Stiles Musical source dump

[igenlode]

Source dump of quotes relating to Stiles musical (in case Wikipedia simply wipes article)


https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/a-partnership-stiles-drewe-149586/

Working separately is strange and it’s not something I ever sought to do. I think I was the first one to have a ‘mistress’ effectively. Cameron asked me to rewrite The Card in 1992 and so George understood that it was Cameron asking me to do it and I wasn’t going to say no. George and I were offered The Three Musketeers and I read it and said ‘George it’s not me’, I can’t write for people with plumes in their hair and swords, so I passed on it and he did it with Paul Leigh. I’m much happier when we’re working together, I feel like my best buddy’s with me.


https://castalbums.org/recordings/Musical-of-the-Year-1996-1996-Concert-Cast/8921

  Musical of the Year: 1996 > Concert Cast

Releases 1

Stats

Recording Details

Date:

September 21, 1996

Type:

Audio/ Concert Cast

Method:

Live

Language:

English

Location:

Denmark/ Aarhus

Music:

Craig Bohmler (8), Paul Alan Johnson, George Stiles[1] (73)

Lyrics:

Marion Adler (5), Paul Alan Johnson, Paul Leigh (6)

Performer:

Leo Andrew (10), John Barrowman (85), Clive Carter (33), James Graeme (36), Alexander Hanson (25), Nick Holder (15), Claire Moore (94), Denis Quilley (57), Joanna Riding (26), Jenna Russell (22)

Notes:

Highlights from the 3 winning entries: The Three Musketeers, Enter the Guardsman, & Red, Red Rose.


Format:

CD

Label:

ColumbusCD 81569

Release Date:

1996

UPC / EAN:

5030362003826


1. Riding to Paris

2. The Challenges

3. Any Day

4. Paris by Night

5. Lilacs

6. The Life Of A Musketeer




https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-enter-the-guardsman-1246889.html


THEATRE: Enter the Guardsman

With David Benedict

Friday 22 August 1997 23:02 BST


Denmark labours under fearsome stereotypes. People always think they gave the world the pop group A-ha. They didn't. That was Norway. Then there's Danish bacon, Danish Blue, a herring-heavy diet, saunas, The Little Mermaid, and all those blond men called Nils.

Their latest claim to fame is the Musical of the Year. Last year's world- wide competition winner, the chamber piece Enter the Guardsman, opens at the Donmar Warehouse next month, but last weekend saw a grand staging of the runner-up. Ledreborg Castle, a lovingly restored 18th-century building atop a hill overlooking beautifully kept gardens, provided an extravagantly lush setting. Over two days, 16,000 people spent a gloriously sunny afternoon picnicking and listening to a concert version of The Three Musketeers - a big, bold piece pencilled in for Chichester next summer.

With more than 100 stage and screen versions of Dumas's story already mounted, the creators are undaunted. Even in this radically reorganised concert version, the scale of the piece is fairly stupendous. The (mostly British) cast, headed by the likes of Desmond Barritt, Ria Jones and Claire Moore, ran to 22, backed by Danish Radio's 55-piece orchestra.

Nearly all the action was reduced to simple narration, which made it hard to assess its dramatic strengths, but the musical drive of the best songs was never in doubt thanks to the sheer craft of composer George Stiles. Much of the credit for the lush, sweeping sound, however, goes to the conductor and expert orchestrator David Firman.

You'd have to be mad to mount a show of this size, but Firman believes he can rescore it for something closer to 16 players, which turns it into a much more viable proposition. Eschewing the po-faced pomp of the through- sung show Stiles, lyricist Paul Leigh and bookwriter Peter Raby have come up with an old-style book show which allows them to slip in and out of scenes and cover a range of musical styles.

In addition to Boublil and Schonberg, there are distinct echoes of Sondheim with whom Leigh studied. The song "Riding to Paris" sounds like a cross between "On the Steps of the Palace" from Into the Woods and "The Glamorous Life" from the film of A Little Night Music. The rousing, completely infectious number "The Life of a Musketeer" (the best in the show) fits spookily onto the climactic number "Guinevere" from Lerner and Loewe's Camelot. Mind you, if you're going to be influenced, it might as well be by the greats. If the audience response was anything to go by, they're home and dry.


https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1999/06/11/a-musical-musketeers/

A musical "Musketeers'

By

JOHN FLEMING

Published June 11, 1999|Updated Sept. 29, 2005

Musical theater buffs may want to check out The Three Musketeers, a workshop production now playing at the University of South Florida in Tampa. It's a musical adapted from the Alexander Dumas novel by composer George Stiles, with a book by Peter Raby and lyrics by Paul Leigh.

"This is the first chance we've had to put the show on its feet in a theater," Stiles said. "It's the first time it's ever had a set, costumes. It's by far the most ambitious thing we've done so far."

Stiles and his collaborators are British, brought to USF by their countryman, director Matthew Francis, who has worked with the theater department at the school as part of its BRIT (British International Theatre) program.

In 1996, The Three Musketeers was a finalist in the Musical of the Year competition in Denmark, where a concert version of the show toured the following summer. A full-scale premiere, with a cast of 40, is planned for next year in Switzerland.

The production at USF has a cast of 20 student performers, with Stiles playing the score on piano.

"The whole point of the workshop process, just from a selfish writing point of view, is that if we keep things very simple instrumentally, it means we can go on changing things," Stiles said. "If you've got to change all the parts in a band, that really does start taking a long time."

The Three Musketeers is one of those classic swashbuckling yarns that people keep trying to turn into stage works and films.

"It is a great story and it's got timeless themes that everybody gets a kick out of in some way," Stiles said. "I suppose the thing that attracted me most about it was once one got beyond the swordplay and the stuff we all know from the movies, there is a fabulous, desperate, failed love story between Athos and Milady."

Stiles, 37, has been working on the production for five weeks at USF. He appears to have a penchant for historical romances, having also written music for shows adapted from Tom Jones and Moll Flanders.

"I do like working in a period," he said. "I don't attempt to sound like music written in that period, but I do try and capture what I consider to be the flavor of it. With The Three Musketeers, it is full of romance in the big sense of the word. It's a big romantic adventure and so the score attempts to capture that. It's sweeping and at times exciting, with pounding horses' hooves."

The Three Musketeers is being performed in USF's Theatre 2 through June 19. Shows this weekend are 8 tonight and Saturday night and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $4 and $8. Call (813) 974-2323.

https://www.theatermania.com/shows/san-jose-theater/the-three-musketeers_4473/

The American Musical Theatre in San Jose presents a workshop production of The Three Musketeers, in preparation for its American premiere next season. The sword-clashing new musical is by up-and-coming British composer George Stiles, with lyrics by Paul Leigh and a book by Peter Raby. Dianna Shuster directs this staged performance, and the public is invited to watch and voice their opinions to the entire creative team. There is no cost for the workshops, but reservations are highly recommended.
The Saturday, July 1 performance takes place at 7:30pm


Dates:

Opening Night: June 23, 2000

Closing Night: July 7, 2000


https://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/THREE-FOR-THE-SHOW-Focus-groups-help-creators-3238983.php
`THREE' FOR THE SHOW / Focus groups help creators of `Musketeers' polish musical for American premiere in San Jose
By Sam Whiting,
Reporter
July 5, 2000


Lyricist Paul Leigh, composer George Stiles and book-writer Peter Raby defended their work in a discussion after a workshop performance of their musical "The Three Musketeers." Chronicle photo by Liz Hafalia

Addie Kopp has been a subscriber to American Musical Theatre of San Jose since 1960, but she's never seen anything as fresh and raw as "The Three Musketeers" she saw in an industrial warehouse last Saturday night.
Watch More

Beneath the buzz of bright fluorescent lighting, Kopp got to sit almost close enough to get run through by a sword, as the new three-hour musical was performed in workshop with costumes and choreography but without sets, lights, sound, orchestration or even a backstage for the actors.

"This is the most exciting part of the season -- the evolution of a theatrical production" Kopp says at intermission. "Your mind is filling in all kinds of things imagining all these numbers in a finished product."
The finished product won't arrive until next March when American Musical Theatre presents the American premiere of "The Three Musketeers" at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. It will be a three- week run for a show that needed four weeks of workshopping.
For the workshop, artistic director Dianna Shuster cast eight actors from New York and 16 local actors. The show's three creators were brought over from England and spent 14 days building a production that played before a focus group of 75 American Musical Theatre donors and friends for five performances ending this Friday and a sixth for industry presenters on Saturday.
All five public performances were sold out, though they couldn't really call it that since the tickets were free in exchange for audience members' written and oral feedback at the end of each performance.

"It's wonderfully useful for us," says composer George Stiles, "probably the most valuable three weeks we've spent on the process."
The show's creators were also responsible for "Honk! The Ugly Duckling," a surprise hit in London last season. That show was nominated for Britain's Olivier award in January.
The process of getting "The Three Musketeers" onstage in San Jose began when Shuster and associate artistic director Marc Jacobs saw the world premiere in Switzerland last February. It is AMTSJ's first American premiere since "City of Broken Promises" in 1979. Shuster felt the book needed work. They started as soon as AMTSJ's season ended June 4, and when book writer Peter Raby finished his school year teaching at Cambridge University.
In the old days, this would have happened during an out-of-town opening. San Francisco snobs would say San Jose is an out-of-town opening, but that's not the outlook at AMTSJ.

"We've existed for 65 years by doing shows that other people have added to the genre, and now we're adding a show to the genre," said AMTSJ President Stewart Slater.

"The Three Musketeers" will cost about $2 million to mount, so it made sense to spend $150,000 and give it an early test run.
"The best way to work on it is to put actors in the middle of it and see how the piece hangs on a living performer," Shuster says. "We're writing and fixing and writing and making changes every day, every hour."
The classroom is on Technology Drive, in the middle of the Internet revolution. In a year, AMTSJ will lose its lease, and the property will likely be absorbed into a dot-complex. So this may have been the last stand for 17th century French literature staged by actors in plumed hats, billowing shirts and bucket boots, walking their Yorkshire terriers in the parking lot during breaks.

