The Scarlet Pimpernel

[tumadre2]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 4:29am

I just found my mom's old CD of this show. Any reccomendations for the best songs to listen to first?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 4:32am

Into the Fire, for sure.

Do you know which CD your mom has? There are several cast recordings.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 4:37am

depends on which CD it is. if it's the OBC then I'd say "She Was There". If it's the Encore CD then definitely listen to "I'll Forget You". Same goes for the concept CD as well. but, for sure, put aside an hour and listen to the whole thing. it's a gem of a show with some great songs and one of the funniest books in recent memory. the song lists for 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 used to be listed at "Sir Percy's Place" but that site has since closed. I have always felt very strongly that 3.0 was pimpy at his most entertaining... while the encore CD tries hard to pass as SP 3.0 it really isn't. the best place for pimpy information is www.thepimpernel.com. enjoy!

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 5:18am

If this was such a great show why were the book (and casts) constantly overhauled and why did it move from theatre-to-theatre-to-theatre before finally closing altogether?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 5:23am

Oh, come on, it wasn't like Martin Guerre!

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 5:26am

Well it was almost up there right along side it.
Or is that down there?
I guess it depends on your point of view.

[tumadre2]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:02am

It's got Douglas Sills and Terrance Mann on it?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 6:29am

If this was such a great show why were the book (and casts) constantly overhauled and why did it move from theatre-to-theatre-to-theatre before finally closing altogether?

I'd say it's a result of bad workshopping. This seems to happen with Wildhorn's shows often... Dracula had problems in it's pre-broadway tryout that were clearly pointed out by many at the time but never actually fixed. I've heard dozens say that the pre-broadway Jekyll and Hyde was better than the version that did make Broadway (why they cut "Bring on the Men" will always be a mystery to me). I won't touch Civil War.

As for Scarlet specifically, I saw version 3.0 which, while being just a cut-down cast of 2.0, was fun, often hilarious, and surprisingly enjoyable. I can't speak for 1.0 but it's said that they made major improvements for 2.0 and later. Maybe if 2.0 was the one critics saw (and the changes were made in workshopping), it might have fared a bit better. But they kept changing the show after it had officially open, which just generally... I mean seriously, who does that? If Good Vibrations had opened, gotten its bad reviews, and then while on broadway made changes hoping for critics to come back or something, who would have stood for that?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 10:41am

The first production was my favorite by far. My favorite numbers are:

Madame Guillotine
Prayer
Into the Fire
When I Look at You
The Creation of Man
The Riddle
Only Love
She Was There

Actually, I really like most of the score. The only songs that I did not like were Where's the Girl and You Are My Home.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 10:46am

Much of the score is excellent. Catchy, often humorous. And I actually like "Where's the Girl", as cliche/corny/pop it is.

Although you can't very well tell me you like "They seek him here". It was the one number that I cringed in watching the actors have to bear through it.

I've been looking for good articles about the changes of the various versions, what happened, why, etc. If anybody knows any webpages that do some decent detailing of this...

[beenthere]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 10:47am

I'd suggest you start at the beginning, would you start a book half-way through?

[babygiraffeboots]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 10:55am

The only song I know is "Where's the girl," someone sang it for master class at camp and he had the attention of all the girls. . . and guys in the room.

[timote316]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 11:26am

You have the first, original cast recording.

Personally, my favorites include
Madame Guillotine
Where's the Girl (even though its corny. Terrance Mann is amazing)
Falcon in the Dive (again, Terrance Mann is amazing)

I find the score to be very strong, and the synopsis sounds very interesting

[idinarocksmysocks!510]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 2:37pm

I love this show! If it's playing somewhere near you, I recomend seeing it! I've seen it two times (once in raleigh, nc and once in dc.)

[justme2]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 3:33pm

I saw the production in SF with Rachel York (I think it was her, the program is at home) and Douglas Sills. That's the CD I have as well....which production version is that?

[hannahshule]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:20pm

2.0

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 7:34pm

Saw the original & throughly enjoyed it

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:30pm

Listen to it from beginning to end. Then listen to Terry sing "Where's the Girl?" again, and again, and again......

That was the song that got me hooked on Terrence Mann, although "Falcon in the Dive" had some great vocals too. O.K. I'm going to stop obsessing now.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:31pm

justme2, that was the tour, so you saw Amy Bodnar as Marguerite.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 8/26/05 at 8:49pm

If this isn't too off the direct topic, I've been wondering how close the musical book is to the ACTUAL book. Orczy's novel is on my top five list and has been since I read it freshman year of high school. I'd hate to go see it someday and leave the theatre crying because the ruined it.