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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Mercury’s
‘Pimpernel’</SPAN></B><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN> strikes a chord if not a balance</SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><?xml:namespace
prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">8/13/10<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It is impossible to
not compare <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Scarlet Pimpernel</I>, on
stage at the Brooks Theatre, with <SPAN><EM>Les Misérables</EM>, seemingly on
stage everywhere else.</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Both musicals come
from the same source material—novels written in the late 19<SUP>th</SUP>
century, set during the bloody French revolution, and featuring an undercover
hero sacrificing himself for the greater good.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But the tenor of their titles is just
the start of their disparities.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Les
Miz’s</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> literary roots are
intellectual, weighty and gothic, which carry over to its overly dramatic
staging, score and lyrics.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Its
characters are complex and seek spiritual redemption as well as revolution.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Its hero, a former convict, breaks
parole and risks the wrath of his archenemy by assuming the identity of a
factory owner in order to do good in the world.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pimp</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> springs forth from a
pulp adventure novel with sequels that could have been prequels to the Harlequin
Romance series.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Its hero, a British
aristocrat named Percy Blakeney, risks losing his wife and card carrying
privileges to the Heterosexual Man’s Club by assuming effeminate airs so as not
to let on to his archenemy, Chauvelin, that he is actually the swashbuckling
Scarlet Pimpernel.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">While <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Les Miz</I> takes itself oh so seriously,
with every moment monumental and every song an anthem, <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Pimp</I> carries on with a bit of a wink and
a nod, and most of the songs by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton are romantic and
melodic.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Yes, <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Scarlet Pimpernel</I> is <EM><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="COLOR: black; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Les
Misérables</SPAN></I></EM> with a limp wrist.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pimp</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> is also an oddity,
for there is not quite enough winking and nodding to render it a bona fide
comedy or a parody of productions like <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Les Miz.</I><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is hard to laugh at something that
does not consistently laugh at itself.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It is also hard to
take this musical in earnest because of its occasional moments of hilarity.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In the production number “The Creation
of Man,” for example, Percy convinces his mates to be fellow foppish
revolutionaries, and they adorn the tools of their trade:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>silks, scarves and dresses.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The rest of the musical numbers are
rather somber affairs.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">It is, perhaps, these
disparities that led <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Les Miz</I> to a
Tony Award for Best Musical in 1987 while <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Pimp</I> was merely nominated in 1998, along
with a musical about conjoined twins, before losing out to Disney’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Lion King</I>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In the Mercury Summer
Stock production of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Scarlet
Pimpernel</I>, director Pierre-Jacques Brault doesn’t so much balance the
incongruous elements of this play as embrace them all.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This makes for an entertaining
evening.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The drama is the job
of the talented and very intense ensemble members, who are in chairs on the bare
stage during the entire production unless called upon to march in unison without
going anywhere (a patented <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Les Miz</I>
move).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They also play secondary
roles in support of the wonderful Shane Patrick O’Neill as the bad guy,
Chauvelin.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>O’Neill’s dark and
sinister antagonist is spot on, complete with a bold and beautiful
baritone.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The romance is left
to Jennifer Myor as Percy’s French wife, Marguerite, who does not know about her
husband’s heroics and, oddly, does not call into question his abrupt
transformation.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Myor is featured in
13 songs and has the lungs, charisma and skill to make each one memorable.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The orchestra consists only of string
instruments plus a French horn which, under the fine direction of Eddie Carney,
accentuates the romantic flavor of this production. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The comedy falls to
Brian Marshall, as Percy/the Pimpernel, and Ryan Bergeron, as the only genuinely
gay blade in the band of merry men.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Bergeron hams it up, and he does so exceedingly well, although his
comrades are fairly nondescript.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>They neither complement nor sufficiently offset Bergeron’s flamboyance
and are not nearly as interesting.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Marshall, by design,
does all the winking and nodding in this play, and he has excellent comic
timing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>However, his delicate
features and sweet tenor lend themselves more to Percy’s alter ego than to his
swashbuckler side.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This works, for
the play’s curious lack of action scenes results in more swish than swash, but
greater balance from Marshall would result in more comic
juxtapositions.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">There is only one
piece of stage combat in this play, when the Pimpernel and Chauvelin cross
swords, but it appears as if neither really wants to hurt the other.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Similarly, the ominous guillotine, which
looms large in several scenes as a symbol of the French Reign of Terror, looks
as if it were borrowed from the amateur magician working the Finkleman bar
mitzvah. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">While not much
attention is given to these elements, the same cannot be said for the
costuming.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The rentals and the
period costumes built by Margaret Ruble are spectacular.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">All this suggests
that Brault has placed priority on delivering a show that looks and sounds
grand, despite the implicit imperfections in the play itself.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Mercury Summer Stock has identified this
play’s strengths and successfully matched them with their own.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Scarlet Pimpernel continues through August 21 in The Cleveland Play House’s
Brooks Theatre, </SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">8500
Euclid Ave., Cleveland</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, $10 to $15, call
216-771-5862 or visit
www.mercury-summer-stock.ticketleap.com.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>