NR: (laughs) What's your favorite memory of the past year and a half?

JD: Fun times together with the company, whether it be at a party or an after-show get-together. This has truly been a wonderful, wonderful family.

NR: Everyone tells me that. It must really be true and not just a story.

JD: Right from the get-go. Right from August, 1997 when we first got together at the Julliard School to start our rehearsals. Everybody just clicked and it's truly been great fun. I've had some joyous times with these people and certainly an awful lot of laughs. There have been wonderful things that have happened. There have been wonderful mistakes that have happened on the stage. (laughs)

NR: Tell me one.

JD: Let's see. There have been a few but one that comes to mind is in the second act, Tussaud's wine cellar got stuck and we had to stop the show for about ten minutes or so. (laughing) Douglas (Sills) went out and entertained the audience and brought Terry Mann out and, last but not least, Douglas brought out his dog, Lucy, our mascot. Lucy did a few tricks and "walk arounds" on the stage. (laughing) We're laughing a lot, aren't we, Nancy? This has been a laugh-filled interview.

NR: (laughing) Of course! We always end up laughing a lot.

Have you ever experienced anything like the League before?

JD: No, not at all. The League is extraordinary. It has changed the whole kind of support group. I never saw when I worked in the theater before...well that was quite awhile ago. I'd been living in Los Angeles for many years, but coming back, I see that this has kind of happened with different shows. I suppose it's because of the way we're able to communicate these days through email and all of those kind of connections that we have. The communication is easier and simpler and we're able to get messages out. Thank God for the League because they've certainly kept The Scarlet Pimpernel going on so many levels.

NR: What type of levels?

JD: Well, I think that just because the League has believed so much in the show, and in all of us, the Pimpernel family, it makes us know that we're on the right track.

NR: It's certainly broken down barriers. The way you all talk about the cast being a family - we've all seen that. I've even found that I've met people in the League who will be my lifelong friends.

JD: What an extraordinary time it's been in terms of the League coming about two or three times and just showering us after the show with all of those flowers on stage, just showering us, throwing them from the audience on us.

NR: Is there anything else that you'd still like to accomplish personally?

JD: I enjoy teaching. I hope to continue doing that. I've been doing some writing. I've had three short stories published. As a matter of fact, I've been keeping a journal from Day One of The Scarlet Pimpernel. I've written different things that have happened, on stage and off. I've kept a journal and have manila envelopes filled with all kinds of clippings and photographs. Maybe I'll write a book. (laughing)

NR: That would be fascinating.

JD: So much has gone on during rehearsals and in times when we've been here through different kinds of changes and different kinds of directions. I think it's very interesting and the public doesn't know about them and maybe they should be put down somewhere, sometime.

NR: I think it's a great idea. Theater fans are so interested in this sort of thing.

JD: I'd like to do some producing. I have a couple of projects that people have shown interest in and I think that's a possibility. Also, creating a terrific role in a new show would be great. I'm always preparing, always learning more and new things, new material, new monologues, new songs, because I'll never forget what Joseph Macauley once said, "Chance favors the man prepared."

NR: That's great. Thank you very much.

JD: Thank you, Nancy. It's always a treat to see you.

It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know James and see him perform, both as Jessup and as the Prince/Robespierre. I wish him the best of luck in the future and I hope he does write that book, because I will be first on line to read it.

Questions suggested by:

AJ Jacobsen, Frank Boemio, Susan Luchey, Amy Lovett, Nicole Albertson, Thom and Colleen Rosati, Gillian Girvin, Jimbo Diego, Lisa George, Andrea Galeno, Megan Marod, Leona Hoegsberg, Dee, Talia Krispel, Nancy Duchnowski, Renee Girard, Anna Wilson, Evan Gadda, BarbaraAnne, Stephanie Henkin, Lauren Teweles, Anne Teitelbaum, Josie Smith, Kate Scibal, Jan Kolb

Interview conducted and photographs by Nancy Rosati.