Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – MCP stages an invigorating one night only concert of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL

• By drediman
• February 19, 2019
• No Comments

Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes in Manhattan Concert Productions’ semi-staged concert of “The Scarlet Pimpernel” by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton at the David Geffen Hall.

Last night at a packed David Geffen Hall (it still feels weird saying that) at Lincoln Center, I caught Manhattan Concert Productions’ one night only semi-staged concert of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Frank Wildhorn (music) and Nan Knighton (lyrics and book). The 1997 musical, which is based on Baroness Orczy’s novel of the same name, holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first musicals I saw on Broadway when it played its first of many iterations at the Minskoff Theatre (currently the home of The Lion King). It was therefore a special treat to revisit the material, especially as invigoratingly revived by MCP.

Speaking of MCP, the folks there have been doing top-notch work for a number of years now, particularly its wonderful concert stagings of musicals I fondly grew up with (e.g., Ragtime, The Secret Garden, Crazy for You, Parade – all quite excellent). Their work on The Scarlet Pimpernel is no different, complete with – per usual – a deluxe full orchestra and an energetic, engaged 200-member chorus (Jason Howland was the music supervisor). As for the material itself, Mr. Wildhorn’s score largely remains derivative pop pastiche, with undeniably rousing moments scattered throughout (think Les Miz-lite). Indeed, I challenge you to remain unstirred by “Into the Fire”. Nevertheless, I doubt you’ll hear a better account of the score than last night’s glorious rendition.

For a one night only performance, the amount of work that’s gone into the project was astonishing. Kudos to director Gabriel Barre for bringing The Scarlet Pimpernel back to life in such purposeful, spectacular fashion. The cast was led by Tony Yazbeck as Percy (aka the Scarlet Pimpernel), who deliciously upped the camp and filled the large hall with his powerful, ringing tenor – to the ecstatic delight of the audience. Laura Osnes, who is graduating quite nicely from pure ingénue (Hope in Anything Goes, the title role in Cinderella) into more sophisticated, interesting roles, played a lovely and nuanced Marguerite. The cast also included the very busy Broadway baritone Norm Lewis (back up from DC where he played Harold Hill opposite Jessie Mueller’s Marian in the Kennedy Center’s production of The Music Man), who was an appropriately-stern Chauvelin and in sterling voice. The cast also included Broadway favorites like the dashing Cory Cott as Armand, the fabulous Alex Newell as Farleigh, and the charismatic Drew Gehling as Prince of Wales/Robespierre.

RECOMMENDED

THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Off-Broadway, Musical
Manhattan Concert Productions at the David Geffen Hall
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed