The Scarlet Pimpernel (musical)


The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the 1905 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.
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 , Christine Andreas, Terrance Mann, Marine Jahan, Tim Shew, Elizabeth Ward, Philip Hoffman, James Judy, Sandy Rosenberg, Pamela Burrell, Gilles Chiasson, Ed Dixon, Allen Fitzpatrick, Bill Bowers, Adam Pelty, Ron Sharpe, William Thomas Evans, Dave Clemmons, R.F. Daley, David Cromwell, Ken Labey, Eric Bennyhoff, Jeff Gardner, James Dybas, Melissa Hart, and Alison Lory.
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. 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 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, the musical closed having lost money.
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. 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, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Mexico, Malta, and Norway, among others.
It has also been produced by the Japanese Takarazuka Revue, which had previously commissioned Never Say Goodbye from Frank Wildhorn in 2006, under the guidance of Wildhorn himself. Wildhorn also penned two additional songs exclusively for the Takarazuka production of the show, "A Piece of Courage" and "Days of Glory". 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. It was performed again by the Revue from April to June 2010, this time by the Moon Troupe. Hiromu Kiriya and Yuki Aono starred as Percy and Marguerite, respectively, with Masaki Ryuu and Rio Asumi double-cast as Chauvelin. It was then again performed by the Star Troupe, from March to June 2017, starring Yuzuru Kurenai as Percy, Airi Kisaki as Marguerite and Makoto Rei as Chauvelin.
The show was also produced in Mexico City by Bernstein-Peralta Productions. It opened at Teatro Nextel del Parque on November 27, 2014 and closed on December 16, 2014. It ran for 16 performances including 1 preview. It was directed by Ricardo Diaz and the cast featured Irasema Terrazas, Luis Rene Aguirre, Yolanda Orrantia and Efrain Berry.
In October 2015 on an airing of "Frank Wildhorn & Friends" on PBS's 66th & Broadway, Wildhorn announced the musical has been in talks to be revived again in the next years.

Recordings

Commercial recordings

Concept Album (1992)

Original Broadway Cast Album (1998)

Encore! Album (1999)

German Highlights (2003)

Austrian Highlights (2007)

Norwegian Cast (2008)

Demo/Promotional recordings

Pre-Broadway Demo (1996)

Hungarian Promo (2007)

Plot

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

Act 1

The play opens at La Comédie Française, an elegant theatre where Marguerite St. Just is performing in her final show. As she announces to the crowd her marriage to wealthy English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney, Citizen Chauvelin, a fanatical agent of the French republican revolutionaries, closes the theatre before the performance is finished. Percy, Marguerite, and her brother, Armand, leave for England, and Chauvelin oversees the execution of the Marquis de St.-Cyr by guillotine in the miserable streets of Paris.
Percy and Marguerite wed in England. However, on the night of their wedding, Percy learns that his wife betrayed the Marquis de St.-Cyr, his friend, to the revolutionary government. Heartbroken, Percy is torn between his love for Marguerite and the knowledge of what she has done. The Blakeneys' marriage grows cold.
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 to join him in his daring rescue attempts; Armand, Marguerite's brother, insists on being included. The band pretend to be inane fops, effectively throwing off any suspicions about the identity of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Under Percy's strict orders, Marguerite is told nothing of this.
Over the next five weeks, the League rescues many potential victims of the guillotine in Paris. The furious Robespierre orders Chauvelin to discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel with the help of a Belgian spy named Grappin. Frustrated, Chauvelin vows to succeed.
Back in England, Marie, Marguerite's old costume designer and best friend, has come to the Blakeney estate and is painting Percy's portrait. The Blakeneys' maids gossip about the Scarlet Pimpernel with Percy, who continues his foppish act. Marguerite cannot understand how Percy is so drastically different from the man whom she married.
Informed that she has a visitor in the garden, Marguerite goes outside. Percy looks out at her in awe, yet remains confused about how he should act around her. Marguerite's visitor turns out to be Chauvelin, who attempts to convince her to join him in his mission to unmask the Pimpernel, as the French believe he is a member of the Blakeney's circle. Percy joins the conversation and perplexes Chauvelin with his ridiculous ways. When Percy leaves, Chauvelin tries to remind Marguerite of the fiery passion they once shared for the Revolution and each other. Marguerite rejects Chauvelin's advances and sends him away.
Armand, just returned from a trip for the League, tells Marguerite that he is going on another trip, this time to France. She becomes upset because she believes that Armand is putting himself in danger—and because he is the only one whom Marguerite feels truly loves her. Marguerite begs Armand to stay, but after trying to comfort her, he leaves, taking Marie back to Paris with him to assist the League.
Percy tells his remaining men that the Prince of Wales, suspicious of their trips to France, wants to meet with them. To allay the Prince's suspicions, Percy shows the League how it is a man's duty to dress elegantly and flamboyantly, and they all display the latest fashion. At the palace, the League convinces the Prince that they have nothing to do with the Pimpernel's activities.
Chauvelin arrives to meet with the Prince but is brushed aside so that the League can help the Prince select his attire for the royal ball that night. Having received a note from Chauvelin, Marguerite meets him at the palace, and Chauvelin once again enlists her aid. Armand has been captured in France, and Chauvelin threatens to have him guillotined if Marguerite refuses to help find the Pimpernel. Both Marguerite and Chauvelin wonder if they can trust each other; Percy finds them talking and wonders if he, too, can trust his wife.

