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Music by: George Stiles
Lyrics by: Paul Leigh
Directed by: Dianna Shuster
Book by: Peter Raby
Adapted from ‘The Three Musketeers’ by Alexander Dumas
Previews from March 9th 2001
March 10th 2001 – March 25th 2001
American Musical Theatre of San Jose
California
SYNOPSIS
The Three Musketeers made the phrase "All for one and one for all" a catch phrase, one hundred and fifty-some years after its publication in 1844. The swashbuckling story features sword fights, a dangerous femme fatale and a deadly plot formulated by the all-powerful Cardinal Richelieu to discredit his enemy, the Queen of France. Among the songs in the score are "Riding to Paris," "The Challenges," "Any Day," "It's A Funny Thing Being a Hero," "Shadows," "Gentlemen," "Ghosts," "Who Could Have Dreamed of You," "A Good Old Fashioned War," "Take a Little Wine" and "Lilacs."
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OPENING NIGHT CAST
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Jim Stanek
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D'Artagnan
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Alton Fitzgerald White
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Athos
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Fred Inkley
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Porthos
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Robert Mammana
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Aramis
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Sutton Foster
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Constance
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Rachel deBenedet
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Milady de Winter
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Christian Borle
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Planchet
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Elizabeth Ann Campisi
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Queen Anne
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Jonathan Rhys Williams
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Rochefort
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James Carpenter
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Cardinal Richelieu
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Tim Fullerton
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Father
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Kathleen Moss
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Mother
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Paige Cook Perez
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Cecile
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Gerald Hiken
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Bonacieux
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Matt Kizer
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Henri
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Rachelle Crowley
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Ann-Marie
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Tyler McGee
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Louis XIII, King of France
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Sasha V. Motalygo
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Madame Coquenard
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Anna Bergman
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Madame Chevreuse
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Gary Armagnac
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Monsieur de Treville
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Eryn Ashley Maybruck
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Dona Estefania
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Tim Fullerton
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Duke of Buckingham
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J. Scott Reilly
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Baker
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Patrick Leveque
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Undertaker
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Kathleen Moss
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Landlady
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ENSEMBLE
Jeffrey Scott Adair, Anna Bergman, Carmichael Blankenship, Rachelle Crowley, Tami Dahbura, James Monroe Iglehart, Wendy James, Jon Jensen, Matt Kizer, Patrick Leveque, Eryn Ashley Maybruck, Kathleen Moss, Sasha V. Motalygo, Tyler McGee, Paige Cook Perez, Travis Poelle, J. Scott Reilly, Daniel Courter-Simmons, Erwin G. Urbi, Rickey S. Viloria
Standby
D’Artagnan – Pierce Peter Brandt
UNDERSTUDIES
Athos – Matt Kizer
Porthos – James Monroe Iglehart
Aramis – Carmichael Blankenship
Planchet – J. Scott Reilly
Treville – Matt Kizer
Buckingham – Patrick Leveque
Rochefort – Carmichael Blankenship
Milady de Winter – Wendy James
Constance – Paige Cook Perez
Queen Anne – Sasha V. Motalygo
Bonacieux – J. Scott Reilly
Cardinal Richelieu – Jeffery Scott Adair
ACT 1
Gascony, southern France, April 1625 – young D’Artagnan leaves home to seek fame and fortune in Paris, riding on the old family horse, armed with his father’s sword and a letter of introduction to Treville, the Captain of the King’s Musketeers: Riding to Paris. En route, he survives a chance, bruising encounter with Comte de Rochefort, Cardinal Richelieu’s agent, who is accompanied by the mysterious Milady de Winter.
In Paris, D’Artagnan takes rooms at the Pinecone Inn, managed by a surly innkeeper, Bonacieux, whose beautiful, younger wife, Constance, happens to work at the palace as Queen Anne’s seamstress. Planchet, an interested street-wise observer, also newly arrived, comments on the political battles involving King Louis, Cardinal Richelieu, and the isolated Queen: Exposition. D’Artagnan hurries off to present his letter to Treville, sports his rival, Rochefort, in the distance, and manages to insult successively the three most formidable Musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis: The Challenges. Meanwhile, D’Artagnan becomes embroiled in an intrigue involving the absurdly romantic English politician, the Duke of Buckingham, who has been lured to Paris by Richelieu and Milady to discredit the Queen, with Constance as go-between.