Inside, it is theater-in-the-rectangle beneath a cottage-cheese ceiling of blown paper to absorb noise bouncing off the linoleum floor. The only musical accompaniment is a piano. The performers sing their solos close to the audience, and some can be seen reading their lines off Post-it notes on their palms.
There is no hiding behind soft stage lights. When the director yells "blackout," the room stays bright as a morgue. In one scene, a body is walked right by the front row on a stretcher.
There is no hiding between scenes, either. Actors offstage sit in metal folding chairs along one wall, drinking from plastic water bottles, yawning, leaning their heads against the wall, practicing their lines. Most are Equity actors, and all three of the Musketeers have major Broadway credits. The audience sits in three long rows of banquet chairs on the floor. At the end of three hours of "The Three Musketeers," they are asked to take five or 10 minutes more to fill out their surveys with golf-card pencils. Then they are asked to stay and critique the show, act by act -- but not actor by actor.
"Without the pressure of the show being right around the corner, there is a safety in this," says Price Waldman, who plays Planchet, servant to D'Artagnan. "People have been generous but at the same time really specific."

Since they were all there by invitation and for free, nobody suggests extensive cuts with a question like, "Why am I still sitting in this uncomfortable chair after three hours?"
But one man in the third row recommends revising the ending, cutting scenes and songs, developing some characters and eliminating others. Essentially, he wants to rewrite "The Three Musketeers."
The show's creators -- Stiles, Raby and lyricist Paul Leigh -- lounge on the wooden riser that served as a sword-fighting scaffold and fend off barbs in the droll British way.
But they've paid attention. As a result of audience input, two full scenes were added after the first weekend, and 20 pages were rewritten to clarify character and plot points after last Saturday.

The post-show symposium takes a fourth hour, but Kopp doesn't stick around. She fills out her form in detail, turns it in and leaves, content to await the surprise next March with lights, sets, orchestra and cushioned seats.
"I think when they tighten it up they've got a show," she says.
July 5, 2000

Sam Whiting

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/sanfran/s102.html

Regional Reviews: San Francisco

The 3hree Musketeers
is a Cumbersome Musical

Once again Aramis, Porthos and Athos come running and dueling on the stage. Since Alexandre Dumas wrote the novel in 1843, there have been over 100 productions of this famous classic. Popular with silent film makers because it contains a lot of swashbuckling sword play, there was also an MGM spectacular film with Gene Kelly and Lana Turner plus Richard Lester's camp of the story, and a 1919 operetta that seems to appear every now and then in the UK. About the only memorable thing from that operetta is the rousing song, "We are the Musketeers."

Several seasons ago, the big hit of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was the non-musical The Three Musketeers. Dashing yet campy and with actors who knew how to act in the grand style, it deserved its success.

We now come to the AMT's American premier of George Stiles and Paul Leigh's musical, The 3hree Musketeers. It has a history of trying to be presented as a full scale production. It was entered into the International Musical competition in Europe in 1996. It came in second behind the musical Enter the Guardsman. There was talk of mounting a production in London's West End, but something always occurred to prevent that from happening. It finally had a full scale production in St. Gallen, Switzerland, of all places, in 2000. In the meantime, George Stiles wrote the music to the Olivier Award winning musical, Honk.

There was a reading in New York of the musical and finally the American Musical Theatre decided to mount the first American production. They poured 1 million dollars in the project and obtained top New York and regional actors for the cast. It was the most expensive project that this company has ever undertaken.

I am sorry to say that I found it one of the most cumbersome and dull musicals of the past several years. I felt sorry for actors since they gave their all to make this show sparkle, but the music and sluggish direction was against them from the start.

The production uses the full story of the classic novel which is long without the music. The story is well known and this musical tells the whole story right through to the death of D'Artagnan's lover and the execution of Milady Winters. With the tedious music it is a burdensome 3 hour and 10 minute production.

This musical should have moments of fun and swordplay with a certain amount of camp, but this story takes a more serious and philosophical turn as D'Artagnan comes to see what really matters to him. The musical is too serious for its own good. The strongest actors had problems making their characters stand out so they became cardboard characters, making rapid entrances and exits with inane dialogue.

The opening is clever. A large group of commedia-clad actors do various acrobatic acts on the stage to entertain those coming into the large cavernous playhouse. The lights go down and the overture starts. The orchestra is excellent. It looked very promising when Christian Borle, as Planchet, came out to tell the audience what was about to happen. This young actor who scored such a hit in Footloose in New York, is excellent; lively, entertaining and has a great voice.

From there everything went down hill. The musical goes nowhere at a snail's pace. There is no development of the characters. The pacing is uneven and many of the numbers are just plain dull and repetitive. The score sounds like a minor Frank Wildhorn score and I am not crazy about his major scores. I like only two songs. The rousing "The Life of A Musketeer" is fun and bouncy. The whole company sings it toward the end of the first act, which incidentally should have been the end of the first act instead of going to two more UN-eventful scenes. The opening number of the second act called "Time" is also a lovely number sung by the entire cast.

Jim Stanek stands out as D'Artagnan, at once boyish and full of fun. He has a great voice and you instantly like his naivete. He's also the best actor in this production. I remember him as Hero in the New York production of Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Saturday Night. He is an asset to this musical.

The regular Musketeers are played by Broadway veterans Robert Mammana, Fred Inkley and Alton Fitzgerald White. Of the three, Mr. White stands out with his strong, powerful voice. A former cast member of Ragtime on Broadway, Mr. White shines in the song "Ghosts". I loved Sutton Foster as "Millie" in Thoroughly Modern Millie; here she grated on my nerves as D'Artagnan's love interest. Her voice is too harsh for romantic ballads. Rachel deBendedet, who has a better, softer voice, plays Midlady de Winter. However, in her big scene in the second act, some costume designer, who must have something against her, took revenge. She looked like Bette Davis in Baby Jane, blonde curls and all. I could not help but laugh throughout this very serious scene.

The choreography was ludicrous. In the beginning of the musical, D'Artagnan comes riding from the country to Paris on a "horse", another male, bent over and in a horse mask. There were many snickers from the audience since it looked rather pornographic. To make matters worst, toward the end of the first act when all of the musketeers must ride from Paris to Calais, they all mount "horses" and do this ridiculous dance again.

The set looked like a sepia tone movie, a grim set with dark wood stairs and bridges that move around the stage. It is a two story set with some of the minor action taking place on the upper stage. Time passage or changes of scenes are shown by actors running across the stage with cascades of white silk. Some of the actors become part of the furniture like statues holding candles, or garden sculptures.

If this musical is going anywhere, it needs serious cutting and drastic changes.

The musical runs through March 25 at the American Musical Theatre in San Jose. Tickets are $40.00 to $60.00. Call 888-455-SHOW or or go to The 3hree Musketeers.com The final the last show of the season will be
Victor/Victoria.



https://www.metrosiliconvalley.com/papers/metro/03.15.01/3hreemusketeers-0111.html
All for Fun: Musketeers (left to right) Aramis (Robert Mammana), Porthos (Fred Inkley), Athos (Alton Fitzgerald White) and D'Artagnan (Jim Stanek) enjoy saving France for a living.

'Teers for Fears

'3hree Musketeers' gets back to intriguing roots of Dumas classic

By Heather Zimmerman

TO BE SURE, swashbuckling reigns in the newest adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' famous Three Musketeers, presented by American Musical Theatre of San Jose, but this musical retelling, renamed The 3hree Musketeers, also takes the story back to its roots of poisonous court intrigue, with generally delightful results.

This nearly brand-new musical, with music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby, has local roots as well: it was workshopped here last summer by AMTSJ, with five semistaged performances presented for audience feedback. This production marks the musical's American premiere.

The retelling keeps its edge by embracing the story's darker aspects. A keener sense of danger and treachery pervades King Louis XIII's court and, in fact, all of Paris. The French monarch's adviser, the powerful Cardinal Richelieu (James Carpenter), schemes to undermine the young, inexperienced ruler.

He works to alienate the king from his wife, Queen Anne (Elizabeth Ann Campisi), and maintains a far-reaching spy network, which includes the early-model Mata Hari, Milady deWinter (Rachel deBenedet). Into this vipers' nest comes country boy D'Artagnan (Jim Stanek) with aspirations of joining the prestigious king's guardsmen, the musketeers. He finds himself the best mentors in the three best musketeers, who are also inseparable friends: Athos (Alton Fitzgerald White), Porthos (Fred Inkley) and Aramis (Robert Mammana).

The musical is a bit like its main hero: generally quite solid, with a few areas that could stand improvement. Some scenes drag, and a few songs could have been cut--in particular tunes meant to advance the more standard plot points, such as a bland romance between D'Artagnan and royal confidante Constance (Sutton Foster).

The darker characters, especially Milady (an excellent performance by deBenedet) are more multifaceted, and even the heroic three musketeers have flaws that deepen the characters.

The show does best when it focuses on politics, whether it's the royal maneuverings of Richelieu or the sexual politics Milady exploits. The most inspired tunes, the opportunistic "A Good Old-Fashioned War" and Milady's ode to the truly "weaker sex," "Gentlemen," both showcase Stiles and Leigh's talent for skewering the less-admirable side of human nature.

The inspiration proves contagious, as choreographer Dottie Lester-White's best number in the show is also "A Good Old-Fashioned War," featuring a chorus line of marching townspeople armed with baguettes.

Under Richelieu's leadership, Paris thrives on pretense and artifice, and accordingly, this production is self-consciously theatrical. Elizabeth Poindexter's shimmering but shadowy costumes, many of them topped with slightly sinister commedia dell'arte style masks for the ensemble, mingle nicely with the muted darkness of J.B. Wilson's ever-changing set. All in all, The 3hree Musketeers shows us a City of Lights that has never seemed darker--and yet never more inviting.



