SP: League Roundtable Discussion

Sal and Kel

SI: What drew me to the show was Marc Goldman. I BLAME Marc for ALL my theater obsessions. Dave Clemmons was on for Terry (Mann) and it was Dave's last night in the show and Marc said, "You have to see this show." So we went and all I remember was Dave. HE BLEW ME AWAY! Then I went back and back and I'm still going. September 10th will be #63 and September 18th will be #64. What keeps me coming back are the SONGS! All of the actors can sing them. I respect how each individual approaches the songs. I never get bored.

KH: I saw Jekyll & Hyde just because I had seen Robert Cuccioli play Javert and I thought he was fabulous, so I wanted to see him again. I thought it was really good and I started posting on the Jekyll & Hyde message board and I met Kristal and I met Christy (BroadwayBaby) and these people were really nice. Then, Pimpernel was coming, and Terrence Mann was in it, and nothing was going to keep me from this show. So, we went to see Broadway on Broadway, `97 and I thought, "Who is this guy Douglas Sills? Why is Terrence Mann not here? This is an outrage!" So, we thought the song was pretty good, and the guy was pretty good, but he still wasn't Terrence Mann. I remember my mom and I took a walk over to the Minskoff box office that day to look at ticket prices. Actually, it was my father's idea to see the show. He had started taking us to see shows because he felt guilty that he was going to too many hockey games. So, we were sitting in the theater and all I remember is that "Into the Fire" was the most amazing thing I had ever seen on the Broadway stage. It just blew me away. Then there was the last note of "Prayer." He finished "Prayer" and mom and I looked at each other and thought, "Oh, my God!"

NR: And that was the old one when it was the low note.

KH: That's right. Of course, during "Vivez" I just kept thinking, "Where's Terrence Mann? What is it with this wedding and all these flowers? I don't care. Where's Terrence Mann?" But then I thought, "OK, who is this guy (Douglas) and why have I not seen him before?" I walked out of there and I loved it.

SP: And I was furious that Chuck Wagner wasn't cast as Percy. I really was prepared to hold that against Douglas Sills, except I heard all these good things about him before I went to the show. I still wanted Chuck Wagner in there.

PW: Douglas had quite a slant against him because many were expecting or hoping for Chuck and many were expecting or hoping for Anthony Warlow.

SP: And many were expecting or hoping that Terrence Mann was playing the hero, not the villain.

KH: I didn't know what he was playing - I didn't care, I just wanted to see him. A lot of people have said, "You came to the Minskoff for Terrence Mann and you walked away for Douglas Sills." That's kind of true but they were such a great team that you weren't really choosing between them. The chemistry between them is amazing.

SP: That's about to happen again. Tons of people are going to go to the Neil Simon for Carolee Carmello. She's the new big draw.

NR: That's true. The other thing I wanted to talk about is the phenomenon of the Internet fans and keeping the show running. Nan Knighton has told me that, and we've heard Douglas talk about that. It's kind of a brand new thing, and in this show it actually did make a difference. There's no doubt about that. Even Ron Melrose told me that.

SP: It's really hard for me to fathom how big of an impact it did have and I'm so glad.

NR: I know everyone here told their friends, "This is a really good show - go see it." We could probably each point to a couple of hundred people who saw it, because of our say-so. And I know Sal was responsible for many more ticket sales, but that's nothing in comparison to the total ticket sales! I've heard people say, "Oh, the Pimpernel fans go every night." Well, even if we did go every night, there still would not have been enough to keep the show going.

SP: Yeah, and I don't know anyone who goes every night.

NR: There isn't anyone. That's the perception of people who don't know us.

PW: Yes, it's true that each of us individually would encourage others to go, and in that way sell tickets, but you're right that that can only account for several hundred ticket sales. But another part of it is that other theater fans hear that there's this "crazy fan group" for this show, so it must be something interesting to really captivate 500+ people and get them raving about it in unison. So, they might think, "What's the hype? Let's go see."

SP: That's true, but there's also a pretty hostile reaction that I've sensed in some places. There are people who hold it against the show.

KH: That's very true.

SP: It's hard for me to understand, but I've seen that all along.

NR: I've seen that too. People have said to me, "Get a life" but I tell them that I have an extremely busy, varied life, and so do the other people that I know who are involved with this show. We see many, many shows - probably more so than the average person. We're involved in many different things. We just happen to like this too. It's not the ONLY thing in our lives and that does seem hard for people to understand. I don't think I've encountered anyone who I thought did this as the only thing they do with their time or with their money.

KH: I've seen so many more shows just from being in the city so much than I did any other year. I used to see one show a year and that was for a special occasion, but I saw so many shows this year. I saw my first plays. I had never been to plays before that had no singing. (sarcastically) They actually exist and I went and it was amazing. It's such a different kind of theater experience and I probably wouldn't have gone if I hadn't been around all of these theater loving people.

SP: By becoming aware of one show, you become aware of them all.

Part 2 - Kel, Sal and I discuss what we do for SP, and we all talk about why we're still here.