The Three Musketeers
OPENING: November 11, 1984
CLOSING: November 18, 1984
Seen: November 1984
LOCATION: Broadway Theater
I have fallen behind in entries.
I’m sorry, my darling Theater Kids – working full time, auditioning, writing, and seeing shows is kind of a full time gig. I’ll try to keep up.
After my Dad’s Argentinian tryst with Eva Peron, it seems he took a break from seeing shows. It was understandable; it was a bit of a turbulent time in his life. He may have seen a show here or there and lost the playbill, but in this case I’m inclined to believe that he was living his life and wasn’t trekking to the theater.
But in November of 1984, he was on a date with a very special lady. They were on their way to a movie that had already started and when they cut through Times Square, my dad saw the TKTS booth and said “Hey! How about a Broadway show instead?” The Very Special Lady, being somewhat new to New York, was awestruck with the idea that discounted same day tickets to Broadway were a thing and responded with “We can do that?”
Well played, Dad.
So instead of showing up late to what was probably a bad 80’s flick, they got tickets to 1984’s The Three Musketeers.
Technically, it was a revival. It originated on Broadway in 1928, with music and lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey. For the 1984 revival, the original 1928 book by William Anthony McGuire was updated by Mark Bramble of Barnum and 42nd Street fame. I believe – cannot confirm – that multiple iterations were workshopped regionally, as there was one version that went up in Hartford in the summer of 1983. That version was choreographed by Onna White, who at this point had had a very prolific career as the choreographer on hits such as My Fair Lady and Bye Bye Birdie.
The cast also was incredible. It was an eclectic mix of up and coming performers. Chuck Wagner, playing the role of D’Artagnan, is probably most well known for originating the role of Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods several years later. Liz Callaway has had a stellar career as singer. In a way, her voice the soundtrack of my childhood, as she did singing for Ahrens and Flannery’s Anastasia – my chosen animated Princess (I may or may not refuse to take Journey to the Past out of my rep book, despite the fact that I will NEVER be cast in a princess role). Ed Dixon, stalwart of the stage for over fifty years, took on the role of Cardinal Richelieu.
But perhaps most notably was the young man playing the role of Aramis. According to my dad’s playbill, he had two Broadway credits, a sprinkling of film and TV credits, and a slew of Off Broadway credits to his name, which is Brent Spiner of Star Trek: Next Generation fame.
When I was flipping through these playbills as a kid, Spiner is one of the “Finds” that excited me the most. My dad saw Commander Data on Broadway! Twice! (Stay Tuned). And even then, he didn’t remember. Spiner wasn’t a household name when Dad saw him and he doesn’t have the same love for all of this that I did, even as a kid. But I can still get excited – MY DAD SAW COMMANDER DATA LIVE!
Despite this seemingly dream team cast and crew – The Three Musketeers was a huge flop. It’s almost impressive that out of all the shows my dad and the Very Special Lady could have chosen at the TKTS booth that day it was this one as it only ran 9 performances.
9. I’ve done community theatre shows that have done more performances.
That doesn’t mean that it was all bad; clearly the performances were good. Marianne Tatum, playing the role of Milady de Winter, was nominated for a Tony. There is a certain musical that went up this past season that was written by a certain icon in our industry that was nominated for no Tonys this year, despite the hype surrounding it.
So was it the writing? Was it just bad timing? The scalding review by Frank Rich? I genuinely don’t know. My dad loves to tell the story of ditching the movie and seeing a show instead. He doesn’t remember *which* show they saw that night, but he remembers that it was terrible and he thinks it was this one. I think he thought that poor quality of whatever show it was undercut his suave move. If it was The Three Musketeers, it probably means that the revision of the 1928 script was not enough to bring it to the standards of 1984 audience members.
I think the short run of this show means that this particular playbill is a collector’s item. I don’t care if it is or not, it is a part of my family’s history.
Especially since I like to refer to the Very Special Lady as Mom.
CAST: ORIGINAL
QUEEN ANNE OF FRANCE: Darlene Anders
LADY CONSTANCE BONACIEUX: Liz Callaway
CARDINAL RICHELIEU: Ed Dixon
SERGEANT JUSSAC: Raymond Patterson
INNKEEPER: J.P. Dougherty
THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM: Joseph Kolinski
THE COMPTE DE LA ROCHEFORT: Michael Dantuono
MILADY DE WINTER: Marianne Tatum
D’ARTAGNAN: Michael Praed
ATHOS: Chuck Wagner
ARAMIS: Brent Spiner
PORTHOS: Ron Taylor
SELENUS: J.P. Dougherty
LAUNDRESS: Susan Goodman
DE BEAUVERAIS: Steve Dunnington
CAPTAIN TREVILLE: Peter Samuel
KING LOUIS XIII: Roy Brocksmith
LADY: Susan Goodman
PATRICK: Perry Arthur
MAJOR DOMO: J.P. Dougherty
THE CARDINAL’S GUARDS: Bill Badolato, Steve Dunnington, Craig Heath Nim, Steve Marder, Mark McGrath, Sal Viviano, Faruma Williams
CITIZENS OF POISSY, PARIS, CALAIS, THE KING’S MUSKETEERS, AND CHARACTERS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION: Janet Aldrich, Perry Arthur, Bill Badolato, Tina Belis, Steven Blanchard, Steve Dunnington, Elisa Fiorillo, Terri Garcia, Susan Goodman, Patty Holley, Jeff Johnson, Steve Marder, Mark McGrath, Craig Heath Nim, Suzan Postel, Wynonna Smith, Sal Viviano, Faruma Williams, Sandra Zigars.
UNDERSTUDIES: Jeff Johnson (D’Artagnan); Mark McGrath (Athos, Innkeeper); Peter Samuel (Porthos, Cardinal); Steven Blanchard (Aramis); Elisa Fiorillo (Constance); Janet Aldrich (Constance, Milady); Suzan Postel (Queen); Craig Heath Nim (Rochefort, Treville); Sal Viviano (Buckingham); Faruma Williams (Jussac); J.P. Dougherty (King); Patty Holley (Laundress); and Perry Arthur (Planchet).
SWINGS: De Dwight Baxter, Kirsti Carnahan, Craig Frawley, Todd Lester, Jacqueline Smith-Lee.
Charles, Eleanor. ”Connecticut Guide; ‘Three Musketeers.” New York Times, March 13, 1983. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/13/nyregion/connecticut-guide-three-musketeers.html?searchResultPosition=1
“Ed Dixon.” Internet Broadway Database. Accessed June 2023. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ed-dixon-38146
Hetrick, Adam. “Mark Bramble, Tony Nominee for 42nd Street and Barnum, Dies at 68.” Playbill, February 21, 2019. https://playbill.com/article/mark-bramble-tony-nominee-for-42nd-street-and-barnum-dies-at-68
Rich, Frank. “Theater: A Musical “Three Musketeers” Opens. New York Times; November 12, 1984. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/12/theater/theater-a-musical-three-musketeers-opens.html?searchResultPosition=3
