Douglas Sills

While performing "The Scarlet Pimpernel" on Broadway, Douglas Sills often found 200 fans waiting for him at the stage door. After years of working in touring companies and Southern California theaters, the 6-foot-2, dark-blond actor had finally landed on Broadway, to become an instant matinee idol. Sills didn't see himself in those terms, however. Matinee idol? The description causes him to roll his eyes and make a face. "It was like walking into a fun house," Sills says of the adulation.

The Kirk Douglas Theatre, constructed from the framework of an old Culver City movie theater, was unveiled Thursday accompanied by confetti, champagne, performances -- and a couple of technical glitches. The evening was the culmination of a 35-year campaign by Center Theatre Group and Gordon Davidson, the organization's founding artistic director, to create a permanent CTG venue that is more intimate than the group's downtown theaters, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre.

ORANGE COUNTY STAGE Much Ado: Douglas Sills, known for his Tony-nominated swashbuckling and comic mincing on Broadway as the title character in "The Scarlet Pimpernel," will star as Benedick in South Coast Repertory's production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." Veteran SCR actress Nike Doukas will play opposite Sills as Beatrice, Benedick's romantic interest and intellectual sparring partner. Director Mark Rucker is setting the play amid the glamorous world of 1930s Hollywood.

While performing "The Scarlet Pimpernel" on Broadway, Douglas Sills often found 200 fans waiting for him at the stage door. After years of working in touring companies and Southern California theaters, the 6-foot-2, dark-blond actor had finally landed on Broadway, to become an instant matinee idol. Sills didn't see himself in those terms, however. Matinee idol? The description causes him to roll his eyes and make a face. "It was like walking into a fun house," Sills says of the adulation.

Having recently attended and greatly enjoyed "The Scarlet Pimpernel" at the Ahmanson, I am appalled by the snobbish review ("An Overhauled and Over-the-Top 'Scarlet Pimpernel' Lands in L.A.," by Michael Phillips, May 5). The show is a hoot, a welcome change from artsy-fartsy wallows in violence, misery and tawdry sex. It doesn't take a "tourist mentality" to appreciate the excellent voices of William Paul Michals, Amy Bodnar or the wonderfully campy star turn of Douglas Sills with fine backup from the ensemble, which puts this show over the top. Yes, the music is forgettable, but so what?

The Kirk Douglas Theatre, constructed from the framework of an old Culver City movie theater, was unveiled Thursday accompanied by confetti, champagne, performances -- and a couple of technical glitches. The evening was the culmination of a 35-year campaign by Center Theatre Group and Gordon Davidson, the organization's founding artistic director, to create a permanent CTG venue that is more intimate than the group's downtown theaters, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre.

We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel. --From the 1905 novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel" * What's big and red and redone all over? Why "The Scarlet Pimpernel," of course. Not the original "Scarlet Pimpernel," that dashing English gent, a.k.a.

Fopzapoppin'! As Sir Percy Blakeney, the "demmed elusive" English foe to all things evil, French and off the rack, Douglas Sills is the whole demmed show in "The Scarlet Pimpernel." A good show he is, too. And a good thing, since the oft-revised show itself, now at the Ahmanson Theatre, would be lost, lost--do you hear me? Lost!--without him. Make no mistake: Of the three musicals composed by Frank Wildhorn that have made it to Broadway, this one's the least lame.

The Gardeners: Casting has been announced for the tour of "The Secret Garden," which comes to Century City, Costa Mesa and San Diego next summer. No, we won't see young Daisy Eagan, who won the Tony, or the Broadway production's Mandy Patinkin; they have been replaced by Melody Kay and Kevin McGuire, respectively. Douglas Sills, recently seen in "The Philadelphia Story" at South Coast Repertory, will play the role of Neville.

John Lithgow, Nancy Dussault, Harry Groener, Marilynn Lovell, Megan Mullally, Douglas Sills and B.J. Ward are among the scheduled cast members for "A Marvellous Party," Center Theatre Group's one-night-only salute to the late Noel Coward, taking place tonight at the Mark Taper Forum. The 7:30 p.m. performance is part of a yearlong international tribute marking the 100th anniversary of the playwright-composer's birth. Information: (213) 972-7660.

ORANGE COUNTY STAGE Much Ado: Douglas Sills, known for his Tony-nominated swashbuckling and comic mincing on Broadway as the title character in "The Scarlet Pimpernel," will star as Benedick in South Coast Repertory's production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." Veteran SCR actress Nike Doukas will play opposite Sills as Beatrice, Benedick's romantic interest and intellectual sparring partner. Director Mark Rucker is setting the play amid the glamorous world of 1930s Hollywood.

Having recently attended and greatly enjoyed "The Scarlet Pimpernel" at the Ahmanson, I am appalled by the snobbish review ("An Overhauled and Over-the-Top 'Scarlet Pimpernel' Lands in L.A.," by Michael Phillips, May 5). The show is a hoot, a welcome change from artsy-fartsy wallows in violence, misery and tawdry sex. It doesn't take a "tourist mentality" to appreciate the excellent voices of William Paul Michals, Amy Bodnar or the wonderfully campy star turn of Douglas Sills with fine backup from the ensemble, which puts this show over the top. Yes, the music is forgettable, but so what?

Fopzapoppin'! As Sir Percy Blakeney, the "demmed elusive" English foe to all things evil, French and off the rack, Douglas Sills is the whole demmed show in "The Scarlet Pimpernel." A good show he is, too. And a good thing, since the oft-revised show itself, now at the Ahmanson Theatre, would be lost, lost--do you hear me? Lost!--without him. Make no mistake: Of the three musicals composed by Frank Wildhorn that have made it to Broadway, this one's the least lame.

We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel. --From the 1905 novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel" * What's big and red and redone all over? Why "The Scarlet Pimpernel," of course. Not the original "Scarlet Pimpernel," that dashing English gent, a.k.a.

A Phantom, a Pimpernel, a musical spoof and Rita Moreno as the lone chanteuse in a guy-heavy rotation will make up the Orange County Performing Arts Center's cabaret lineup for 2001-2002. The Phantom is Davis Gaines, who made his mark as the masked leading man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera."

"The Swan Princess," the German fairy tale that is the basis for the beloved "Swan Lake" ballet, emerged in 1994 as a pleasant animated musical fantasy aimed at children, especially little girls. Its sequel, "The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain," opened Friday without benefit of press preview.