbing that rope ladder?? It’s scary! 🙂
The rescue. Hmmm. This was the first part where I REALLY found myself missing the old show. I thought Percy and his men were going to “out-think the French”? I loved the Plague for Sale scene – it was very clever writing. This scene I found confusing and silly. I didn’t understand all of what was going on and I didn’t care.
I think I like the fact that we know Percy is Grappin – it does, again, take away from some of the suspense, but it also allows for some great acting from Douglas in those scenes. Falcon in the Dive is still great – though it was about at this point that it started to bother me that Chauvelin sings almost all his songs directly to the audience. That’s not Rex’s fault, but I found it really annoying.
Again, in the garden scene I missed the ladies, and I missed the song The Scarlet Pimpernel a great deal. What is there is still funny (daggers in his teeth?), but it’s not the same. When I Look At You is still lovely, but I liked the reprise better before. It seems strange for Marguerite to come back onstage and them to sing this to the audience. The scene before with Percy seeing her on the balcony, was one of my favourite moments in the show.
The spelling scene is still hilarious, but I missed the ad-libs! And the way Douglas and Terrence played off each other. Where’s the Girl is very good – the kiss took me by surprise the first time, but I think I like it.
The You Are My Home reprise is nice (but far too short!), though it did leave me wondering for a second, “I thought Percy was her home?”
Creation of Man. Oh dear. Are there words to describe this? I have to admit I laughed (loudly) each time I saw it, but whether that was from what was going on onstage or from the look on Douglas’ face, I can’t say. No, that’s not true…it is very funny, but it’s also VERY over the top. I thought it was just as funny when it was more understated. I have great respect from those guys wearing that stuff! However, that said, the people
around me at all 3 performances were laughing, especially the men, so it does achieve the desired effect.
And, finally, for Act One, The Riddle is still a great song – it seems a little strange to just have Percy come in right in the middle. And, it’s a little hard to take him seriously when he’s still wearing his Creation of Man costume. 🙂 I miss him riding in on the guillotine, but I suppose it makes more sense now.
Okay, Act Two! This is likely the part I was most disappointed with. I loved the craziness of the old ball and Percy reciting his “ballade”. And I’d long hoped that I would someday see some poor soul walk in late. 🙂 It seems strange to have the Prince up on the balcony the whole time. The masks are a little strange, and the gavotte, while a nice idea. goes on a little too long.
I LOVE the new staging of the scene between Marguerite and the Pimpernel. I liked “Only Love”, but I have to admit I don’t really miss it. But I love being able to see Douglas’ expressions and reactions throughout this scene. He has the most expressive fact I’ve ever seen, and is such an amazing actor!!!!
She Was There is absolutely lovely and the reprise is great too. The scene between Percy and Chauvelin is similar to the one in the garden – still funny, but I guess I just miss the combination of Douglas and Terrence. I love the new “April Fool’s!” bit though! 🙂
The Storybook reprise is good – I like Marguerite’s throaty ending, but Chauvelin stamping his foot in time is just a little too much for me. 🙂 The scene in the jail is wonderful – especially Douglas as Grappin, as I said before. And the Where’s the Girl reprise is nice, but he’s singing to the audience again.
The Into the Fire reprise I think was one of the most touching things I’ve ever seen. I never really understood before how the men could just desert Percy, and this showed just how dedicated they all are. It was beautiful.
I miss the whole old jail scene with the Lullaby, the touching brother/sister moment and the beautiful choral ending to You Are My Home. I’ll Forget You is a lovely song, but I would rather have her thinking about Armand than Percy at this point.
And the ending…so much to say! 🙂 I love how Percy reveals he’s Grappin…too funny! And the swordfight is good, and I like Marguerite joining in at first, but it gets to be a little too unbelievable when they’re fighting over her head and such. I screamed every time I saw them chop Douglas’ head off. 🙂 It’s a good effect! And I love the new ending with the When I Look At You reprise, though Lindsey pointed out to me that it looks like Titanic (the movie) and that’s all I can think of now. 🙂
The Quotes:
“We’re waiting for Douglas…do you want to join us?”
Some girls outside the Minskoff, not knowing what they were getting themselves in for. 🙂
“Oh, *wow*!”
Lindsey, after I gave her the opera glasses to see Douglas
“Stop singing to me, please”
Me, during one of Chauvelin’s many solos to the audience
“Why did Rex just walk out of the water…?”
Me again, during the final scene, commenting on how the show looks from the mezzanine
“Here you go…you two are probably bigger fans than we are!”
The people next to us, handing us a free ticket at the end of the show
The cast: (in order of appearance)
|
Marguerite |
RACHEL YORK |
|
Chauvelin |
REX SMITH |
|
Percy |
DOUGLAS SILLS |
|
Marie |
ELIZABETH WARD |
|
Armand |
JAMES BOHANEK |
|
Tussaud |
PHILIP HOFFMAN |
|
Coupeau |
JAMES VAN TREUREN |
|
Mercier |
JEFF GARDNER |
|
Ozzy |
HARVEY EVANS |
|
Elton |
RUSSELL GARRETT |
|
Farleigh |
TOM ZEMON |
|
Dewhurst |
JAMES JUDY |
|
Jessup |
JAMES DYBAS |
|
Ben |
KEN LAND |
|
Hastings |
WILLIAM THOMAS EVANS |
|
Neville |
STEPHEN HOPE |
|
Leggett |
DOUGLAS STORM |
|
Hal |
MICHAEL HANCE |
|
Robespierre |
DAVID CROMWELL |
|
Lady Digby |
SANDY ROSENBERG |
|
Lady Llewellyn |
PAMELA BURRELL |
|
Prince of Wales |
DAVID CROMWELL |
|
Jailer |
T. DOYLE LEVERETT |
|
French Mob, Soldiers and Dancers/ |
STEPHANIE BAST |