SP: Interview with Nan Knighton

NR: That must have been awful. Now, there were good memories, lots of good memories. What are the best ones? Can you narrow it down?

NK: Wow. Most of the memories are good. All the rehearsal period with Pimpernel 1.0 was fun. Even when we knew there were problems, the cast was so close. We were all so close. Douglas was at the top of it and his mood and persona just filtered down through the whole cast so that we were always laughing. And Terry (Mann) too. Douglas and Terry got along so beautifully. And Christine (Andreas). I almost can't remember a day of rehearsal that we weren't all hysterical. There was the day that Douglas pulled his pants off in the middle of rehearsal and we all laughed for ten minutes.

I have an enormous number of happy moments with Doug. I think of little things - going into his dressing room and just sitting there talking to him and just feeling very happy. Opening Night of Pimpernel 2.0 was a very happy memory because it was the opposite - we found out we had gotten good reviews. That was wonderful. The lack of pain was wonderful. I loved the Closing Night of Pimpernel 2.0, even though I wept through the whole thing from the back of the theater. I hadn't known I was going to cry.

NR: I knew. I certainly cried.

NK: I didn't know I was going to because I knew what the plan was. The plan was to rehearse, go away for the summer and then come back to the Simon.

NR: Yeah, but that group was never going to be there again.

NK: That group was never going to be there again and Douglas was going. I stood in the back of the theater and found myself crying. Bryan (Batt) came up and held my hand for awhile and then I found Michael Hartman. Michael put his arms around me and Michael was sobbing. Michael and I were both standing there sobbing, but it was a happy thing too. It was a very happy night and I think we all felt we had done a really good job. Bobby (Longbottom) had come in and he had really made wonderful changes. The show was solid and we all felt proud of ourselves. We had lots of parties that night. I remember sitting with Michael Hartman and Bill Evans at Marlowe's at three in the morning, all laughing and having a good time. That was a happy memory. The Christmas party first year was so much fun.

NR: I heard about that. Terry Richmond told me about it in her interview.

NK: About eight or nine people in the cast played musical instruments and they formed a little band in the lobby. New Year's Eve, that first year, we all watched the confetti fall, looking through the windows of the Minskoff. I could probably name 250 happy moments.

NR: (laughing) No, that's OK. Would you do it again?

NK: Oh, yeah. I would but I would do it slightly differently and I wouldn't let myself be so stressed out. I was so extraordinarily vulnerable and I think that was why the pain was so enormous that first time. I didn't know what to expect. I was new to it. I would go into it a little more with my eyes wide open and a little less "Pollyanna." I would absolutely do it again...and again and again. Each time I would try to avoid mistakes from before.

NR: There aren't going to be any more rewrites for the tour, are there?

NK: Um...(pause)

NR: Are we into SP4 now?

NK: You will notice that Nan is hesitating with this answer. In the best of all possible worlds, there will be no rewrites because I'm working on a play and all kinds of things that I will need to be doing. It is possible that there will be some rewrites. I'm not going to get into specifics but it is conceivable that there may be some changes, in which case we would be looking at a Pimpernel 4.0.

NR: (incredulous) That big? You're kidding me, because 2.0 and 3.0 weren't really that different. There were modifications, but the biggest differences were in interpretation...and the lack of ladies' room stalls. (laughs)

NK: (laughs) I don't know. I can't say anything more right now because it's too up in the air.

NR: What legacy is Pimpernel going to leave Broadway? You've got the downsizing, corporate producers, casting an unknown as the lead...

NK: I would hope the legacy would be "Never give up." First of all, I hope that it lasts and lasts and continues to have life around the country and the world. In terms of its Broadway run, I would hope the legacy would be "Don't give up on a show too soon." There are shows that I think people have given up on too soon, and they could have run. They could have had audiences had they been handled correctly and I think we're a prime example.

NR: What about the downsizing? Do you think that was successful or not?

NK: We're not the only show that's downsized and I don't think Pimpernel per se is going to be connected with downsizing. Everybody is doing it, or going to be doing it, and that's a problem with the Broadway theater. There is a real problem with the Broadway theater today that has to do with money. The running costs per week are so high that people can't even break even. It's very real, and as long as this situation keeps up, if people are trying to do a show with the French Revolution or whatever, they're going to find that the only way to do it for any length of time is to do it downsized.

NR: Do you think it's going to have to be corporate producers, or will "old-school" producers still do a show?

NK: I think we need more "new old-school" producers. We need more brilliant, excited, younger people coming into this business saying, "I know how to do this better than it's being done. I know where to cut the costs and where to spend the money, and I know how to get a hold of that person with the extra million who wants to put it into this show." We need more of those because there are so few of those left. As for the corporate thing, I just hope the corporate people don't get disillusioned. I hope the corporate people are willing to stay around, because if they continue to take losses, then they're not going to be interested. Right now, the corporate people are a blessing to the theater. Who else would have taken on Pimpernel?

NR: They could afford to advertise, which certainly helped.

NK: They could afford to advertise, which is an extremely important part of it. It really is. I understand so much more now about the business part of it than I did going in. Before we went into rehearsals on Pimpernel 1.0, and people would talk to me about the weekly nut, I would just say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...whatever." They'd say, "Well, we really can't have this." Do you remember in Pimpernel 1.0 when Marguerite came out and stood on her balcony in her nightgown?

NR: Yes.

NK: Well, originally there was a stairway coming out from the balcony that she walked down in her nightgown. They would say that had to be cut because we had to cut down on the weekly nut. I said, "OK" but I didn't get it. Now I get it.

NR: Do you think there's some unknown out there who may actually be cast in a show because Douglas did so well? That casting directors might be more willing to take the risk?

NK: Absolutely. There's no question in my mind about that. That certainly is a legacy that this show will leave as well. He came in, not only a total unknown but somebody who was on the verge of giving up acting, and he wasn't 24. He was 37 and just took Broadway by storm. He got those reviews that said "the best theatrical performance of the decade" or something like that. Biased as I am, he should have won the Tony Award. Absolutely, particularly now that Pimpernel's had a substantial run and it's now a part of Broadway annals. People will look back and say, "Why shouldn't we try this guy? Look what happened with Douglas Sills."