Into the Fire (Again): Star Quality
InTheater Magazine
Douglas Sills, Rachel York and Rex Smith
By all accounts, The Scarlet Pimpernel's biggest asset from day one
was Douglas Sills in the title role. Nominated for Tony and Drama
Desk Awards and winner of a Theater World Award, Sills lifted the show by
the sheer force of his talent. "Doug Sills is totally unique on the face
of the earth - and probably in heaven, too," says Nan Knighton. "As
I said in the liner notes [of the Pimpernel CD], when he first
walked in to audition, I thought, 'This is the most handsome man I've
ever seen.' Then we discovered he had a voice from heaven, he could
be heroic, and he was hysterically funny. We made him audition five
or six times, and every time, he completely delivered. He's also one of
God's good human beings."
So...retaining Sills was a top priority. But what was in it for him? He'd
already walked away with the reviews; he'd already done his big number
on the awards shows. Why on earth would he want to perform on version
of the show while rehearsing another version with new co-stars, and
open himself to critics who might somehow like the revised Percy less
than before?
"The truth is, if I had known how difficult it was going to be, I might
not have proceeded," Sills says of rethinking his character in a show he
estimates is "80 to 90 percent different now. I thought my job was
going to be easier, but in some ways, it's tougher. I had become attached
to this guy [Percy] and the way he reacted to things, which is dangerous.
Lanford Wilson used to say in playwriting class, 'The playwright's favorite
scene is probably the one you need to cut.' So I had to become more
dispassionate about the things I had begun to favor and trust Bobby
enough to let go of something I knew and go somewhere where it was all strange."
Sills wasn't blind to the risks of staying on for "Pimp II": "I was
definitely going to leave," he declares. "I said to Ted Forstmann and
[Cablevision/Madison Square Garden honcho] Dave Checketts, 'Guys, I
feel like I've done this for my career artistically and I've also done
it for my career professionally.' But we talked a lot, and I was
able to come up with some very interesting reasons to stay. This was
a chance for me to be inspired by another director and another group
of actors in a character that I grown to love. And the fact that they
valued my work and were very interested in having me stay was an incredible compliment."
Sills fans can rest assured that beefing up the romantic triangle in no way
lessens the hero's preeminant role. "He's much more three-dimensional,"
Sills says of the new Percy, "in that he's subject to self-doubt and discovers
his abilities as he goes through the piece. He also discovers his
vulnerabilities, which you didn't really see before. He was more of
a superhero, which is also valid." Through the confusing transitional
weeks, Sills' revolving co-stars remained supportive. "It was very
weird rehearsing with these two [York and Smith] and then performing with
those two [Andreas and Mann], but all four of them made it easy. They
were all professionals about it, and I can't imagine it going any better."
-Kathy Henderson, InTheater Magazine
November 6, 1998
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