Last night on THE Birthday (I made it!) we went to the Lawrence Welk Theater for a bit of a Broadway fix. I say bit of because Broadway would do well to live up to this excellent cast. Truely a quality performance by ALL last night. The voices were spectacular. The best I've seen since Broadway AND better than most of those. (The Scarlet Pimpernel should be on your list BEFORE April 26 and final curtain. $47 and worth every penny.)
The material calls for a lot of glory notes and every one was hit...especially by my tail bone...that's a LONG first act! 90 minutes! :-) Anyway, couldn't have been a better Birthday. I thought 'How nice, they're doing a perfect performance just for me."
Allan Snyder's (Percy) outrageous energy and comedic flare was perfectly over the top and his vocals beautifuly sung. I really enjoyed his performance a great deal as well as a nice vocal match in Michaelia Leigh. They sure sound good together (Though I think I'd rather see her as Laurie in 'Oklahoma'. (Why was I thinking that?)
Mathew Tyler was well cast as Chauvelin (even he can't pronounce it.) but I 'saw' and 'heard' the 'Phantom'. Let me know when this guy gets THAT role! A beautiful voice in this show as well though as the 'Bad Guy.' Compared to 'Percy'...Chauvelin is stoic and a bit regal in the role.
The ensemble were all stellar and spot on and the chorus filled the little theater with perfection. The sound and lighting were excellent and the sets...the set design couldn't have been better, pure genius.
My Wife thought one of the minor characters, Justin 'Squigs' Robertson (Character Ozzy) took the acting honors...she said 'You just want to follow him to see what he's doing"...I said, "Who, the Mr. Toad guy?" (Perfect casting and costuming by the way for 'Wind In The Willows')...she said "Yes, he's an excellent actor." Well so there ya go Mr. Robertson...you've arrived.
I did find the accents hilarious at times...but who CAN pronounce French, these are sounds somewhat unatural to the human vocal chords to begin with eh? Anthony St Martin as Robspierre was a wonderful cross between Bela Lugosi and the Swedish Chef...the 'Brother' (Chanlon Jay Kaufman) had a nice Irish Brogue and the 'Man In Black' (Tyler) had a vaguely Romainian lilt as well. But they all aquited themselves in fine fashion when it came to the MANY songs...this show is a difficult one to sing I'm sure.
Finally, you guys should be a touring or stock company. Would love to see the whole bunch again someday. ('Wind In The Willows'? THANK YOU Mr. Squigs!!)
By the way, a tip of the hat to Stephan Knoll-Gentry, who's 'Elton' was kick in the ass funny and really stood out.
Bottom Line: The Scarlet Pimpernel ***** 5 out of 5.
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