Masked Hero Steals Stage in
‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’
Actor Sills stars at the Ahmanson,
brings life to musical ‘dramedy’
Long before Zorro liberated the peasants and DC Comics brought
Batman to life, there was another masked avenger who took up
the struggles of the innocent.
Percy, the hero of "The Scarlet Pimpernel," was a swashbuckling
savior who rescued the condemned from the guillotine's chop
during France's Reign of Terror. Although a hero to the public, he
hid his identity from everyone, even his wife.
Actor Douglas Sills brings Percy to life on stage in "The Scarlet
Pimpernel" opening tonight at the Ahmanson Theatre. Sills has
played the challenging, musical role almost continuously for more
than two years; his performance was even nominated for a Tony
Award. But he is not tired of swinging the sword yet.
"It's a very long time for me to play a role," Sills said. "(But)
there's new things to find everyday. The larger a role gets, the
more there is to do with it."
"Pimpernel" is Baroness Emmuska Orczy's classic tale of a
hero's adventures in a time of conflict. Although the novel and the
comedic musical are set in France and England during the
French Revolution, Sills thinks audiences will pick up on the
story's themes – courageous heroes, romance and comedy –
before they notice the background.
"They come in expecting something historical, something like
'Les Miserables,' but I think of it as an adventure story," Sills said,
noting that the drama in the plot balances its comedic moments
and coining it as a "dramedy."
But Sills admits that becoming Percy, a gentleman and hero who
saved lives in 18th century Europe, wasn't easy.
"It's just a real trip for an actor who was trained in a classical
theater to work on dialect and to create different characters
physically to do a history piece," he said. "And sword-fighting and
singing and language – this is sort of a stage actor's dream."
Sills said that although Percy lives a daring life, he is a character
that audiences can relate to, another reason why the role is so
involving. Percy is merely a regular Joe with a couple of problems,
and the way he attempts to conquer them is just a bit unusual.
"The guy is really, in a lot of ways, an every-man who is
confronted with very unusual circumstances. He puts all of his
eggs in the basket of his marriage and on his wedding day he
finds out this woman is someone else – he decides to dedicate
his life to a greater cause and use his intellect to disguise
himself," Sills said. "It's nothing that any of us can't relate to.
Everyone has faced being lied to and everyone's been faced with
a villain or a rival."
Sills said he sees himself in the character, and one would have to
wonder if he did not after melding with the role for so many
months.
"I brought myself to the role as much as I could. You have two
obligations on stage, you have to be honest and interesting."
With a perfect action-packed role and a deep voice to belt out the
musical numbers in "Pimpernel," Sills should generate more than
enough interest from audiences.
When the "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was first published as a novel
just before the turn of the century, it was so popular that Orczy
wrote an entire series to please her readers. Since then, the story
of an unlikely hero whose true identity is disguised from the public
has been retold on the silver screen countless times.
"It's a very enduring storyline. Everyone from Star Wars to Zorro
has been drawn from this character," Sills said. "This is the first
masked (avenger). Hollywood is still drawing on it."
Indeed, moviegoers have cheered on superheroes and masked
men that have emerged in such films as the Superman and
Batman series, countless Robin Hood movies and TV favorites
like the Lone Ranger.
"The audience just goes crazy for it and that is really gratifying,"
Sills said.
-Trisha Kirk, Daily Bruin
May 3, 2000
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