The Scarlet Pimpernel, York Theatre Royal

8:55am Friday 16th May 2008

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THEY seek him here, they seek him there. Well, I can tell "those Frenchies" where to find him. He's on stage at York Theatre Royal.

York Musical Theatre should be praised for staging something other than the usual Carousel or Oklahoma!.

The company did a very good British premiere production of Titanic the other year and next May will be one of the first amateur companies to stage Mel Brooks' The Producers.

This Scarlet Pimpernel is another rarity and you can understand why it hasn't been seen much since its Broadway appearance in 1997. It's a mishmash with a dash of Les Mis (the French Revolution) and a smidgeon of Sweeney Todd (a guillotine replacing the demon barber's cutthroat business).

The story becomes a love triangle in which Sir Percy Blakeney nearly loses his head after marrying French variety performer Marguerite, little realising that she's being blackmailed into helping former lover and evil Frenchman, Chauvelin.

Sir Percy and his friends lead a double life. In England, their foppish behaviour resembles a chorus line of prancing queens. In France, they come over all heroic to rescue people from Madame Guillotine.

Director, musical director and choreographer Paul Laidlaw fails to inject enough urgency into the proceedings. The staging is solid rather than imaginative with some performances too rough and unready.

Richard Bainbridge's oh-so-evil Chauvelin is a (dis)honorable exception. Strongly sung, well acted and much more interesting that John Haigh's bland Sir Percy.

Toni Feetenby sings sweetly as Marguerite, but dramatically is given little to work with.

It's not a great musical but has its moments. I wish the production had made more of them.

* Until May 24. Tickets 01904-623568