The 3hree Musketeers plays Tuesday-Friday at 8pm (except March 20), Saturday at 2 and 8pm, Sunday at 2 and 7pm through Mar 25 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd., San Jose. Tickets are $40-$60. (888.455.SHOW)

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From the March 15-21, 2001 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper


https://playbill.com/article/three-musketeers-musical-swashes-into-chicago-com-137089

Three Musketeers Musical Swashes Into Chicago

Juan Chioran, Aaron Ramey and Steve Ross are all for one — and one for all — as Athos, Aramis and Porthos in a new production of the musical, The Three Musketeers, starting Dec. 16 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

BY KENNETH JONES

DECEMBER 16, 2006



//assets.playbill.com/editorial/37847c6ae36894559246dcf06ab98413-3muskchicagopre200.jpg


Athos (Juan Chioran), Pathos (Steve Ross) and Aramis (Aaron Rarney) in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Three Musketeers Photo by Bill Burlingham

The staging, directed and choreographed by David H. Bell, represents the premiere of a revised version of the swashbuckling musical — an earlier draft was seen in San Jose, CA. The show is drawn from the famous Alexandre Dumas novel, which was serialized 1843-44.

Music is by George Stiles (who penned new songs to London and Broadway's current sensation Mary Poppins and has an international hit with Honk!); book is by Peter Raby; and lyrics are by Paul Leigh. The project's "original concept" is by Bill Hobbes.

Performances will play Dec. 16-Feb. 18, 2007, at CST's Courtyard Theater.

*

"The Three Musketeers captures a time when characters are larger than life, speak poetry with wit and charm, and aggressively embrace living, making it a natural choice for a musical," said Bell in a statement. Guided by CST creative producer Rick Boynton, Bell and the creative team have collaborated over the past two years between Chicago, New York, and London, and through two workshops to develop the musical.

"I am delighted that this show is being produced at CST," Bell said. "Everyone's approach to the creation of this adaptation of The Three Musketeers has been filled with such admiration and respect for the exuberant essence of Dumas' original story."

Alexandre Dumas' "timeless epic of heroic adventure, mistaken identity and ill-fated romance chronicles the coming-of-age of D'Artagnan, a gallant, young nobleman who joins three musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis," according to production notes. "Their mission to thwart King Louis XIII's powerful and cunning advisor, Cardinal Richelieu, is deterred by the Comte de Rochefort, the Cardinal's callous henchman, and Milady de Winter, a sinister woman with a mysterious past and a thirst for revenge."

Chioran appeared in Broadway's Kiss of the Spider Woman, the musical, and Toronto's The Producers. Ramey appeared in Broadway's Thoroughly Modern Millie and recently on tour in Sweet Charity. Ross is a Canadian actor with history at the Stratford Festival and resident Canadian theatres.

Kevin Massey (of Broadway's Tarzan) will play protégé D'Artagnan, Blythe Wilson (recently Nancy of Stratford Festival's Oliver!) is Milady and Jeffrey Baumgartner is Cardinal Richelieu.

The cast also includes, alphabetically, Kevin Asselin as Buckingham; Rebecca Finnegan as Landlady; Neil Friedman as Treville; Terry Hamilton as King Louis; Johanna McKenzie Miller as Queen Anne; Abby Mueller as Constance; Jeff Parker as Rochefort; Brian Sills as Planchet; and Greg Vinkler as Bonacieux. Completing the cast are Brianna Borger, Devin DeSantis, Constantine Germanacos, Karl Sean Hamilton, John Hickman, George Keating, Meg Miller and Jessie Mueller.

Performed by an 11-piece orchestra, George Stiles' music is orchestrated by David Shrubsole and conducted by Dale Rieling.

Mariann Verheyen's 17th-century, period-rich costumes and wigs created by Melissa Veal, characterize the opulent time in which the musketeers lived. Fight choreography is by Kevin Asselin, lighting design is by Don Holder and sound design is by Cecil Averett.

George Stiles and Paul Leigh have previously collaborated on adaptations of Defoe's Moll Flanders and Fielding's Tom Jones. Stiles has also worked with lyricist Anthony Drewe on Honk!, for which they received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, as well as the stage musicals Just So, Tutankhamun and Peter Pan.

Peter Raby has worked in both television and theatre, adapting Gogol's The Government Inspector for the stage and editing Oscar Wilde's plays for Oxford University Press.

Bell’s work as both director and choreographer of The Three Musketeers marks his fifth subscription series production at CST, having directed As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew to critical acclaim. Bell has earned nine Joseph Jefferson Awards. He has also received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination and two National Endowment Playwriting Fellowships.

What's Dumas' link to Shakespeare?

According to CST, as a young writer in Paris in the 19th century, he was deeply influenced by William Shakespeare's plays, which he saw performed. "Dumas had never seen such naturalness, such vigor and vitality on the stage," Raby said. "He learned from Shakespeare how to create a world with words and how to change the mood of a scene very rapidly."

For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com.

*

Bell will direct The Three Musketeers at North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, MA, in summer 2007



https://variety.com/2007/legit/reviews/the-three-musketeers-11-1200511282/
Jan 7, 2007 9:44am PT


This earnest, workmanlike adaptation of the classic swashbuckler “The Three Musketeers” as a musical picks up a bit of steam late, when D’Artagnan and his buddy musketeers cede the stage to the leading ladies, who steal the show with serious turns and stirring songs. But while those moments deliver a satisfying high point or two, this tuner, with a planned Boston engagement to follow and Broadway in its dreams, doesn’t currently achieve the level of juicy pleasure that Dumas’ sweeping, ever-popular melodrama demands.

Book by Peter Raby does a fair job of condensing Dumas’ plot, although he falters quite significantly both at the beginning, with a gratuitous prologue, and at the end, with an even more gratuitous moral argument involving the work’s doling out of justice.


In between, Raby manages to fit in plenty of the serial tale’s twists and turns without losing coherence. We learn all we need to know about the adventurous, eager young hero D’Artagnan (Kevin Massey), aching for a fight, the musketeers he first angers and then befriends, the woman he loves, the queen he saves, the femme fatale who tries to kill him, and so on.

There’s plenty that gets glossed over, even important character beats. Fundamentally, though, it’s not the narrative that holds things back here, but the playing, which feels more leaden than lively.

For example, director and choreographer David H. Bell stages the first number, “Riding to Paris,” with D’Artagnan moving in slow motion on his fake horse, a technique Bell brings back later, in a climactic sequence when all four heroes are being chased. While it’s a decent, though hardly inspired, visual image, slow motion just doesn’t seem the right choice for moments of enormous anticipation and urgency.

Composer George Stiles, who wrote additional songs for current hit “Mary Poppins,” seems to encourage this pace, as many of the songs have a surprisingly, even self-consciously, deliberate tempo. Even feel-good numbers like the ode to friendship, “Count Me In,” feel unemotional, struggling for crescendos despite pleasing melodies.

The show — a prior version was performed at the American Musical Theater in San Jose, Calif. — doesn’t bog down. The elaborate sword fights coordinated by Kevin Asselin provide occasional jolts of adrenaline. But, top to bottom, the endeavor lacks imagination, style and, most of all, sheer joie de vivre. At times, it feels downright uneasy with itself, unsure what tone to take. That’s most true with the act two opener “A Good Old-Fashioned War,” which seems intended to go peppy but comes off too restrained.

It’s not easy finding humor in a character who takes himself so seriously, but that’s exactly the challenge of D’Artagnan, and it’s a balance that the highly capable Massey flirts with but never sustains. As Athos, the most serious of the musketeers, Juan Chioran delivers a potent, layered performance, but even he could use more panache covering his all-too-apparent psychological damage.

As Aramis and Porthos, Aaron Ramey and Steven Jeffrey Ross, respectively, insert lighter touches although they can’t lift the near-morose tone of Bell’s production.

The show finally finds a comfort level when the plot turns toward the tragic. Blythe Wilson, as the villainous Milady, lifts the evening to another level when she takes command. Her seduction scenes sizzle and twist convincingly, and her songs soar with passionate conviction, including her climactic duet with D’Artagnan’s beloved, Constance (a strong Abby Mueller).

In the end, this “Three Musketeers” lacks originality — even the songs that work are not memorable — but it makes a pretty convincing case that Milady might justify her own treatment, and that Wilson deserves a larger spotlight.

Musketeers

The Three Musketeers

Chicago Shakespeare Theater; 500 seats; $67 top

Production: A Chicago Shakespeare Theater presentation of a musical in two acts based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, with original concept by William Hobbs, music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby. Directed and choreographed by David H. Bell. Music director, Dale Rieling.
Crew: Sets, Tom Burch; costumes, Mariann Verheyen; lighting, Donald Holder; sound Cecil Averett; wigs and make-up, Melissa Veal; musical supervisor, George Stiles; orchestrator, David Shrubsole; fight coordinator, Kevin Asselin; production stage managers, Deborah Acker, Jennifer Matheson Collins. Opened, reviewed Jan. 3, 2007. Runs through Feb. 18. Running time: 2 HOURS, 40 MIN.
Cast: D'Artagnan - Kevin Massey Athos - Juan Chioran Aramis - Aaron Ramey Porthos - Steven Jeffrey Ross Milady - Blythe Wilson Constance - Abby Mueller Rochefort - Jeff Parker Bonacieux - Greg Vinkler Planchet - Brian Sills Buckingham - Kevin Asselin Queen Anne - Johanna McKenzie Miller King Louis - Terry Hamilton Cardinal Richelieu - Jeffrey Baumgartner Treville - Neil Friedman With: Rebecca Finnegan, George Keating, Brianna Borger, Devin DeSantis, Constantine Germanacos, Karl Sean Hamilton, John Hickman, Scott Alan Jones, Meg Miller, Jessie Mueller.

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/chicago/ch117.html


The Three Musketeers
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Aaron Ramey, Juan Chioran, and Porthos (Steven Jeffrey Ross, Kevin Massey (front)
According to the program notes, The Three Musketeers' author Alexandre Dumas considered himself not a thinker like Hugo or a dreamer like Lamartine, but a "populariser." This new musical version of Dumas' 1843 novel, with music by George Stiles (Mary Poppins, Honk!), lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby, proves the durability of a good story, whether great or merely "popular" art. They've condensed the sprawling novel, originally a newspaper serial, into a tight narrative that gallops at a sprightly pace. Though some of the exposition is rattled off rather quickly in brief speeches, the adapters have managed to fit a concise and coherent story into some two and a half hours.

