Based in New Milton, Hampshire
Milton Musical Society - The Scarlet Pimpernel
Reviewed by: Stuart Ardern on Wednesday 18 May 2011
The structure of The Scarlet Pimpernel is unusual for a musical, with a very small nucleus of leads, and mainly male supporting roles. The opening is unusual too, with the leading lady (Kamya Rawstron-Brake as Marguerite) stepping front-of-curtain to deliver a solo opening song. The piece is very demanding on its lead characters, both in singing and in acting, and this production really delivered the goods. It was funny, it was romantic, it was tense and it was spectacular.
There was very little in the way of set - a couple of stools, a few comfortable chairs and a guillotine. Projecting scenic backgrounds (black-and-white drawings) onto an cloth was something of a compromise. Occasionally, upstage characters were painted with the background image, but most of the action was downstage, and the result was very slick transition between scenes, so that the action was virtually continuous.
The story pits the English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney (Alex Cook) against The Terror phase of the French Revolution represented by Chauvelin (Andrew Rawstron) with Marguerite between them, married to Blakeney but in the role of unwilling role of informer. Most of the humour comes from Blakeney and his coterie of English Gentlemen - a very strong singing team, exquisitely costumed by Anne Ponting. The threat came from the revolutionary French - on behalf of Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety - and the spectacle was delivered by neat choreography, swordfights and the support of a huge chorus.
Reviewed by: Stuart Ardern on Wednesday 18 May 2011
The structure of The Scarlet Pimpernel is unusual for a musical, with a very small nucleus of leads, and mainly male supporting roles. The opening is unusual too, with the leading lady (Kamya Rawstron-Brake as Marguerite) stepping front-of-curtain to deliver a solo opening song. The piece is very demanding on its lead characters, both in singing and in acting, and this production really delivered the goods. It was funny, it was romantic, it was tense and it was spectacular.
There was very little in the way of set - a couple of stools, a few comfortable chairs and a guillotine. Projecting scenic backgrounds (black-and-white drawings) onto an cloth was something of a compromise. Occasionally, upstage characters were painted with the background image, but most of the action was downstage, and the result was very slick transition between scenes, so that the action was virtually continuous.
The story pits the English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney (Alex Cook) against The Terror phase of the French Revolution represented by Chauvelin (Andrew Rawstron) with Marguerite between them, married to Blakeney but in the role of unwilling role of informer. Most of the humour comes from Blakeney and his coterie of English Gentlemen - a very strong singing team, exquisitely costumed by Anne Ponting. The threat came from the revolutionary French - on behalf of Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety - and the spectacle was delivered by neat choreography, swordfights and the support of a huge chorus.
The Scarlet PimpernelThu, 05/19/2011 - 19:30 Milton Musical Society. Regent Centre.
I have always loved the Scarlet Pimpernel stories so I was not going to miss the stage version.
From Marguerite’s entrance from behind the curtain, there was a lot of information that needed to be presented to us which slowed the start down, but we were soon dragged into the plot by the very realistic guillotine making its entrance and the French peasants, one of whom was really into the part, running through the auditorium and menacing the audience.
Alex Cook (Sir Percy Blakeney) is excellent as the foppish Percy, and so much the man as the Scarlet Pimpernel - his voice, both singing and speaking, beautiful and somewhat sexy. Kamya Rawstron Brake (Marguerite St. Just) is delicate yet strong and Andrew Rawstron (Chauvelin) is such a believable meanie whose only weakness is Marguerite.The chorus are magnificent as the French peasants and the unfortunate Aristocracy.
But I have to reserve praise for The Bounders. Oh, the affront when they were told they had to be very foppish, and the joy and energy used to play the parts - I just loved them, especially Ozzy (Michael Pickford) and Elton (Matt Traher -my companion fears you need mothering, Matt!) Their costumes were beautifully thought-out and well fitted - which reflected on Percy’s costume, as it lacked the same glitter and panache that they had and was not so well fitting; poor Percy also had a shoe malfunction that caught the audience’s eye and caused a stir - although it did not detract from the acting, singing or music.
Ah yes, the music, glorious as it was, it was far too loud, drowning out the principals’ solos at the point of crescendo where they were just beaten into submission by the volume., and at one point drowning the chorus too. There were a few bum notes from the brass section and I wonder - was an 18 piece orchestra really necessary?
If I may suggest one small thing, when moving scenery so obviously, it may have been a good idea to dress the men as footmen so they blended into the show. The women feeding the props, although dressed in black, were also very conspicuous.
The show is a great success, for all my little moans. The audience around me were captured by the story and the little in-jokes. Among the remarks I heard were ‘I really enjoyed that’, & ‘I might come again’.
I have always loved the Scarlet Pimpernel stories so I was not going to miss the stage version.
From Marguerite’s entrance from behind the curtain, there was a lot of information that needed to be presented to us which slowed the start down, but we were soon dragged into the plot by the very realistic guillotine making its entrance and the French peasants, one of whom was really into the part, running through the auditorium and menacing the audience.
Alex Cook (Sir Percy Blakeney) is excellent as the foppish Percy, and so much the man as the Scarlet Pimpernel - his voice, both singing and speaking, beautiful and somewhat sexy. Kamya Rawstron Brake (Marguerite St. Just) is delicate yet strong and Andrew Rawstron (Chauvelin) is such a believable meanie whose only weakness is Marguerite.The chorus are magnificent as the French peasants and the unfortunate Aristocracy.
But I have to reserve praise for The Bounders. Oh, the affront when they were told they had to be very foppish, and the joy and energy used to play the parts - I just loved them, especially Ozzy (Michael Pickford) and Elton (Matt Traher -my companion fears you need mothering, Matt!) Their costumes were beautifully thought-out and well fitted - which reflected on Percy’s costume, as it lacked the same glitter and panache that they had and was not so well fitting; poor Percy also had a shoe malfunction that caught the audience’s eye and caused a stir - although it did not detract from the acting, singing or music.
Ah yes, the music, glorious as it was, it was far too loud, drowning out the principals’ solos at the point of crescendo where they were just beaten into submission by the volume., and at one point drowning the chorus too. There were a few bum notes from the brass section and I wonder - was an 18 piece orchestra really necessary?
If I may suggest one small thing, when moving scenery so obviously, it may have been a good idea to dress the men as footmen so they blended into the show. The women feeding the props, although dressed in black, were also very conspicuous.
The show is a great success, for all my little moans. The audience around me were captured by the story and the little in-jokes. Among the remarks I heard were ‘I really enjoyed that’, & ‘I might come again’.