The Scarlet Pimpernel opened on Broadway in 1997, based on the novel by
Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of
Terror of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the spy fiction
and the superhero genres, where a hero hides under a mild-mannered alias.
Act I
The play opens at
La Comédie Francaise, an elegant theatre where Marguerite St. Just is
performing in her final show ("Storybook"). As she announces to the
crowd her marriage to wealthy English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney, Citizen
Chauvelin, a fanatical agent of the French republican revolutionaries, closes
the theatre before the performance is finished. Percy, Marguerite, and her
brother, Armand, leave for England, and Chauvelin oversees the execution of the
Marquis de St.-Cyr by guillotine in the miserable streets of Paris
("Madame Guillotine").
Percy and
Marguerite wed in England ("Believe"). However, on the night of their
wedding, Percy learns that his wife betrayed the Marquis de St.-Cyr, his
friend, to the revolutionary government ("Wedding Dance").
Heartbroken, Percy is torn between his love for Marguerite and the knowledge of
what she has done ("Prayer"). The Blakeneys' marriage grows cold.
Percy determines
to make amends for his friend's death by saving other innocents from the
guillotine. He takes on the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel and convinces
some of his friends (subsequently called "bounders") to join him in
his daring rescue attempts; Armand insists on being included ("Into the
Fire"). The band pretend to be inane fops, effectively throwing off any
suspicions about the identity of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Under
Percy's strict orders, Marguerite is told nothing of this.
Over the next
five weeks, the League rescues many potential victims of the guillotine in
Paris ("The Rescue"). The furious Robespierre orders Chauvelin to
discover the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel with the help of a Belgian spy
named Grappin (Percy in disguise). Frustrated, Chauvelin vows to succeed
("Falcon in the Dive").
Back in England,
Marie, Marguerite's old costume designer and best friend, has come to the
Blakeney estate and is painting Percy's portrait. The Blakeneys' maids gossip
about the Scarlet Pimpernel with Percy, who continues his foppish act
("Scarlet Pimpernel Transition"). Marguerite cannot understand how
Percy is so drastically different from the man whom she married ("When I
Look at You").
Informed that she
has a visitor in the garden, Marguerite goes outside. Percy looks out at her in
awe, yet remains confused about how he should act around her ("When I Look
at You (Reprise)"). Marguerite's visitor turns out to be Chauvelin, who
attempts to convince her to join him in his mission to unmask the Pimpernel, as
the French believe he is a member of the Blakeneys' circle. Percy joins the
conversation and perplexes Chauvelin with his ridiculous ways. When Percy
leaves, Chauvelin tries to remind Marguerite of the fiery passion they once
shared for the Revolution and each other ("Where's the Girl?").
Marguerite rejects Chauvelin's advances and sends him away.
Armand, just
returned from a trip for the League, tells Marguerite that he is going on
another trip, this time to France. She becomes upset because she believes that
Armand is putting himself in danger—and because he is the only one whom
Marguerite feels truly loves her. Marguerite begs Armand to stay, but after
trying to comfort her, he leaves, taking Marie back to Paris with him to assist
the League ("You Are My Home (Reprise)").
Percy tells his
remaining men that the Prince of Wales, suspicious of their trips to France,
wants to meet with them. To allay the Prince's suspicions, Percy shows the
League how it is a man's duty to dress elegantly and flamboyantly, and they all
display the latest fashion ("The Creation of Man"). At the palace,
the League convinces the Prince that they have nothing to do with the
Pimpernel's activities.
Chauvelin arrives
to meet with the Prince but is brushed aside so that the League can help the
Prince select his attire for the royal ball that night. Having received a note
from Chauvelin, Marguerite meets him the palace, and Chauvelin once again
enlists her aid. Armand has been captured in France, and Chauvelin threatens to
have him guillotined if Marguerite refuses to help find the Pimpernel
("Marguerite's Dilemma"). Both Marguerite and Chauvelin wonder if
they can trust each other; Percy finds them talking and wonders if he, too, can
trust his wife ("The Riddle").
