That famous "all for one and one for all" gang - Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan - will be swashbuckling their way onto the Lees Main Stage of Pioneer Memorial Theatre this week for Pioneer Theatre Company's world premiere of director Charles Morey's new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers."
Amid flashing swords, chivalry and the romance of 17th-century France, Morey, who is PTC's artistic director, mixes laughter with tragedy, slapstick with slaughter and even has Dumas himself directing and misdirecting the action that swirls around him.Portraying the gallant trio are James Andreassi, Bob Kirsh and PTC audience favorite Patrick Page, with Christopher Wells in the central role of D'Artagnan, the adventurous young guardsman (a combination of Don Quixote and Sir Lancelot).
The play follows D'Artagnan's exploits as he leaves home and attempts to gain a place as one of King Louis XIII's Musketeers.
Wells has appeared on Broadway in "Harrigan 'n' Hart," George Abbott's "Broadway" and "Teddy and Alice." He's had a variety of stage, TV and film roles. Most recently, he starred in the world premiere of "Ancient History," by David Ives, at Primary Stages in New York.
Andreassi, of New Haven, Conn., has appeared in a number of regional productions, including shows for the Long Wharf Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse and the American Repertory Theatre. In New York, he created the role of Ned Edwards in the world premiere of "All This and Moonlight" at the Triangle Rep.
Kirsh, making his PTC debut, has spent the last two years in the resident company at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. A native of Pennsylvania, he spent two summers at the Bucks County Playhouse and performed in the inaugural season of the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays.
Page, returning to PTC for his third season, is also familiar to Utah audiences for his extensive work with the Utah Shakespearean Festival. This past season he portrayed Ben Johnson in the festival premiere production of "Nothing Like the Sun."
Other cast members include Robert Peterson (Rochefort), Davis Hall, John Camera (Richelieu) and Tara Hugo, all of New York City; Liisa Ivary, Spencer Beckwith, Richard Mathews, Anne Stewart Mark, David Valenza and Richard B. Nelson.
Published in 1844 in serial form in a French newspaper, "The Three Musketeers" was an instant hit with readers, raising the circulation of Le Siecle substantially. It has been adapted several times for stage and screen.
Morey's adaptation incorporates exciting action, choreographic sword play and a rapid-fire plot.
Dumas was incredibly prolific. His collected works in French fill 227 volumes, including plays, novels, travel books, essays and memoirs. He often used collaborators (Auguste Maquet provided the research and rough outlines for each episode of "The Three Musketeers"), but it was Dumas himself who created the extraordinary prose that made this novel a classic.
Morey's first notion of writing and producing a new stage adaptation of the work developed slowly throughout the latter part of 1988 and early 1989. He was faced with the challenge of squeezing 700 pages of text and nearly 200 characters onto a stage, while maintaining the theatrical equivalent of the exuberance and "panache" of the original.
Once all the pieces began to fall into place, "I wrote it very quickly, lurching through the original with the remains of my college French and a bilingual dictionary," Morey says.
With on-going advice and sketches from scenic designer Ariel Ballif, the project began to take shape. Morey spent the summer cutting and rewriting and simplifying the logistics. On Oct. 9, using the fourth draft of the play, the cast began rehearsals.
As late as two weeks ago, Morey and his colleagues were still revising and cutting the script.
"I think the entire company and staff have joined me in my enthusiasm for Alexandre Dumas' extraordinary tale about the band of Musketeers in the reign of Louis XIII and our attempt to translate it to the stage," he said.
Fight director David Boushey called the show "the largest fight show in theater" but pointed out that most of the fighting is tongue-in-cheek. There are more than two dozen sword fights in this production, "and every one is carefully choreographed," said Boushey, who is also the founder of the American Society of Fight Directors.
Most recently, Boushey worked with "Liaison Dangerouses" at the Seattle Rep and "Romeo and Juliet" for Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.
"The Three Musketeers" will play nightly, except Sundays, from Nov. 1 through 18 at 8 p.m., with Saturday matinees on Nov. 4, 11 and 18 at 2 p.m.
The Pioneer Memorial Theatre is located at the intersection of Broadway and University (300 South and 1340 East). For reservations and further information, call the PTC box office at 581-6961.