Act 2

At the Prince's ball, Percy and the other guests discuss the Pimpernel, who they all know is there that evening. Percy then recites a poem he has created in honor of the Pimpernel, and the guests join in.
Marguerite, desperate, convinces one of Percy's men to ask the Pimpernel to meet her on the footbridge at one o'clock. She informs Chauvelin of the plan and goes to the footbridge. Percy comes but remains hidden in the shadows, keeping his identity concealed. Marguerite tells him of Chauvelin's plans and explains that she betrayed the Marquis de St.-Cyr under coercion. Torn, Marguerite begs the Pimpernel to escape before Chauvelin arrives, but the Pimpernel promises to save Armand and sends Marguerite away. Overjoyed, Percy now understands why he has loved Marguerite all along—and that she has always remained the same. Chauvelin arrives, but Percy's antics fluster him into leaving without discovering the Pimpernel's identity. The League then sets out for France to save Armand.
Still unaware of the Pimpernel's identity, Marguerite does the same. Disguised as a tart, Marguerite attempts to uncover information about her brother, but she is quickly recognized and apprehended by Chauvelin. While Chauvelin admires Marguerite's courageous efforts, he is angry that she was defying his threats, and he sends her to prison with Armand.
Unable to get access to Marguerite and Armand, Grappin poses a plot to Chauvelin to have Armand lead them to the secret harbor that the League uses, where they can capture the entire group. Grappin tries to convince Chauvelin to let him dispose of Marguerite, but Chauvelin orders him to stick to the plan. Alone, Chauvelin rages over his failure to win Marguerite back.
The League meets with Percy, Marie, and Tussaud in Paris to try to find a way to save Marguerite and Armand. Unable to get close to them, even disguised as Grappin, Percy starts to think the situation is almost hopeless. He vows to go it alone, not wanting the rest of the League to continue to risk themselves, but they reassuredly state they will stand by him.
In prison, Armand assures Marguerite that the Pimpernel will save them. Refusing to believe it, Marguerite mourns the loss of Percy and of her life. However, the two are "rescued" by "League members" and set off for the League's harbor at the coastal town of Michelon, having no idea that Chauvelin is on their trail. On the way, Marguerite learns her husband's secret identity.
At Michelon, Marguerite and Armand discover that a guillotine has been erected at the harbour. Chauvelin and his soldiers arrive, and when Marguerite desperately calls for Percy to run, Chauvelin finally begins to suspect who his adversary truly is.
Grappin turns up and informs Chauvelin that the Pimpernel—who Grappin confirms is Sir Percy Blakeney—is heading for Calais. Chauvelin sends some of his men off to intercept the Pimpernel but still keeps soldiers to assist him. When Percy "accidentally" lets his identity slip, he and Chauvelin duel. Marguerite steps in several times to help Percy, but Chauvelin still wins. Percy is then immediately guillotined.
Confident in his triumph, Chauvelin sends most of his remaining soldiers away to carry the news to Robespierre, leaving only a small squad. However, to Chauvelin's utter bewilderment, Percy stands up from the guillotine unharmed. The head that fell is, in fact, a wax one that Marie created to fool Chauvelin. The whole duel and execution was but a ruse to lull Chauvelin into a sense of overconfidence and send the majority of his forces away. The remaining soldiers turn out to be the League in disguise.
Percy's men tie up Chauvelin and leave him with planted evidence incriminating him as the Scarlet Pimpernel. Percy, Marguerite, Armand, and the bounders then set off for England. Marguerite and Percy confide in each other the true love that they have always had for each other.

Characters

five principal vocal parts
eight sub-principal vocal parts

Songs

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

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production