If someone were to ask me what is the most underrated company in Northern Utah I would definitely respond with Ogden Musical Theatre. Whether it is their concert theatricals, family shows like Annie or annual Dracula they never fail to impress. Their current show is The Scarlet Pimpernel: In Concert and while it is probably my least favorite of what I’ve seen there recently it’s still got a lot to offer for a night of Broadway.

One of the standout aspects of this production is the large orchestra they’ve assembled. In a world where most semi-professional productions do not have orchestras it’s so special to be treated to live music. The orchestra director is Michael Palumbo and he conducts the Chamber Orchestra Ogden which has musicians in the pit and on the stage. The music director is Jake Heywood and they manage to have the music not overpower the actors as sometimes can be the case with live music.

Speaking of the singers our leading couple is very strong with Ben Ames as Percy and Jessica Andrus as Marguerite. I think I could watch Andrus sing the phone book and be entertained. She’s definitely one of the best singers in Utah in my opinion. Even though I think most of the ballads for Marguerite are on the bland side she has such a beautiful voice (with a decent French accent) and she elevates the material. Ames has the moxie one needs to play Percy and Ricky Parkinson plays annoyed well as Chauvelin (plus I appreciate a little fight choreography worked into the ending, which one doesn’t always expect in a concert.) If you have no familiarity with The Scarlet Pimpernel story you’ll have no problem following along with this concert version.

Given OMT did Tale of Two Cities last year it does seem a little strange to do Scarlet Pimpernel this year. Will we get Les Miserables next year? Make it the French musical trilogy? I wouldn’t have a problem with this choice except that Cities was so outstanding that it’s hard to not make the comparison. Also Pimpernel seems like an odd choice for a concert experience when so much of the humor and even plot revolves around the fashion of our band of foppish men. They try with some handkerchiefs and cravats but I would have loved to see a full staging of this musical with these actors in their fru-fru suits. This is especially true for “The Creation of Man,” which is my favorite number of the show. There’s even a scene where Percy mocks Chauvelin for wearing all black when he is also wearing all black as part of the concert uniform. I also much prefer the projected images of maps, artifacts, paintings over AI images, but that’s just me.

Still, it’s not every day in Utah one can see a full orchestra and such talented singers like Ames and Andrus. I’m certainly glad I was able to attend. The Scarlet Pimpernel: in Concert is directed by Jan Williams and is playing through February 28th. Tickets can be purchased here.

The Scarlet Pimpernel has music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton based on the novel by Baroness Orczy. It debuted on Broadway in 1997 and ran for 772 performances.

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