Flirting with inner demons

Young Chang

If William Michals were to jump at one role, it would be the title

character in Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet

Street.” The baritone performer calls Todd “the darkest character in

musical theater.”

Considering Michals’ track record, this gravitation toward inner

demons isn’t surprising. The Manhattan resident made his Broadway debut

as the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” and he has played the Phantom in

“Phantom of the Opera” and Javert in “Les Miserables.”

He is now Chauvelin in “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” playing a French

diplomat obsessed with the ideals of the Revolution. He is the villain in

the story, but a nearly likable one -- with motivations that are not

always self-centered.

“They’ve all got their demons to them,” Michals said of his roles.

“Maybe I like that aspect in the characters -- the characters who are

conflicted, who have their demons. Maybe I like demons.”

The actor, singer and Broadway star has been touring with the current

company of “Pimpernel” for almost a year. The show completes its run at

the Orange County Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

With music by composer Frank Wildhorn of “Jekyll and Hyde” fame and

lyrics and words by Nan Knighton, who wrote the stage adaptation for

Robert Stigwood’s “Saturday Night Fever,” the story by Hungarian-born

writer Baroness Emmuska Orczy is set in the late 1700s.

Sir Percival “Percy” Blakeney, an audacious and comical Englishman

played by Ron Bohmer, wants to end the cruelties of the French

Revolution. He and his “League” rescue people from the guillotine in

France but maintain a dainty, delicate, high-fashion front in England so

as not to be suspects.

Amy Bodnar plays Marguerite St. Just, Percy’s wife, who is suspected

of being a spy and involved in the execution of one of her husband’s

friends. Chauvelin, a Frenchman of the Revolution, shares a past with

Marguerite and tries to charm her back into his arms.

Michals said the music is what gets him.

“It’s dramatic, it’s compelling, it’s heartfelt, it’s fast-paced,” he

said. “It’s catchy melodies, and they’re just the songs that really paint

a picture of who Chauvelin is.”

Damien Lorton, artistic director of the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse,

has not yet seen the show but said he will try to get tickets for this

weekend. What appeals to him most is the show’s musical combination of

old and new.

“I think with the older musical shows, it revolves around a lead and

chorus and ensemble, but at the same time [this] brings in a new type of

sound -- a more stylized sound,” Lorton said.

Michals joined the theater because of its versatility.

As a student at Boston University, he majored in international

relations and considered becoming a physicist, doctor, diplomat or

linguist.

“I find that I can be all those things and more if I’m an actor. In

this show, I’m a bilingual diplomat, a spy,” Michals said.

His credits also include the role of Gaston in “Beauty and the Beast,”

Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha,”

Lancelot in “Camelot,” and Billy Bigelow in “Carousel.” He has also

appeared on television’s “Law and Order,” “All My Children” and “Guiding

Light.”

Of his darker characters -- the ones who flirt with their inner demons

-- Michals pointed out another common trait.

“They’re all theoretically French,” he said. “I’ve been wondering, are

French men particularly prone to be baritones?”

FYI

WHAT: “The Scarlet Pimpernel”

WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7:30

p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

COST: $20-$55

CALL: (714) 740-7878