Act II
At the Prince's
ball, Percy and the other guests discuss the Pimpernel, who they all know is
there that evening ("The Scarlet Pimpernel"). Percy then recites a
poem he has created in honor of the Pimpernel, and the guests join in
("They Seek Him Here").
Marguerite,
desperate, convinces one of Percy's men to ask the Pimpernel to meet her on the
footbridge at one o'clock ("The Gavotte"). She informs Chauvelin of
the plan and goes to the footbridge. Percy comes but remains hidden in the
shadows, keeping his identity concealed. Marguerite tells him of Chauvelin's
plans and explains that she betrayed the Marquis de St.-Cyr under coercion.
Torn, Marguerite begs the Pimpernel to escape before Chauvelin arrives, but the
Pimpernel promises to save Armand and sends Marguerite away. Overjoyed, Percy
now understands why he has loved Marguerite all along—and that she has always
remained the same ("She Was There"). Chauvelin arrives, but Percy's
antics fluster him into leaving without discovering the Pimpernel's identity.
The League then sets out for France to save Armand.
Still unaware of
the Pimpernel's identity, Marguerite does the same. Disguised as a tart,
Marguerite attempts to uncover information about her brother, but she is
quickly recognized and apprehended by Chauvelin ("Storybook
(Reprise)"). While Chauvelin admires Marguerite's courageous efforts, he
is angry that she was defying his threats, and he sends her to prison with
Armand.
Unable to get
access to Marguerite and Armand, Grappin poses a plot to Chauvelin to have
Armand lead them to the secret harbor that the League uses, where they can
capture the entire group. Grappin tries to convince Chauvelin to let him
dispose of Marguerite, but Chauvelin orders him to stick to the plan. Alone,
Chauvelin rages over his failure to win Marguerite back ("Where's the
Girl? (Reprise)").
The League meets
with Percy, Marie, and Tussaud (Marie's fiancé) in Paris to try to find a way
to save Marguerite and Armand. Unable to get close to them, even disguised as
Grappin, Percy starts to think the situation is almost hopeless. He vows to go
it alone, not wanting the rest of the League to continue to risk themselves,
but they re-assuredly state they will stand by him ("Into the Fire
(Reprise)").
In prison, Armand
assures Marguerite that the Pimpernel will save them. Refusing to believe it,
Marguerite mourns the loss of Percy and of her life ("I'll Forget
You"). However, the two are "rescued" by "League
members" and set off for the League's harbor at the coastal town of
Michelon, having no idea that Chauvelin is on their trail. On the way,
Marguerite learns her husband's secret identity.
At Michelon,
Marguerite and Armand discover that a guillotine has been erected at the
harbor. Chauvelin and his soldiers arrive, and when Marguerite desperately
calls for Percy to run, Chauvelin finally begins to suspect who his adversary
truly is.
Grappin turns up
and informs Chauvelin that the Pimpernel—who Grappin confirms is Sir Percy
Blakeney—is heading for Calais. Chauvelin sends some of his men off to
intercept the Pimpernel but still keeps soldiers to assist him. When Percy
"accidentally" lets his identity slip, he and Chauvelin duel.
Marguerite steps in several times to help Percy, but Chauvelin still wins
("The Duel"). Percy is then immediately guillotined.
Confident in his
triumph, Chauvelin sends most of his remaining soldiers away to carry the news
to Robespierre, leaving only a small squad. However, to Chauvelin's utter
bewilderment, Percy stands up from the guillotine unharmed. The head that fell
is, in fact, a wax one that Marie (who, having married Tussaud, is revealed to
be Marie Tussaud) created to fool Chauvelin. The whole duel and execution was
but a ruse to lull Chauvelin into a sense of overconfidence and send the
majority of his forces away. The remaining soldiers turn out to be the League
in disguise.
Percy's men tie
up Chauvelin and leave him with planted evidence incriminating him as the
Scarlet Pimpernel. Percy, Marguerite, Armand, and the bounders then set off for
England. Marguerite and Percy confide in each other the true love that they
have always had for each other ("Finale/When I Look at You
(Reprise)").
