Masked hero steals stage in “˜The Scarlet Pimpernel’

By Trisha Kirk

Daily Bruin Contributor

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.

THEATER: “The Scarlet Pimpernel” opens tonight at
the Ahmanson Theatre and runs through June 18. Tickets range in
price from $25 to $70. For information or reservations call (213)
628-2772 or log on to www.TaperAhmanson.com.