Much of the considerable fun that's delivered in the show is due to the production values. The sumptuous costumes by Mariann Verheyen include a profusion of military uniforms, gowns, peasant garb and religious vestments of 17th century France. The inventive lighting design by Donald Holder (Movin' Out, The Lion King) includes a first act number called "Paris by Night," with an assemblage of flickering street lamps creating a mysterious City of Lights that's especially impressive. The sets make good use of the Chicago Shakespeare's thrust stage, with two towers and a connecting bridge serving multiple functions, and supplemented by a variety of backdrops. Tom Burch is credited with Associate Scenic Design, but curiously, no set designer is listed.

A lighthearted tone is set by Director David H. Bell and songwriters Stiles and Leigh, much in the spirit of the 1973 non-musical film version directed by Richard Lester —mildly slapstick, but not campy, and quite sincere in showing the affection between D'Artagnan and Constance as well as Athos' remorse over his treatment of his late wife. Bell manages his cast of 24 quite effectively and takes full advantage of the Shakespeare's playing space, with performers chaotically entering and exiting from the aisles as well as the wings.

Though the title characters are men, it's the women in this cast who really shine, beginning with Blythe Wilson as the duplicitous Milady. She convinces us of her supposed sincerity as she's duping D'Artagnan and Athos, reveals her menace without going over the top and even at the end manages to evoke some empathy. As Constance, Abby Mueller is endearing and entirely natural, fully communicating the conflict between her commitment to loyalty to her husband and her growing love for D'Artagnan as well as her strength in serving her mistress, Queen Anne (Johanna McKenzie Miller) at the risk of her own safety.

With some exceptions, the men are not as successful in creating vivid characters. Of the Musketeers, only the portly Porthos, played by Steven Jeffrey Ross, is distinctive. He has the benefit of having the funnier lines and a body image to distinguish himself, and he uses them to good advantage in creating a comic yet formidable musketeer. The taller and more traditionally handsome Juan Chioran, and Aaron Ramey as Athos and Aramis, seem a bit interchangeable until act two when Athos gets a solo and a subplot to draw him into the spotlight. The two need to try some different acting choices and get some more help from the script to distinguish them from each other and from the many soldiers and fighters in the story who all have a similar stoic demeanor and wear the same sorts of dark clothing, long hair and short beards. The actors in the character roles, like the King Louis (Terry Hamilton), Bonacieux (Greg Vinkler), and Planchet (Brian Sills), do better, as the script gives them more to work with and their costumes are designed to give them more idiosyncratic appearances.

Kevin Massey nails the youth and idealism of D'Artagnan, but lacks any unexpected traits to make him particularly interesting. His slight and boyish frame establishes his character as a young man, but helps less at giving him the athletic appearance that would make him seem capable of D'Artagnan's skill in battle.

Stiles and Leigh's songs serve the story well, with the anthems more successful than the ballads. "Count Me In," the song in which D'Artagnan joins the Musketeers, captures the show's central theme of devotion to duty, and is a more jovial cousin to The Scarlet Pimpernel's "Into the Fire." "The Life of a Musketeer" is a jaunty little march that incorporates the famous watch cry "All for one and one for all." These are nice, accessible melodies with memorable hooks the ballads lack. The score is lushly orchestrated (by David Shrubsole), but the live backstage orchestra, sadly, sounds canned through the sound system employed. It's all sung beautifully, though, thanks to the personal supervision of Stiles and music director Dale Rieling. Leigh's sometimes copious lyrics could sometimes use a little better articulation from the ensemble, though.

All in all it's a fun, family-friendly ride that could become quite popular. Already a visual feast in this production thanks to Bell's staging, Ms. Verheyen's costumes and lots of sword fighting choreographed by Kevin Asselin, the space and resources of a large proscenium staging could bring even more theatrical magic to bear. The basic structure is solid enough to make the piece suitable for Broadway. If I were a producer, I might push Stiles to try to outdo himself a bit with some new songs and maybe bring in a script doctor to punch up the humor and embellish the characters in Raby's libretto. That and hiring a few stars to flesh out key characters could make this quite worthy for Broadway. It's already leagues ahead of the last big historical musical to try its wings in Chicago.

The Three Musketeers runs through Sunday, February 18 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier. For performance dates and times and tickets, visit www.chicagoshakes.com or call the box office at 312-595-5600


https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/the-three-musketeers/

The Three Musketeers



by Albert Williams January 11, 2007

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George Stiles, Paul Leigh, and Peter Raby’s musical version of Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 swashbuckler, directed by David H. Bell, boasts impressive vocals, gorgeous costumes, flashy duels, and emotionally precise acting. Broadway and Stratford Festival veterans Juan Chioran, Aaron Ramey, and Steven Jeffrey Ross play the title trio–members of the king’s elite guard in 17th-century France–and Kevin Massey is D’Artagnan, the bumpkin who joins their ranks. But the show’s virtues can’t quite overcome the brutality, misogyny, and sheer stupidity underlying the famous “all for one/one for all” ethos. The problem is especially pronounced in act two, when the moral dimensions of war, murder, and suicide are brushed aside so the manly men can go back to doing their manly things. –Albert Williams a Through 2/18: Tue 7:30 PM, Wed 1 and 7:30 PM, Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 8 PM, Sun 3 PM, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand, 312-595-5600, $50-$67


https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Three+Musketeers.-a0158523931

The Free Library > Date >  2007 >  January >  15 >  Variety

The Three Musketeers.

Link/Page Citation(CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER; 500 SEATS; $67 TOP)

CHICAGO A Chicago Shakespeare Theater presentation of a musical in two acts based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, with original concept by William Hobbs, music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby. Directed and choreographed by David H. Bell. Music director, Dale Rieling. Sets, Tom Burch; costumes, Mariann Verheyen; lighting, Donald Holder; sound Cecil Averett; wigs and makeup, Melissa Veal; music supervisor, George Stiles; orchestrator, David Shrubsole; right coordinator, Kevin Asselin; production stage managers, Deborah Acker, Jennifer Matheson Collins. Opened, reviewed Jan. 3, 2007. Running time: 2 HOURS, 40 MIN.

D'Artagnan Kevin Massey
Athos Juan Chioran
Aramis Aaron Ramey
Porthos Steven Jeffrey Ross
Milady Blythe Wilson
Constance Abby Mueller
Rochefort Jeff Parker
Bonacieux Greg Vinkler
Planchet Brian Sills
Buckingham Kevin Asselin
Queen Anne Johanna McKenzie Miller
King Louis Terry Hamilton
Cardinal Richelieu Jeffrey Baumgartner
Treville Neil Friedman

With: Rebecca Finnegan, George Keating, Brianna Borger, Devin DeSantis, Constantine Germanacos, Karl Sean Hamilton, John Hickman, Scott Alan Jones, Meg Miller, Jessie Mueller.

Musical numbers: "Riding to Paris," "Thrust With the Point," "The Challenges," "Count Me In," "Riding to Paris" (reprise), "Any Day," "Paris by Night," "Doing Very Well Without You," "The Life of a Musketeer," "Ride On!" "Gentlemen," "Time"/ "Ghosts," "A Good Old-Fashioned War," "Who Could Have Dreamed of You?" "Take a Little Wine," "No Gentlemen (The Kidnap)," "Thrust With the Point" (reprise), "Paris by Night" (reprise), "All That I Am," "Pour la France," "Ghosts" (reprise), "Any Day" (reprise), "Beyond the Walls," "Who Could Have Dreamed of You?" (reprise), "Ghosts"/"Count Me In" (reprise)


https://eu.therecordherald.com/story/news/2007/08/30/three-musketeers-swashbuckling-sensation/46007898007/
Three Musketeers' a swashbuckling sensation at North Shore Music Theatre

Aug 2007

Sally Applegate  |  Waynesboro Record Herald

The dashing and dazzling swordplay is there aplenty, and it’s wildly creative and dangerous looking, but it’s not the reason this show may be destined for Broadway.

It’s the intelligence and humanity at the core of this new show’s book, score and direction that could lift “The Three Musketeers” to ultimate success. The swashbuckling swordfest is playing at North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly in its New England premiere.

Composer George Stiles and lyricist Paul Leigh have framed Peter Raby’s intelligent book in a soaring, witty and heartrendingly beautiful score. The resulting musical is a searching psychological extension of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel on which William Hobbs based his concept for this production.

This show is not the lighthearted devil-may-care romp you might recall from the movies. It is instead, a realistic, soul-searching attempt to get closer to the original classic novel. It is not short and zippy, but rather lengthy and full of riveting, sometimes dark, but beautiful imagery, reminiscent of “Les Miserables.”

Stiles and Leigh have created a score that breaks into clarity in the midst of complexity. Stiles’ background music under many scenes is astonishingly powerful, and for this one must also credit the rich, sweeping orchestrations of David Shrubsole.

Director Francis Matthews has taken this classic tale and skillfully interspersed frenetic action with crystal clear and psychologically revealing moments between the main characters. His handling of the night scenes in Paris turns the women of the ensemble into darkly menacing wraiths as they wind sinuously through the dark streets during the powerfully written “Paris By Night.”

Shining at the center of this production is an energetically youthful performance by Aaron Tveit as the idealistic D’Artagnan, seeking to join his heroes in the glory of being a musketeer. Tveit seems to capture the very essence of youth and vigor in his speech, graceful and athletic movements — including some superlatively executed swordplay, and his sweet, clear tenor voice. Credit composer Stiles for filling D’Artagnan’s melodic songs with a complementary youthful energy.

 At the same time Tveit skillfully handles sophisticated and humorous dialog that highlights the brash country boy as one who laughs in the face of danger, like the legendary three musketeers of the novel’s title.

Playing the doomed Constance, Jenny Fellner skillfully performs some of the nicest music in the score with Tveit. Their voices blend well together in the gently intertwining countermelodies of “Doing Very Well Without You.” She also shares a similarly well-constructed duet with Heather Koren as Queen Anne in “Any Day,” a lovely simple, straightforward song. Although some of Fellner’s solos take her a bit outside the top range of her comfort zone where voices thin out in the stratosphere, she makes a sweetly convincing heroine.

Like the rest of the cast, Kate Baldwin as the treacherous Milady appears to have been directed by Matthews to go for naturalism as opposed to over-the-top villainy. Baldwin’s singing voice is not enormous, but it displays an impressive range of tone and expression.

