By Jennifer Mustoe, Craig Mustoe, and Terry Allen
It is something for me to drive 2 1/2 hours from my hometown of Spanish Fork to chilly Logan to see a show. But I felt it was high time I saw what the buzz was in Logan–and Music Theatre West‘s production of The Scarlet Pimpernel, performed at the remarkably exquisite Ellen Eccles Theater right on Main Street made the drive very worth it. The almost to capacity crowd adored the show and there are many reasons why they did.
The Scarlet Pimpernel takes place during The Reign of Terror at the beginning of The French Revolution and consists of two different groups of people–the English nobility and the French “citizens” who are busy killing off the French nobility, led by Robespierre (Brad Noble) and his lackey Chauvelin (Michael Francis), who rocks this role completely. He has energy, anger, passion, seems very comfortable onstage with lots of movement with purpose. I’ll be following this actor’s career, if possible. Percy Blakeney (Kent Braddy), enraged at the slaughter happening in France, gathers his friends and encourages them to become foppish spies that go to France and waylay the guillotine slaughter by causing incidents through stealthy means. The more stealthy they are in France, the more foppish they become when in society, both English and French. Braddy as Percy shines in the comic bits of his role, such as “The Creation of Man” and in the many opportunities to use great comedic timing and movement to show his foppish ways–he is really good with this. I wanted more angst in “Prayer”. However, his final song “When I Look at You” made me cry with all the right feelz.
In the meantime, Percy has fallen in love with the beautiful actress Marguerite St. Just (pronounced juice) played marvelously by Mattie June Smith who sings like an angel, and perhaps owing to her high school years in France, nails the French accent. Her performance was perfect. Really. Singing, acting, the lot. Through a mistake, Percy thinks his new wife is a spy and completely rejects her, to her dismay. She is comforted by her brother Armand (Brady Allen), who also is part of Percy’s League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Smith and Allen have great brother-sister chemistry and their “You Are My Home” is just fabulous. The final “When I Look at You” with Percy is wonderful–tons of loving chemistry and beautiful sound.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a heavy costume show, and this production does not disappoint. Costumer Designer Kelsey Nichols and no doubt a team of seamstresses created some of the most beautiful and outrageously gaudy pieces I’ve ever seen. The hilarious costumes the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel men wore in “Creation of Man” are priceless. Check out what Percy is wearing–little dangling beads from his pantaloons, his hat, everywhere. Such a lot of work for one scene, but so worth it. Choreographer Stephanie White used simple dance steps with her actors and therefore, delightfully, every dance was error free. (I imagine dancing in those big costumes is kinda hard.) I especially loved the masked “The Scarlet Pimpernel”–it was just dramatic enough to be a little edgy and precise. Scenic Designers Jay Richards and Clifton Richards do a fine job, especially with the backdrops. Moving from here to there (a nod to one of the songs–see what I did there?) in England and France requires some imaginations and these two do a fine job. I was a little confused with the second scene just having a black background, but it did highlight the tension of the scene. And the guillotine! This got a lot of oohs and ahhs and a few ouches. C. Richards is also the Fight Choreographer and the sword fights are plenty gnarly. (Go Marguerite!) J. Richards is also the Artistic Director and he does a fine job with a rather large cast and many, many character changes. Debbie Ditton, Assistant Director and Vocal Director has her cast shining–the vocals are amazing, truly beautiful. My husband, Craig, said he loved the lighting by Lighting Designer Bruce Duerden–it added to the mood of each scene tremendously.
I had never been to the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan and I can’t imagine a better first time than seeing The Scarlet Pimpernel here, with its fancy trappings and royal ambience. The theatre is GORGEOUS. It is perfect for this production. I didn’t see a whole lot of children in the audience and there are very slight talks about liasons, the word “lovers” comes up, but it is very slight. However, the guillotine does actually lop off a few heads (not really, of course!), so be prepared if you bring a child. Maybe age 10 and up and talk about this with them. I actually think it’s an excellent history and humanitarian lesson portrayed in The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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The Scarlet Pimpernel is a great show and one that can be enjoyed by all, even non-musical fans. It has comedy, love, swash-buckling, a great bad guy–something for everyone. Go to the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan and be prepared to be mightily entertained–wot?
Music Theatre West presents The Scarlet Pimpernel, Music by Frank Wildhorn, Lyrics and Book by Nan Knighton, based on the novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy
Ellen Eccles Theatre, 43 S Main St, Logan, UT 84321
January 26-27, 29, February 2-3 7:30 PM February 3, 2018 1:30 PM
Tickets: $23, $21, $20, Students K-Univ: $2 off
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