Thursday, Nov. 20, was opening night for the College of William and Mary theatre department’s fall musical, “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” directed by professor of theatre Laurie J. Wolf.
The musical opened with lead actress Mia Cummings ’28, who played Marguerite St. Just, accompanied by elaborate costumes and stage design. As she gestured out into the crowd to the male lead, Kiran Behr ’27, who played her fiancé Sir Percy Blakeney, the spotlight revealed his character out of the darkness, hinting at how the play would continue to toy with the audience’s expectations.
“The Scarlet Pimpernel” was written by Frank Wildhorn and with book and lyrics by Nan Knighton, which are based on the classic novel by Baroness Orczy. Taking place during the Reign of Terror period of the French Revolution, the play follows the exploits of British aristocrat Percy Blakeney, who is married to French actress Marguerite St. Just, as he leads his band of men to rescue innocents from the doomed fate of the guillotine. Hiding his identity under the guise of the “Scarlet Pimpernel,” Blakeney must deal with the consequences that his double life has on his marriage. He also has to work to evade Citizen Armand Chauvelin, who is a cunning French agent determined to continue subjugating people to the guillotine and seeks to eliminate the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel who stands in his way. Guided by its dynamic score, the story weaves together themes of romance, comedy and intrigue to tell a story of grand adventure and trickery that had the audience at the edge of their seats.
The audition process for the musical began back in September, with monologue, dance and singing components.
Brennan Gordon Metz ’28, who played Chauvelin, spoke on his audition experience and working with his cast members.
“There was a real energy to the people that ended up getting casted between everyone when we do the scenes together, which looking back is crazy because now, we’re all just like a family,” Metz said.
Once the cast was confirmed, the show moved forward with an ensemble of 14. Rehearsals ranged from 10–12 hours a week, and then amped up to full days in the Glenn Close Theatre the weekend prior to opening night.
Jonathan Aspin ’27, who played Armand St. Just, Marguerite’s younger brother, said visualizing the set while it was being built was a challenge for him during the preparation process.
“When you have a play that is so intricate about a multi-level set and you don’t have those multi-levels for about a month and a half of the rehearsal time, you begin to really want that set up, which, our brilliant stage crafters were spending time building it,” Aspin said. “So we all understood, of course, but I think the biggest challenge was just being able to properly visualize what this will all look like in a proper stage setting when we were originally just in the rehearsal room.”
Actors had different experiences preparing for their different roles. Some found their roles to be a kindred spirit while others had to play with the complexity of how their character could be reinterpreted.
For Abby Brown ’27, who played Marie Grosholtz, Marguerite’s best friend, and worked as the dance captain, the role of Marie felt like an extension of Brown’s own personality.
“I really love how headstrong and set in her beliefs she is,” Brown said. “She isn’t scared to back down from a challenge or scared to back down from an ideal or anything. And I am very passionate about my beliefs and don’t necessarily back down just because someone says I have to, so I feel like we align on those levels a lot.”
Metz, on the other hand, found his character Chauvelin to be more of a challenge to adapt to as he strived to portray the tortured villain.
“It is such a wildly tragic character in my eyes, and the way it’s been played before, I had a problem with how it read in the text. I thought there was something there that hadn’t been explored yet, and that was the softer, childlike individual who is affected differently by things,” Metz said.
Chauvelin’s villainy, along with many of the other characters of the play, tied into the play’s running theme of deception. Chauvelin starred in one of the standout songs “The Riddle,” which emphasized an individual’s multiple identities. Metz emphasized one of the lyrics in this number.
“I think the most important thing that this character says, is that ‘we all have so many faces, the real self often erases,’” Metz said.
The plot of the play itself even feeds into this idea of distrust, with a shocking plot twist at the end. The audience, who had been lulled into a false sense of security of being “in” on the characters’ secrets, gasped at the surprising ending.
As they reflected on the months of work and preparation, the actors echoed each other in their sentiments about how the play’s successful execution was due to the hard work put in both on stage by the cast and behind the scenes by the crew and designers.
“I mean, everyone puts the work in,” Aspin said. “Truly, if any of us were to be sick during this process, we’ve said to each other, we would be screwed. It’s a 14-person cast for a show that’s kind of built for more like 38, so everyone is putting in so much work.”
With such a tight-knit cast for an elaborate production, everyone truly complemented each other on stage. Each character had at least one or two interactions with each of the others, fostering the synergy between actors.
“I couldn’t imagine different people playing different people in this show,” Metz said. “It has been a blessing to have a cast like this. They’re all so talented, hardworking, positive, supportive. Everybody on this cast loves each other. And it has been a privilege to be with such a talented and loving group of people who all care about this show so deeply.”
Brown reflected on her own experience working on the show.
“I hope that the audience realizes how much of a labor of love it is for all of us, because I don’t think that there has been one moment from anyone who has been like, ‘dang it, we got to go to our rehearsal, man. We got to run the show again.’ This is exactly where we want to be. We love it so much. And I also hope that the audience takes away that it’s obvious all the hard work that we’ve put into it and just how genuinely so excited we are for people to see it,” Brown said.
As the audience gave actors a standing ovation upon their final bows, it was clear the audience could feel the actors’ excitement about their opening night, and that the hours of labor and love made for a successful show.