John Schiappa delivers a powerful and riveting performance as Athos. The Broadway veteran has a compelling stage presence. You believe this musketeer from the moment you meet him.

Kevyn Morrow is suave and persuasive as Aramis, and as Porthos, Jimmy Smagula, possibly at the insistence of the director, resists what was probably the temptation to take the foppish musketeer over the top.

The musketeers have a wonderful number with D’Artagnan. “Count Me In” marks the first collaboration between the four. Its clear and melodic connective material breaks into creative harmonies for the four singers, with a satisfying joining and lifting of their swords in the novel’s iconic image at the song’s end.

Comic relief is provided by the amiable performance of Steven Booth as D’Artagnan’s serving man Planchet. There is also comic relief in the second-act ensemble number “A Good Old-Fashioned War.”

Comic relief aside, this is clearly not a show for people seeking a light-hearted, feel-good night out at the theater. This one is for those who hunger for a show with depth and purpose and recognize a brilliantly realized musical score when they hear one. Musical theater is a very large universe. There is plenty of room in it for both kinds of shows.

There will undoubtedly be some trimming of the show’s length along the road to Broadway, and more finessing of the script. In the meantime, North Shore audiences are getting a chance to see a courageous concept in musical theater.

Interested?

 “The Three Musketeers” continues through Sept. 9, with Tuesday and Thursday performances at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday performances at 8 p.m., and matinees on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $35 to $70, with senior and youth discounts and rush tickets available. Tickets can be ordered online at www.nsmt.org, by calling the box office at 978-232-7200, or in person at 62 Dunham Road in Beverly.

Free audience events include a post-show audience discussion with the artists on Sept. 8 after the 2 p.m. performance; Spotlight on History, a free pre-show discussion focusing on historical issues relating to the performance before the Sept. 2 matinee; and Out at the North Shore, an evening for the Gay and Lesbian Community with a post-show reception on Sept. 6.


https://www.theatricalrights.co.uk/author/george-stiles/

George’s new musical The Three Musketeers with lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby opened at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.



Location:

American Musical Theatre, San Jose Center for the Performing Arts , California

255 Almaden Blvd, San Jose, 95113

The Three Musketeers at Chicago Shakespeare Theater



The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue Chicago

When Dumas first created his swashbuckling serialized saga,it was the rage of Paris. As a novel, D’Artagnan and the musketeers delighted readers world-wide for more than a century. Now, this classic tale comes alive in a spectacular stage musical—complete with grand adventure, mistaken identities and ill-fated romance. After his highly acclaimed productions of The Taming of the Shrew and As You Like It, David H. Bell returns to delight audiences with this exciting new musical.



Thru - Feb 18, 2007

Price: $50-$67

Show Type: Musical

Running Time: 2hrs 45mins; one intermission Buy Tickets

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Seating Chart(s)

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The Three Musketeers Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended



Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended "...To its great credit, Peter Raby's smart, articulate book is committed to the full Dumas Monty, sans melodramatic concessions. And David H. Bell's earnest, full-throated production has integrity -- this is a long, Broadway-size show with a huge, frequently impressive cast and high-class production values that must have stretched Chicago Shakespeare to its limits."

Read Full Review

- Chris Jones

Chicago Sun Times - Recommended "...there is much to admire and build on. To the demanding role of D'Artagnan, Massey (who understudied the title role in Broadway's "Tarzan") brings a fleet, boyish quality and an angelic face that makes him both comic and touching."

Read Full Review

- Hedy Weiss

Daily Herald - Recommended "...This entertaining new musical faithfully adapted from Alexandre Dumas' classic romance novel and coming-of-age tale (and certainly deserving of life beyond Navy Pier, did anybody say Broadway?) boasts a clever book by Peter Raby; an impressive, suitably heroic score by composer George Stiles and lyricist Paul Leigh; and fine work by a talented cast."



- Barbara Vitello

EpochTimes - Highly Recommended "...The cast that has been assembled is sterling! Kevin Massey sparkles as young D'Artagnan who sets out to become a Musketeer by joining Athos (a solid performance by Juan Chioran), Porthos (Steven Jeffrey Ross brings out the comical character with eases) and Aramis (Aaron Ramey). They are joined on this stage by Chicago favorite Greg Vinkler (who can take any role and make it stand out), Brian Sills, Neil Friedman, the dynamic Abby Mueller, Johanna McKenzie Miller and an outstanding performance by Blythe Wilson."



- Al Bresloff

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended "...With show stopping numbers like “Count Me In” and “A Good old-Fashion War,” together with segues like “Paris By Night,” the musical is a complete epic that engages and carries its story in an eye-popping sweepingly romantic journey. This is a show that begs to be seen. It contains strong voices, charm to share and nicely developed characters. The score and lyrics are Broadway caliber. See this spectacle now before it becomes a smash on Broadway."

Read Full Review

- Tom Williams

Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended "...Three cheers for Chicago Shakespeare Theater! Over the years, there have been so many different versions of Alexandre Dumas' classic "The Three Musketeers" that finding a fresh way of re-telling it requires a great deal of courage and craftsmanship. No problem here it seems when you have expert artists at the top of their form, as the CST certainly does."



- Joe Stead



This show has been Jeff Recommended*

*The designation of "Jeff Recommended" is given to a production when at least ONE ELEMENT of the show was deemed outstanding by the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/boston/article/En-Garde-The-Three-Musketeers-Aims-for-Broadway-20070825

En Garde: 'The Three Musketeers' Aims for Broadway

By: Jan Nargi Aug. 25, 2007

Excitement was in the air on a recent Friday as producers, cast members, directors and staff of the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts, met over lunch with BroadwayWorld.com to discuss their plans to bring their new musical, The Three Musketeers, to Broadway. With music by George Stiles (Honk!, Tom Jones, Mary Poppins), lyrics by Paul Leigh (Tom Jones, Moll Flanders), and book by University of Cambridge author and editor Peter Raby (Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde and Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter), this latest adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic seems to be in very good hands.

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But will audiences embrace yet another retelling of the dense 1625 tale of young D'Artagnan as he fights to become a heroic servant to King Louis XIII of France, defending the monarch and his queen from the evil doings of Cardinal Richelieu, the Comte de Rochefort, and the mysterious Milady de Winter? Commercial producers Greg Schaffert and Bud Martin, along with director Francis Matthews and North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) Artistic Director Jon Kimbell, think so. A work-in-progress since 1991, The Three Musketeers is now, finally, very close to being the show they all want to see open in New York very soon.

"This is the best it's ever been," says Matthews, who has returned to the project after eight years away from it. "We have resurrected some of the text from the 1999 student workshop production at the University of South Florida which I directed, and we have gotten back the original design team. A version in Switzerland had been funded by a textile company, so there were abundant costumes which made the show remote and operatic. Now we've gotten back to the student feel. The text is at its sparest and cleanest, and there are more dramatic scenes."

"For a while the show had gotten off track and became a bit of a costume drama, a love story," Schaffert adds. "We've gone back to our original concept to make it more earthy, more sexy. In December and January one of our co-producers, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, mounted a full production. It got strong reviews, but we took copious notes. There have been major revisions since Chicago. The show is more intimate now. It's edgier. We believe it is a show that has the potential for a wide audience."

Betting on Appeal

Schaffert's track record as a consulting producer indicates that he has a pretty good sense of what audiences will like. A producing associate at 321 Theatrical Management in New York, Schaffert and company have enjoyed their most notable recent successes with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and the pop-u-lar juggernaut that has become a franchise unto itself despite mixed reviews from the critics, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Wicked. Then again, Schaffert was also an associate producer for the flop All Shook Up, but he suggests that timing, not quality, may have sounded the death knell for that musical.

"I think All Shook Up got caught in the backlash against Juke Box musicals," says Schaffert. "Good Vibrations had just gone up and was panned. In reading the reviews of that show, it seemed as if the critics had already made up their minds about us, too. In addition, the audiences didn't seem to want our concept of creating an entirely new story around the Elvis Presley songs. Given the later success of Jersey Boys, it seems that fans of certain music prefer to hear the songs sung as they were by the originals. We weren't a Legends Concert, and that hurt us."

Iconic pop status of songs won't be an issue with The Three Musketeers. The George Stiles-Paul Leigh original score is a literate mix of moody soliloquies, power ballads, rousing ensemble numbers, and romantic duets all tinged with a haunting darkness and period orchestrations that give the show a very apt Renaissance feel. Some numbers, like the Act I closer Time sung and danced in precise clock-like movements by the entire company, are reminiscent of Frank Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel. Others, like D'Artagnan's recurring Riding to Paris theme, favor Sondheim and his Into the Woods. All, however, are smart, affecting, and worth repeated listening. They manage to tame and explain the unwieldy Dumas plot intricacies while also revealing the layers of emotion that drive each character to choose the paths they seem destined to follow. It's one of the strongest original scores to come along in quite some time.

"This version is a great humanist, romantic story full of ambiguity and questions," says Matthews. "It's not just boy meets girl, wicked woman defeats boy. It's the story of relationships played out against a background of war, period history, and political intrigue. There are layers to these people. It could be very easy for a story like this to become a pantomime, a spoof or a send up. Instead we have chosen to focus on the real substance of D'Artagnan's adventure, not the spectacle. It's a more intimate story, one in which the background informs the piece but doesn't overwhelm it."

Character Development

Broadway actress Kate Baldwin, who is playing the treacherous Milady de Winter in this NSMT production, agrees. Typically cast as the "optimistic girl next door," she is relishing the opportunity to flex her villainous muscles and create such a complex and powerful character. "I'm not all bad, I'm just misunderstood," Baldwin jokes. "But seriously, Milady is an immensely damaged person. She's not one-dimensionally evil. She is a survivor who never had a break. She's street smart. She has been hurt by a former relationship and is jealous of D'Artagnan's love for Constance. She deals with her loss by being vengeful.

"But there are also plenty of moments in which you begin to doubt her and perhaps believe in her apparent vulnerability and sincerity," she continues. "These are dangerous times in which she lives. There is tremendous immediacy to living life on the edge. Every relationship is heightened against the backdrop of war. For Milady, everything becomes that much more complex."

