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I love The Scarlet Pimpernel, both for its importance as
the first of the "hero with a secret identity" stories that
inspired comic books and much else I hold dear (it predates Zorro by
more than a decade) and for the troubled romance that is at its
heart. So when I learned it was being staged as a musical on
Broadway, I couldn't wait. And I wasn't disappointed; it's full of
action, danger, laughs and that romance stuff.
Unfortunately, the critics didn't agree with me; they were savage in
their lack of appreciation. And what they say goes, at least in this
case. The play got rejiggered, which didn't help, and closed before
long. I saw the not-really-improved version in a touring company
version, and can't say I was impressed by the changes in the book, the
music or the cast.
But I still love the Pimpernel. Especially the music, which
ranges from
stately
(my ring tone, by the way)
to
heroic
to
obsessive
to
wistfully
and desperately sad to
the kind of dopey that screams of aristocratic inbreeding. Great
stuff, no matter what the critics may have thought.
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