A pop-themed tale of treachery: 'The Three Musketeers' takes stage Wednesday at SE River Campus

Scads of onstage combat scenes with daggers married to a pop-themed music score justify director Bart Williams’ branding Southeast Missouri State University River Campus’ production of “The Three Musketeers” as being “more like a Marvel movie” than a play.

The 16th-century show — written by Ken Ludwig and Alexandre Dumas — debuts at 7:30 p.m. today and continues through 2 p.m. Sunday.

Based on the ageless 1625-era swashbuckler by Dumas, “The Three Musketeers” is a tale of heroism, treachery and honor. It begins with D’Artagnan, who sets sail for Paris, along with his sister Sabine. She poses as a young man and quickly becomes entwined in her brother’s adventures. D’Artagnan soon encounters and joins forces with the three musketeers — Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

Brought to life by a massive 36-member cast and roughly 20 crew members, the adaptation is “much funnier” than what people might expect, Williams said of the action-focused, “epic-quality” show. It also will exude both political and social satire.

“The superheroes of the time were the musketeers,” he said. “And when it was written, it was like the first cartoon.”

Williams said Dumas’ writing style is similar to that of a Marvel or a DC comic book — “He writes like Stan Lee,” referring to the legendary comic book writer. There’s also plenty of music to keep the audience entertained and “to keep the action going,” he said.

There’s always more rehearsing that can be done, he said, but energy must also be focused on adding multiple layers of elements together — costumes, lighting and set — to create the final product.

Musketeers, from left, Aramis, played by Corie Williams; Porthos, played by Alec Hatchell; and Athos played by Trenden Everett, crouch behind a ledge before a siege during a dress rehearsal of The Three Musketeers on Sept. 23, 2019, at Southeast Missouri State University's Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Wearing his “composer hat,” Southeast instructor of musical theater Joshua Harvey created the hourlong music score from scratch, “for the most part,” he said, adding the process — including snippets of ABBA, Elton John and Madonna favorites — began in June.

“The ball scene, [Williams] wanted it all to be Madonna, so I took some Madonna samples,” Harvey said. The songs are noticeable, but they had to fit within the world of Williams’ desired “bigger soundscape,” he said.

Harvey said he tackled the project in a similar way to how he would a film score composition — writing every day.

“It was a big, long, summer project. I was working anywhere from three to 12 hours a day,” he said.

“Milady, she’s like a [James] Bond villain to me, so I gave her this Bond-guitar sounding thing,” he said of the play’s quick-witted character Milady de Winter, “because we’re straddling multiple worlds.”

Senior Alex Burke portrays Milady de Winter and would prefer to be beheaded in this adaptation, she said with a laugh, “but whatever.”

One obstacle during rehearsals, Burke said, was some of the cast had training and experience with onstage combat under their belts, but others had never touched a sword. Maintaining a “safe partnership” became the focus, she said. “The biggest struggle is where does everybody stand with the weapon?”

Burke said her favorite fight is a “very emotionally fueled” battle between Milady and Musketeer Athos.

“When you find out there’s history there, there’s a lot of important dialogue that happens with that fight. ... It isn’t just a ‘you betrayed me’ anger-fueled fight, it’s a ‘can’t believe it’s you,’ fight” she said.

Trenden Everett — Southeast senior depicting Athos — said he is knowledgeable in the world of single rapier combat, “so that part’s not new.” But what is different for him, he said, is fighting with his left hand.

“Whenever we get to the Luxembourg, that’s the part that was crazy with choreographing and timing,” he said of Act 1. “There’s a big fight with a bunch of swords on stage, and a bunch of people swinging.”

A member of the production’s ensemble, sophomore Kamron Underwood said most of his onstage combat resides within the single role of the additional musketeer.

Underwood said he never worked with proper stage combat until this performance, but he’s confident with the debut. He said the hardest thing to learn was realizing his sword — though rounded for safety precaution — is “not a toy.”

“Even though it’s not an actual weapon, it is still very much a weapon, and it can hurt someone,” he said. “There’s a lot of scene changes and a lot of big movements that can end up hurting someone if we’re not careful.”

Performances of “The Three Musketeers” will be at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Bedell Performance Hall. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the River Campus box office in the Cultural Arts Center, 518 S. Fountain St., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays by calling (573) 651-2265 or online at www.rivercampus.org.

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