Baldwin's performance in The Three Musketeers is one of the many treasures of the NSMT production. Given three of the best songs in the show (Gentlemen, Lilacs, and the duet Beyond the Walls sung with the equally gifted Jenny Fellner as the Queen's seamstress Constance), Baldwin caresses every hidden meaning within Leigh's enigmatic lyrics. As she seduces first the Comte de Rochefort, then D'Artagnan, then the hard-bitten Musketeer Athos, then finally the trusting Constance to her Medusa-like will, she sings with such nuance and beautiful dexterity that it is unclear at times whether or not her Milady actually is the lonely, pitiable woman she pretends to be in order to win compassion from the "weak" men for whom she privately expresses bitter contempt. If this musical does make it to Broadway, Baldwin deserves to go with it.

Another strong performance is turned in by the actor on whose shoulders the story of The Three Musketeers is carried ? Aaron Tveit as D'Artagnan. A 23-year-old alum of the national tours of Hairspray (Link) and Rent (Roger/Steve), Tveit brings a winning, swaggering boyishness to the idealistic, romantic, sometimes foolish, but ultimately heroic character who chooses hope over despair even when life's disillusionments teach him painful lessons about loyalty and love.

"I see D'Artagnan as a boy who grew up listening to the stories his Dad told him about the Musketeers and their adventures," says Tveit. "All his life he's been waiting to use his tools. He thinks he'll be the top, but he falls flat on his face. He can adapt, though, because of his optimism. It's funny, he's just on the verge of manhood, but he ends up teaching the other Musketeers what manhood is really about."

Ongoing Process

Oddly enough, it's the three Musketeers ? Athos, Porthos and Aramis ? of the show's title who seem to need a bit more work before this show can really sing. Their main production number, The Life of a Musketeer, has a vague Jerry Herman La Cage Aux Folles/The Best of Times sound to it that just doesn't quite reach the exuberant level needed to lift the show to swashbuckling status. Swordfights are extraordinarily well staged, and the into battle song Ride On! has a quirky, humorous side to it. But it should also gallop and give goose bumps as D'Artagnan narrowly escapes capture on his way to save the Queen's jewels and reputation. Instead it lopes, a poor man's Into the Fire without the spine tingling finish.

Athos, here played with great depth and conviction by John Schiappa, does get a terrific character defining number called Take a Little Wine in which he drunkenly reveals his regrettable past. Porthos and Aramis, however, are drawn a bit more one dimensionally with the former coming across as a carousing clown and the latter as a bland poet/priest. Their gently comic number Pour la France does give a brief glimpse into their growing preference for female companionship over engaging in war, but their book scenes are more sketchily drawn. They seem more window dressing than essential cogs in the story. One never gets the indisputable sense that Athos, Porthos and Aramis are truly the "all for one and one for all" Three Inseparables they claim to be.

According to producers Schaffert and Martin, however, The Three Musketeers is likely to undergo even more changes before it makes its assault on New York. So there is still time to make what is already a strong show even more vibrant. This NSMT production, in fact, has been evolving as it's been in rehearsal. The Playbill on opening night had a revised song list glued over the previously printed page, indicating that four songs were cut and others had their order of performance changed. Clearly these producers and this creative team are committed to making The Three Musketeers the best show it can be.

"We need to perform in one more theater with a proscenium stage to work out the rest of the design and production elements," says Schaffert enthusiastically. "We performed on a thrust in Chicago and we're in the round here at North Shore. A proscenium stage will let us finish the set and see how it fills a Broadway-style theater.

"We are bringing lots of people in from regional theaters and New York to see the show here in Beverly," he continues. "We're hoping for another theatrical producing partner and investors who believe in it."

NSMT's Kimbell does believe in it. "When I first saw The Three Musketeers at the NAMT (North American Musical Theatre) Festival in 1999, I said, 'This show needs to be done,' " he affirms. "I think America is ready for a little honesty and heart, and this show has it. Of course, developing new works is risky, but that's what we have to do if we want to advance the art form. You never know what's going to strike audiences and be a hit. But you have to keep working at it. You just have to find the good stories and tell them."

The Three Musketeers continues at the North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Road, Beverly, Massachusetts, through Sunday, September 9. Tickets are available on line at www.nsmt.org or by calling the box office at 978-232-7200.


https://playbill.com/article/three-musketeers-producers-work-toward-next-step-for-swashbuckling-musical-com-143310


Three Musketeers Producers Work Toward Next Step for Swashbuckling Musical

The commercial producers attached to The Three Musketeers, the swashbuckling romantic musical playing through Sept. 9 at North Shore Theatre, have "three" on their minds now more than ever.

BY KENNETH JONES

AUGUST 29, 2007



//assets.playbill.com/editorial/cff66b91fe5352bd4a09ddf4101d74ea-threemusketeersnsmtpre200-7g561g2w.jpg


Aaron Tveit as D'Artagnan in North Shore's Three Musketeers.

"Three" is the number of theatres that producer Greg Schaffert and producing partner Buddy Martin are seeking to grow and develop the 1620s-set musical. They've already seen the work tested at two: Schaffert helped arrange the 2006 Chicago Shakespeare Theater production and the current North Shore run in Beverly, MA.

Schaffert told Playbill.com a third market would allow writers Peter Raby (book), Paul Leigh (lyrics) and George Stiles (music) — and director Francis Matthews — to implement what they've learned in recent weeks in Massachusetts.

The property's life in Illinois and New England is akin to the classic tryout period that many commercial shows go through, only this time not-for-profits have been testing the work. (For the record, Schaffert and Martin gave North Shore enhancement money to cover the sumptuous new physical production that evokes 17th-century France — in the round, no less, owing to North Shore's famous stage configuration).

The marquee-value title of The Three Musketeers, inspired by the Alexandre Dumas pere novel that was first serialized in the 1840s, would seem to be a natural for theatres seeking family-friendly musical adventure. Schaffert said the show has a theatrical, actor-driven Nicholas Nickleby quality that gives it fresh life beyond what was seen in Chicago and in previous developmental steps (notably, in 2000-01 in San Jose, CA — an experience best forgotten, the creators have said).

Recent reviews of the show have knocked the overly intricate plot and the sometimes generic musical storytelling. Schaffert said the creative team has taken notes and will jump back into rewriting. They hope a regional organization with a proscenium house will be the launch pad for a London or Broadway production. New since the December 2006 Chicago staging are director Francis Matthews and designers Lez Brotherston (sets and costumes) and Hugh Vanstone (lighting). They, the writers and others in the creative team will continue with the project when it finds its future, Schaffert said.

Aaron Tveit has been singled out in reviews for his strong performance as young D'Artagnan, whose fondest wish is to join the King of France's elite guards — the musketeers. Athos, Porthos and Aramis are the characters of the title.

The North Shore run was rehearsed with a mostly new cast (of 24) in a little more than two weeks, Schaffert said, adding that more time to explore the material is vital for the next step.

In the meantime potential producing partners are headed to Beverly, MA, to see if they might have a hand in the next potential hit historical musical romance.

North Shore audiences have seen the work of composer Stiles before: His Honk!, Just So and Tom Jones have played there. Stiles penned new music and revisions to Broadway and London's Mary Poppins.

For more information about The Three Musketeers, visit www.nsmt.org.

https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/3musketrose-rev

Rose Theatre, Kingston, Surrey 2010

Master of the musical genre, George Stiles has created a tuneful and eclectic score, some of it ’sung through‹, for this faithful but finally underwhelming adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas tale of love, intrigue and derring-do around the French court in 1625, The Three Musketeers.

Francis Matthews' brilliant staging places the action on a two level setting of timber baulks, plus hazardous ladder and rope work, designed by Simon Higlett to fill the wide open Rose Theatre space in both directions. And there is an effective lighting plot by Tim Mitchell that accurately focuses our attention on the exact point of action at any one time.

Most unexpected is a blue moonlit settting for what must surely be the First Tango in Paris, lending tone to the covert carryings-on between CJ Johnson‹s glamorous Milady and the Cardinal‹s men. But in plot terms the precise nature of their devilry is not fullly established, while the Cardinal remains a colourful background figure with hardly a word to say for himself, very odd!

The goodies, the Three Musketeers and their Gascony new recruit D‹Artagnan, played with boundless energy and cocky charm by Michael Pickering, are in support of the hapless Royal party. Their sweet and lovely go-between is Kaisa Hammarlund‹s romantic blonde Constance who curiously combines domestic drudgery at the Pine Cone Inn with her official post as Lady in Waiting to the Queen.

She and D‹Artagnan discover a bond of attraction that brings two splendidly passionate seduction numbers, later underscored by a solemn musical set-piece for Paul Thornley‹s Athos, a dominating figure, who warns his young friend about the hazards of falling in love with fair-haired women.

Good work comes from Hal Fowler as Porthos, Matt Rawle as Aramis and Marcello Walton as the Duke of Buckingham - and indeed the whole cast - in some splendidly choreographed sword play by Malcolm Ranson. But as far as one can tell, beyond a bruise or two, the body count is usually nil on both sides of the quarrel.

Combining complex plot with songs, marches, dances and sustained choruses has made for a running time close to two hours fifty and there were several moments in the perfornance when all the youngsters in the audience started fidgeting.

But for older kids the Rose show is a good choice for family entertainment which, according to the current publicity, has a fair prospect of transfer to the West End in due course

https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/leisure/theatre/8631872.interview-with-the-three-musketeers-composer-george-stiles-part-one/



When The Three Musketeers musical swashbuckles its way on to the Rose Theatre stage in three weeks time, it will finally bring to life a dream composer George Stiles had 15 years ago.

Back then was the first time Stiles, along with lyricist Paul Leigh, contemplated turning Alexandre Dumas's' classic adventure tale into the all-singing all-sword fighting musical but, after seeing it sit in development in the West End for five years, Stiles got fed up and grabbed offers to do it in Switzerland and then America instead.

Finally though, he is bringing it home and the winner of the 2000 Laurence Olivier award for his musical Honk! could not be more excited.

"I have always known this will be where the show really works and it is going to come alive because we get it in this country," he enthuses.

