Musical Monday: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Last week I excitedly attended the 2019 Manhattan Concert Productions Broadway Series performance of The Scarlet Pimpernel at Lincoln Center. It was the seventh year of the MCP Broadway Series with past years featuring Titanic, Ragtime, The Secret Garden, and more. With a star studded cast, a 200 person backing choir, and a massive orchestra, there were plenty of things to really enjoy, even if I was left wondering if there were other shows I’d rather see performed in such a concert format.

The named cast alone was enough to get me excited for the performance: Norm Lewis (Phantom of the Opera, Once of the Island), Corey Cott (Newsies, Bandstand), Laura Osnes (Bonnie & Clyde, Cinderella), Tony Yazbeck (TonyÒ Award for On the Town), Alex Newell (Once on this Island), and many more incredible performers with a laundry list of Broadway experience. They didn’t disappoint. I could listen to Mr. Lewis sing just about any song in the world, and Ms. Osnes is phenomenally talented. Mr. Yazbeck’s comic timing is matched perhaps only by his dancing. I write all of this to say that such a talented list of performers could make me enjoy just about any show. They were great, and when backed up by a massive choir, there was just a larger than life, theatrical atmosphere.

I have mixed emotions about The Scarlet Pimpernel as a show. I wasn’t terribly familiar with it going into the performance, admittedly, but the music really reminded me of Phantom of the Opera. This isn’t a dig necessarily, and perhaps it is somewhat due to the similar times in which they were written, but when the second act began at a masked ball, I simply smiled. The Scarlet Pimpernel takes place during the French revolution, which unsurprisingly reminded me of another musical some of you may have heard of—Les Miserables. This isn’t to say that I felt the play to be derivative. Setting and feeling are not something that can be held solely by a play. Unfortunately, these comparisons might have affected my enjoyment of the play. When The Scarlet Pimpernel is funny, which it was quite often, I thoroughly enjoyed it. When the musical strayed too much into the plot on love or the seriousness of the French revolution, I was substantially less interested.

The only real downside to the concert performance is that in a massive performance hall there were moments when the acoustics weren’t great. Combine that with some songs that were quite wordy (not a negative on its own), and there were moments I had trouble making out what the actors were saying/singing. This was a relatively minor hiccup and did not detract from my enjoyment of the performance, but it did get me thinking about what the show I would most want to see in this type of performance. Some shows wouldn’t work, I’d think, as you gain scale but lose intimacy. Once or Fun Home would make for strange bedfellows with a 200-person chorus. Similarly, I think a show that is incredibly wordy could be tough (though I know there have been quite successful concert performances of some Sondheim shows.) I want to say Les Mis, but this has been done already to some acclaim. It is a question I will likely continue to ponder and change my answer daily. 

I am glad I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel. It is not my favorite musical, but it was an opportunity to see some performers I love having fun on stage. I am excited to see what Manhattan Concert Productions brings to the stage next year. Maybe by that time I’ll actually have a concrete answer on what musical I would most like to see in this setting.