D’Artagnan falls instantly in love with a half-reluctant Constance: Doing Very Well. D’Artagnan keeps his rendezvous with Athos, Porthos and Aramis behind the Luxembourg: dueling is against the law, and the Cardinal’s guards attempt to arrest them. D’Artagnan joins his would-be opponents, who instruct him in the arts of chivalry: It’s A Funny Thing Being A Hero, as they defeat the guards. His adventures spiral on: he acquires Planchet as a servant and tracks Constance and a cloaked figure through the streets - Paris By Night - until they reach the palace, where they are ambushed by Rochefort. D’Artagnan springs to the rescue; the cloaked figure is revealed as Buckingham, who is led to a clandestine meeting with Queen Anne: Shadows. She rejects Buckingham’s love but gives him a set of precious diamonds as a pledge to keep the peace between France and England. Impressed by his courage, the three musketeers, urged by Athos, invite D’Artagnan to join them in brotherhood: Count Me In.
Richelieu’s spies have kept him informed about Buckingham’s movements and the gift of the diamonds. He commissions Milady to go to England to secure two of them, as part of his plan to discredit the Queen and retain power in France. Milady has her own, undisclosed motives and is supremely confident in her power over men. She accepts the task, Gentlemen, and succeeds. The Queen has been commanded to appear at a ball wearing the diamonds. Desperate, she asks Constance for help, and Constance naturally turns to D’Artagnan. The four heroes set off for London, and Porthos, Aramis and Athos are in turn lured into rearguard actions by the Cardinal’s Guards: Ride On. D’Artagnan, with a reluctant Planchet, fights his way to London, where Buckingham entrusts him with the diamonds, plus some hastily set replacements. The race is on to get back to Paris in time to save the Queen’s reputation. Milady sees D’Artagnan as the main obstacle to her own triumph: Ghosts.
ACT 2
Against the odds, D’Artagnan succeeds and is rewarded with the declaration of Constance’s love: Who Could Have Dreamed Of You? But the public events sweep on. Buckingham, free to act now that he no longer possesses the diamonds, engineers a conflict between England and France, focused on La Rochelle. For the rulers, a minor diversion: for the people, led by Planchet, the prospect of death: A Good Old Fashioned War. D’Artagnan leaves Constance in Paris while he searches for Athos, not seen since the ride to Calais. He finds him holed up, drunk, in the cellar of an inn, and Athos reveals the dark secret of his own past, and his failed marriage to a woman branded with the fleur-de-lis: Take A Little Wine. Back in Paris, the musketeers celebrate the success of their mission and their reunion, The Life Of A Musketeer, before preparing to take part in the siege of La Rochelle. Milady, humiliated by a reprimand from the Cardinal, decides that Constance is to blame and organizes her kidnap.
D’Artagnan, frantic to find her, receives an invitation from Milady. He goes to visit her, and she almost seduces him: Lilacs. But he sees on her shoulder the fleur-de-lis and flees from her house. Taking up his duties at La Rochelle, D’Artagnan is saved by Planchet from a plot to kill him and D’Artagnan and Athos realize that Milady is Athos’ former wife. Athos confronts Milady and discovers where Constance is being held prisoner, but the musketeers cannot leave La Rochelle at once. D’Artagnan, reckless with anxiety, performs wonders of valour on the battlefield. Constance, in her convent cell (echoed by Anne, still in Paris) longs for rescue: Any Day. But D’Artagnan and his friends arrive to discover that Milady has been there first, befriended Constance and given her a glass of poisoned wine. D’Artagnan takes the dying Constance in his arms, Who Could Have Dreamed Of You (Reprise), as the musketeers hunt down Milady. She is captured, tried and executed. Disillusioned, the musketeers say goodbye to each other, affirming their friendship in a reprise of Ghosts. D’Artagnan, who has moved from innocence to bitter experience, is rewarded by the King and the Cardinal for his bravery, and reluctantly takes up his sword to resume the challenge of the life of a musketeer.
(Taken from Original Cast Recording Insert)
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SONG LIST
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ACT 1
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ACT 2
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Riding to Paris
(D'Artagnan, Rochfort, Planchet, Company)
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Who Could Have Dreamed of You?
(D'Artagnan & Constance)
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Exposition
(Planchet)
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A Good Old Fashioned War
(Planchet, Henri, Undertaker, Baker)
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The Challenges
(D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, Aramis)
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Take A Little Wine
(Athos)
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Doing Very Well
(D'Artagnan & Constance)
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Life Of A Musketeer
(Three Musketeers, Planchet, D'Artagnan)
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It's a Funny Thing Being a Hero
(Three Musketeers & D'Artagnan)
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Lilacs
(Milady de Winter)
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Paris By Night
(Company)
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Any Day
(Constance & Queen Anne)
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Shadows
(Duke of Buckingham & Queen Anne)
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Who Could Have Dreamed of You (Reprise)
(D'Artagnan & Constance)
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Count Me In
(Three Musketeers & D'Artagnan)
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Count Me In (Reprise)
(Three Musketeers & D'Artagnan)
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Gentlemen
(Milady de Winter)
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Ride On
(Three Musketeers, D'Artagnan, Company)
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Ghosts
(Milady de Winter, D'Artagnan, Three Musketeers)
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