"We get the delight in adapting big novels, we get the little bit of the European history that lies behind it - you don't have to know anything about Louis XIII but we have a sense he existed and we understand the hierarchy whereas with the Americans you have to teach them everything.

"After its last incarnation in America we sat down and brainstormed with Buddy Martin, our American producer, and said we are ready to do it now, let's do it where it has always meant to be done.

"We have done an enormous amount to it for this version and I do feel like it's a premier as it's a radical revision."

It may be 166 years since The Three Musketeers was first serialised but the legend still inspires many a duel up and down the stairs with plastic swords or rolled up pieces of paper.

For Stiles though, the boyhood fascination with swashbuckling is not the only reason behind the tale's longevity.

"We have tried to make the story matter from the outset so that you have a lot of fun but you also realise big things are at stake and that swords and muskets are dangerous and if you get too close to them too often you are going to get hurt," he says.

"I think that's why the story has lasted as it is about important things, it's about friendship and about trust and loyalty and about believing in stuff like Kings and Queens and good and evil - it's not a simple black and white story.

"Everyone has slightly different expectations as to what the Three Musketeers is and that is one of our big jobs to make sure their expectation is exceeded - not disappointed.

"With a musical you have to present tunes people can hum, visual pictures they have never seen before that amuse and excite them and make them root for the characters and then organise it all in a way it doesn't get boring and keeps all the plates spinning at once.

"It's a mad person's game, you would have to be bonkers to want to do it but yet when you can smell a thing can work you can never get the scent out of your nostrils and you just don't give up."

"Ever since we did a workshop of it all those years ago in 1996 everyone that was there knew this thing could work."


https://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/leisure/theatre/8631872.interview-with-the-three-musketeers-composer-george-stiles/
In the second part of our exclusive interview with The Three Musketeers composer George Stiles, he talks about sword fighting, trying to tell all of Alexandre Dumas' story and the risk of going up against the Christmas pantomime.

At the name The Three Musketeers, young (and fully grown) men immediately get excited about the idea of watching a group of actors going hell for leather on stage with their swords trying to cut lumps out of each other.

It is, of course, all very well rehearsed and the musical production of Alexandre Dumas' tale that comes to Rose Theatre for a five-week run from the end of this month, is no different.

The actors (including Hal Fowler as Porthos, Matt Rawle as Aramis, Paul Thornley as Athos and Michael Pickering as D’Artagnan) have long been rehearsing under the guise of one of the best fight scene directors in the business - Malcolm Ranson.

"I have not worked with Malcolm before but he is a legend and we are having a great time," says the musical's composer George Stiles.

"He has done a lot of fights, he won't be shy to admit he has been doing it for a while, and he has got a font of resources and stories.

"He has the right mixture of excitement and wit in the way he does the fighting scenes.

"If you are going to watch people fight on stage you want it to be entertaining - it has to deliver some sense of your boyhood dreams when you were fighting up and down the stairs with your brother.

"We've got some really good and experienced fighters - one of our guys, Christopher D Hunt, was doing the Pirates of the Caribbean movie a few weeks ago and having a great time and a natter with Penelope Cruz.

"He was in my Peter Pan a couple of years ago so he's been a pirate and is now a musketeer so he's a proper dude."

Dumas' original tale was a whopper at more than 700 pages so you could understand if Stiles, who admits he never quite finished the book, and co wanted to leave some out - but they're not.

"We tell the whole story," he insists.

"It actually gets quite dark - it's not letting too many cats out of the bag to tell you people die.

"Most other adaptions fillet it quite radically in some way or another.

"Famously, the Frank Finlay, Michael York, Oliver Reed, Roy Kinnear set of movies - which were fight directed by Bll Hobbs whose original idea this was as a musical - when they first made the original they shot so much material in their attempt to film the whole book they realised they had enough for not one but two movies. (ed - A bit like our interview then).

"Having contracted everyone for only one film they decided to edit it as two films and never changed the contracts so everyone got paid for one film even though they made two."

The Three Musketeers continues Rose Theatre's pledge not to follow the monotony of the pantomime period and do something different not involving all those dames and screams of 'he's behind you'.

But is a bit of a risk to be going up against the seasonal favourites?

"Everything is always a risk to some extent," philosophises Stiles.

"All the decisions you make in life are informed or sometimes uninformed risks and when it came up as a possibility that we could do it here and the theatre was interested I just jumped at it.

"I think it's silly to deny that The Three Musketeers has in its title something that immediately attracts on a fundamental level - it's a bunch of blokes with swords having a good time.

"Doing it at the Rose means people will inherently grasp that it might be a bit more than that as well and that you will get a great story and fantastic acting.

"You are guaranteed to be told a rip-roaring story and the hope is people will have a hunger for a bit more than panto.

"If people want panto there are many and you are well catered for in the area, but if you want something a bit more toothsome after your turkey come and get a bit of musketeer action."

The Three Musketeers, Rose Theatre, High Street, November 27 to January 2, 7.30pm (Matinees Thurs and Sat 2.30pm), £8 to £32. Call 0871 230 1552 or visit rosetheatrekingston.org.


The Three Musketeers

Michael Coveney

5 December 2010

There’s a bit of history behind this first ever musical at the Rose: Peter Raby’s stage version has been seen in Stratford, Ontario, and elsewhere; composer George Stiles and lyricist and Paul Leigh joined in later; and now director Francis Matthews has chipped in with more book tweaks.

Matthews has also assembled a pretty good cast, but the narrative distillation of the thud and blunder novel by Alexandre Dumas remains muddy: the story of the Queen’s diamonds and Milady’s deviousness is levered into a show that otherwise seems, hélas, like an over-strenuous, curiously uninspired follow-up to both Les Misérables and Martin Guerre.

Our hero, the Gascon country boy D’Artagnan (Michael Pickering), who is seeking adventure and a commission in the hot French summer of 1625, comes “Riding to Paris” with the rest of the cast pawing the ground like fire-breathing stallions: splendid locomotion in this number, but it’s not very long before inertia sets in with the audience no doubt whispering “giddy up, old gal” under their collective breaths.

Stiles’ score is professionally composed and some of the ballads and duets have a pleasing architecture; but it never really sparks, even at its most stirring, in the musketeers’ brotherhood song, “Count Me In,” or the foot-stomping chorale, “The Life of a Musketeer.” No fault of the actors: Matt Rawle’s Aramis, Paul Thornley’s Athos and Hal Fowler’s Porthos are all well-observed, well-contrasted portraits in lock-shaking caballero mode.

And C J Johnson’s statuesque Milady and Kaisa Hammarlund’s sweet-natured Constance, D’Artagnan’s lover, both have their moments. Too often, though, you ask yourself the question: why are they doing this? And Simon Higlett once again demonstrates the difficulty of designing in this theatre, building a great big Sean Kenny-style beamed edifice that is hardly used and does nothing much except fill up some of the space.

“A Good Old Fashioned War” second act opener seems to have come in from another show altogether, and eventually you’re not even sorry to see the “Riding to Paris” jig-along reprised, the company melding at last, and again, into what I believe is known as “an organic ensemble,” but one that could be appearing in anything. Good musical direction by Ian Townsend, the musicians strung across the top of the theatre like fairy lights.


https://variety.com/2010/legit/reviews/the-three-musketeers-2-1117944160/

Dec 6, 2010 6:40pm PT

The Three Musketeers

While a hit like "Cats" proves that there's no such thing as a bad idea for a musical, some ideas are definitely less good than others.



By David Benedict



While a hit like “Cats” proves that there’s no such thing as a bad idea for a musical, some ideas are definitely less good than others. Step forward “The Three Musketeers.” Refreshingly uncynical though this swashbuckler is, its pleasing music, high spirits and good heart cannot disguise the surfeit of plot and paucity of drama.

The book, which cleaves to the original story, is chiefly to blame. Granted, not every tuner has to maintain high dramatic stakes throughout, but Peter Raby and Francis Matthews’ adaptation of Dumas’s novel fails to make its mind up as to how high the stakes should be. Is this a comedy confection or a passionate tale of love and duty? It’s trying to be both.


At the start, young hero D’Artagnan (Michael Pickering) is so absurdly naive he risks being considered simple-minded. That leads the audience to dismiss rather than actually engage with him. Yet at other times, his plight demands audience sympathy. Yet without that truly being earned, it’s hard to care.

The odds are against it from the get-go, largely due to an over-egged plot of crosses and double-crosses from too large a cast. Squeezing so much in means that scenes are underwritten and little is satisfyingly hard-won.

The title suggest the trio at the heart of the piece. Yet they’re actually swaggering, middle-ranking characters, barely differentiated – a fault that cannot be laid at the actors’ door. It’s really the story of D’Artagnan’s and, principally, that of him falling in with Constance, played by a spry yet sweetly relaxed Kaisa Hammarlund in the night’s stand-out performance.

Complicating matters further there’s also supercilious Rochefort (nicely vicious but woefully underused Mark Meadows) and the wicked Milady (C.J. Johnson). The latter appears to switch sides so many times it’s hard to follow. Her singing is increasingly impassioned but her role offers too much display and not enough engagement.

Francis Matthews’ production has boisterousness but lacks drive. Simon Higlett’s standing set has ropes and ladders and walkways galore, but little of it is effectively used.

The two most rousing numbers “A Good Old-Fashioned War” and “The Life Of A Musketeer” really deliver. Composer George Stiles has a nice ear for a gratifyingly old-fashioned tune and can really fill out a harmony. But in staging terms, the well-executed dynamism of these two numbers shows up what’s missing elsewhere. For the rest of the time, Georgina Lamb’s choreography delivers neatly illustrative movement but without punchy punctuation shaping the energy, her work merely proceeds when you wish it was building in excitement.

That, sad to say, is true of the show as a whole. Currently playing a season at Kingston’s Rose Theater, it’s aiming for future West End life. A major rewrite is needed to lift it from being merely diverting into satisfying entertainment.

