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PLOT SUMMARY On April 3, 1880, "The Pirates of Penzance," a "New and Original Melo-Dramatic Opera" opened in London, England. For our 40th production we are pleased to celebrate the 125th anniversary of that event. You will find that our new stage director, Debbie Yuen, has taken full advantage of Gilbert and Sullivan's spoof of swashbuckling melodramas. The story, even more ridiculous than most G&S plot-lines, concerns Frederic, a young pirate apprentice (pirating was a trade?) burdened by a strong sense of duty. He feels obligated in turn to Ruth, the maid who mistakenly apprenticed him; Mabel, the only girl in a bevy of beauties to declare her love; her father, the "modern" Major-General Stanley; and then the Pirate King, who reveals that Frederic's birth on February 29 leaves him still bounden to their band (We'll explain later!). Add some Keystone Kops to the mix in Act 2, and you have the basis for a show whose popularity has remained undimmed for 125 years. The London opening mentioned above was not, in fact, the world premiere. To counteract companies who were "pirating" their shows with no royalties, Gilbert, Sullivan, and their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, had a New York opening night on December 31, 1879. And, for British copyright purposes, a version of the show was presented in Paignton, an English Channel town a few hours east of Penzance, the night before that. The script for the Paignton show still exists, and we have incorporated a couple of items from it (the second song in Act 1, and parts of the Act 2 finale). We have also made our police force an equal opportunity employer. Brian Farrow, our musical director, has added a few lyric changes; our Major-General, Doug Tranquada, has written himself an anniversary encore; and our accompanist, Stan Farrow, has composed a chase sequence for the Act 2 finale, plus an extra overture for Act 2. He is joined by his granddaughter, Tanya Paradowski, for a revised overture to Act 1 which incorporates "pirated" excerpts from all the shows we have presented in our 40 years. There will not be a test to see which tunes you recognize, but perhaps the illustrations on the screen will help. Enjoy! |
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