The Three Musketeers

Rose Theater, Kingston, U.K.; 899 seats; £32 $50 top

Production: A Rose Theater in association with Bud Martin presentation of a musical in two acts, music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh, book by Peter Raby with Francis Matthews from an original concept by William Hobbs based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Directed by Francis Matthews. Musical direction, Ian Townsend; choreography, Georgina Lamb.
Crew: Sets, Simon Higlett; costumes, Mark Bouman; lighting, Tim Mitchell; sound, Mike Waller for Loh Humm Audio Co. Ltd.; fight direction, Malcolm Ranson; orchestrations, David Shrubsole musical supervision, George Stiles and Shrubsole; production stage manager, Jason Benterman. Opened, review Dec. 3, 2010. Running time: 2 HOURS, 45 MIN. With Michael Camp, Christopher D. Hunt, Iain Fletcher, Kirsty Hoiles, James Lailey, Matthew McKenna, Amanda Minihan, Peter Moreton, Jake Samuels, Chris Thatcher, Marcello Walton, Sally Whitehead.
Cast: D'Artagnan - Michael Pickering Constance - Kaisa Hammarlund Aramis - Matt Rawle Athos - Paul Thornley Porthos - Hal Howler Milday - C.J. Johnson Rochefort - Mark Meadows Planchet - Ben Heathcote


https://unitedmusicals.de/musical/the-three-musketeers-die-drei-musketiere/

The Three Musketeers / Die drei Musketiere


Musical von George Stiles (Musik), Paul Leigh (Liedtexte) sowie Peter Raby and Francis Matthews (Buch)

Musik George Stiles
Liedtexte Paul Leigh
Buch Francis Matthews
Buch Peter Raby
Original Titel The Three Musketeers: A New Musical
Deutscher Titel Die drei Musketiere
Vorlage »Les Trois Mousquetaires« von Alexandre Dumas, ist Teil einer Trilogie und wurde 1844 kapitelweise in »Le Siècle« veröffentlicht und basiert auf »Les Mémoires de d’Artagnan« von Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1700)
Uraufführung Am 26. Februar 2000 am Stadttheater im Schweizer St. Gallen unter dem Titel »Die drei Musketiere« unter Regie von Peter Zeug und Janez Samec
Überarbeitete Fassung Am 27. November 2010 am Rose Theatre Kingston, London (UK) unter Regie von Francis Matthews
Deutsche Erstaufführung Am 18. März 2016 an der Oper Halle mit deutschen Liedtexten von Roman Hinze und Dialogen von Jürgen Hartmann unter Regie von Winfried Schneider
Die drei Musketiere (Halle 2016)

Deutsche Übersetzung (Liedtexte) Roman Hinze
Deutsche Übersetzung (Dialoge) Jürgen Hartmann
Deutsche Übersetzung Peter Zeug
Verlag Musik und Bühne Verlagsgesellschaft mbH



https://unitedmusicals.de/printartikel/deutsche-erstauffuehrung-die-drei-musketiere-an-der-oper-halle/

Die Abenteuer des d'Artagnan

Deutsche Erstaufführung »Die drei Musketiere« an der Oper Halle

von Martina Friedrich

Der 1844 erschienene Roman »Die drei Musketiere« von Alexandre Dumas bildet die Grundlage für das Musical »Die drei Musketiere«, das im Februar 2000 am Theater St. Gallen in der Schweiz in deutscher Sprache uraufgeführt wurde. Hierfür schrieb Paul Leigh die Liedtexte und George Stiles die szenische, emotionale Musik. Diese erste Fassung wurde von den Autoren bis 2011 mehrmals überarbeitet. Für die letzte Fassung übersetzte Roman Hinze die Liedtexte und Jürgen Hartmann das Buch. Am 18. März 2016 erlebte das Werk seine deutsche Erstaufführung an der Oper Halle.
[...]
»Die drei Musketiere« sind ein Stück übers Erwachsenwerden und Winfried Schneiders spannungsreiche, sehenswerte Inszenierung, die sich auch an ein junges Publikum richtet, begeistert die Theaterbesucher in Halle. […]

Personen

Peter Raby

Francis Matthews

Paul Leigh

Reinhart Lehmann

George Stiles

Joanna Nora Lissai

Olivia Saragosa

Stanislaw Brankatschk

Frank Hollmann

Olaf Schöder

Winfried Schneider

Jürgen Hartmann

Roy Spahn

Paul Stampehl

Anna Thorén

Björn Christian Kuhn

Roman Hinze

Produktionen

Die drei Musketiere (Halle 2016)

https://musicallexikon.uni-freiburg.de/inhalte/Musketiere_Halle

Kritiken

 

"... 'Die drei Musketiere' erzählt, der von den Amerikanern George Stiles (Musik) und Peter Raby (Buch) in eine zwar kurzweilige Musical-Form gebracht wurde, die aber dramatisch leider in einen starken ersten und schwächeren zweiten Teil zerfällt. An der Oper Halle ist das Stück jetzt als deutsche Erstaufführung zu erleben. 

[...] Angesichts der Bedeutung, die Richelieu als treibende Kraft hat, muss es überraschen, dass seine Eminenz von den Musical-Machern nur als stummer Part angelegt ist, also keine Rolle spielt. Der trottelige Ludwig XIII. (Stanislaw Brankatschk) hingegen darf wenigstens noch ein paar Sätze sagen, in der Hoffnung, seine Gattin bloßzustellen, die eine Affäre mit dem Herzog von Buckingham (André Hinderlich) unterhält. Das aber misslingt dank des Einsatzes von d’Artagnan und seiner Freunde, die sich selbst bald die vier Unzertrennlichen nennen.

Das alles vollzieht sich auf einer Bühne, die allein mit fünf turmartigen Kulissen-Elementen auskommt, die immer wieder im fliegenden Wechsel auf der Drehbühne verschoben werden. Das macht ähnlich viel Effekt, wie die historisch korrekt gefertigten Kostüme (allen voran die herrlichen Lederwämse der Musketiere), für die ebenfalls Ausstatter Roy Spahn verantwortlich zeichnete.

Chor und Extrachor der Oper Halle (Einstudierung: Peter Schedding) war, mal als Volk von Paris, mal als Hofgesellschaft im Louvre, ebenso überzeugend wie die Staatskapelle unter Leitung von Frank Hollmann, welche die Partitur mit der für ein Musical notwendigen Leichtigkeit umsetzten. Alles in allem eine schöne Leistung aller Beteiligten der Oper Halle (Choreografie und Inszenierung: Winfried Schneider), die, wie die Musketiere auch, dem Erfolg versprechenden Grundsatz folgten: „Einer für alle und alle für einen.“

Kai Agthe: Die drei Musketiere in Oper Halle: Einer für alle. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 21. März 2016.

 

 

"In Halle ist jetzt die gründliche Überarbeitung zu erleben. Erstaunlich: Die Faszination der hitzigen Gefechte bleibt auf der Bühne wiederum etwas blässlich. In der jüngsten Ausgabe funktioniert der Stoff vor allem im zweiten Teil nur mit Ladehemmung. Vielleicht liegt es am arg komplizierten Geflecht aus Personen und weit ausgelegten Handlungssträngen, die dramaturgisch kaum zu entflechten sind. Die deutsche Übersetzung von Roman Hinze und Jürgen Hartmann bemüht sich um Durchsicht und Regisseur Winfried Schneider, der zugleich als Choreograf fungiert, sucht die Bögen und klaren Linien zwischen all den wüst wuchernden Intrigen, Krisen, Korruptionen, Karrieregelüsten, Trinkgelagen und Bigotterie auszumeißeln. Da ist viel Effekt zu spüren, aber nicht immer Stringenz. Besonders die Tanzszenen präsentieren sich bisweilen recht schwerfällig, könnten mehr Schwung vertragen.

In seiner Partitur drückt Georges Stiles mächtig auf die Emotionsdrüse, bevorzugt den wummernden, oft ziemlich bleihaltigen Balladenton. Der passt zwar durchaus zum finsteren Geschehen, ein wenig lichtstrahlender Schmiss hätte dem Musical aber gut zu Gesicht gestanden.

[...] Diese Ausgabe der 'Drei Musketiere' unterhält besonders vor der Pause bestens, fasziniert durch das famos agierende Ensemble und pralle Bilderflut. Dafür gibt es prasselnden Applaus. Für einen Platz auf der ewigen Bestseller-Liste reicht es wohl trotzdem nicht."

Heinz-Jürgen Rickert: Die Drei Musketiere. Das Mantel-&-Degen-Musical von Georges Stiles in überarbeiteter Fassung. In: musicals, Das Musicalmagazin, Heft 179, Juni / Juli 2016. Seite 12-13.

 

"Der 1844 erschienene Roman 'Die Drei Musketiere' von Alexandre Dumas bildet die Grundlage für das Musical 'Die drei Musketiere', das im Februar 2000 am Theater St. Gallen in der Schweiz in deutscher Sprache uraufgeführt wurde. Hierfür schrieb Paul Leigh die Liedtexte und George  Stiles die szenische, emotionale Musik. Diese erste Fassung wurde von den Autoren bis 2011 mehrmals überarbeitet. Für die letzte Fassung übersetzte Roman Hinze die Liedtexte und Jürgen Hartmann das Buch. [...] Im Mittelpunkt des Musicals stehen nicht nur die Freundschaft d'Artagnans zu den drei Musketieren, sondern auch die zahlreichen Intrigen der attraktiven Milady de Winter. zugleich wird von mehreren Liebesbeziehungen erzählt.

[...] Unbedingt erwähnenswert sind die aufwendigen, detailreich im historischen Stil gestalteten Kostüme von Roy Spahn. [...] 'Die drei Musketiere' sind ein Stück übers Erwachsenwerden und Winfried Schneiders spannungsreiche, sehenswerte Inszenierung, die sich auch an ein junges Publikum richtet, begeistert die Theaterbesucher in Halle."

Martina Friedrich: Die Abenteuer des d'Artagnan. Deutsche Erstaufführung "Die drei Musketiere" an der Oper Halle. In: blickpunkt musical, Ausgabe  82, Nr. 03/2016, Mai - Juli 2016, Seite 24-25.

 

 

 

Medien / Publikationen

Audio-Aufnahmen

? "Three Musketeers". Original San José Cast, 2001. American Musical Theatre of San Jose. (1xCD).
? Einzelaufnahmen "Musical Winner" "Musical of the Year" CD Columbus Records 81569 (1996)