The Pirates of Penzance

The famous “Pirates of Penzance” rolled into Sacramento this past weekend, and took the town hostage. And the town loved it.

The delightful Gilbert and Sullivan classic — presented by Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento and directed by Katie Daley, with musical direction by her husband Philip Daley — will continue this weekend at the 24th Street Theater in Sacramento and then play Feb. 24-26 at the Veterans’ Memorial Theater in Davis.

There hasn’t been much Gilbert and Sullivan in Davis since the Davis Comic Opera Company ended its 30-year run. And if you have been longing to hear a good patter song or two again, this is definitely the shop for it.

This wonderful production starts with what may be the best community theater orchestra I have heard. However, Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados may find it confusing that the overture has been shortened, lopping off the first 2½ minutes and starting with the slow “Ah leave me not to pine” rather than the upbeat “With Catlike tread.” Daley points out that the omitted section is played, instead, at the end of the show, as the audience is leaving.

As the chorus of pirates enters and begins its “Pour o pour the pirate sherry,” the audience is again blown away by the rich, full sound. The female chorus is equally as impressive, and when the two combine for “Hail Poetry,” it sends chills down the spine.

The principals are all outstanding, but head and shoulders among them is Sara Haugland as Mabel, one of the wards of Major General Stanley (Michael Baad), who falls in love with the young ex-pirate Frederic (Ian Cullity).

Haughland has a bearing and a voice that shine, and her affection for her young lover is poignant in their parting song “Ah, leave me not to pine.”

Cullity is no slouch either, very earnest in his desire to fight his former comrades, and then again a slave to his sense of duty when a problem arises concerning the length of time of his indenture.

Baad has had years to perfect his Major General Stanley, and perfect it he has. When he began his famous patter song, “I am the very model of a modern major general,” I wondered how in the world he was going to do the final section, which traditionally is considerably faster than what has gone before.

He not only did it significantly faster, but his diction was crystal-clear and as near as I could tell, he didn’t drop or slur a word. That feat alone makes this production worth seeing.

This is a family affair so it’s no surprise that Chris Baad plays the Pirate King and Debbie Baad is Ruth, Frederic’s former nursemaid, now a piratical maid of all work. Both Baads are quite good, though it would have been better if Debbie had a bit more volume. However, it’s such a small thing, it hardly matters. Chris swashes a nice buckle and makes a fun pirate.

Bob Schroeder, as the Sergeant of Police, also could use a bit more oomph, but his body language as he trembles in his boots out of fear of confrontation with the pirates is great fun.

In the smaller role of Mabel’s sister, the hormone-charged Edith, Kelly Daniells is one of those actors you simply can’t take your eyes off of. She is cute as a button and sings up a storm and I kept thinking what a great Ado Annie she would make if someone wants to do a production of “Oklahoma!”

The show is presented with super titles, which not only display the song lyrics that you otherwise might not catch, but also the entire libretto, a great help for a show like this where language and word play are so crucial to the humor.

Surprisingly, there are inconsistencies between the super titles and the script. I know “Pirates” pretty well and as near as I could tell, the actors got it right and the super titles had it wrong whenever there were discrepancies.

This is a wonderful production, rich in sound, with excellent performances. The whole thing is a lot of fun. You have a first-rate opportunity to catch it at the Veterans’ Memorial Theater and I highly recommend it.

And if you’re a real die-hard, do what about a quarter of the Sacramento audience did — come wearing your very own pirate costume. They say that the production is rated “arrrgh.”

Pirates of Penzance

With the demise of the Davis Comic Opera Company last year, Davis has been without a resident Gilbert & Sullivan company, leaving those who love the Savoy operettas with nowhere to turn. Fortunately, the Davis Musical Theater Company decided to give it a shot, choosing "The Pirates of Penzance," Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic story of tenderhearted pirates who won’t harm orphans, as the opening production of its 23^rd season. Even better, they hired director Gil Sebastian, who has extensive experience with Gilbert & Sullivan, to direct the show.

"We’re not doing the Joseph Papp Broadway version," producer Steve Isaacson assured me, when he announced the 2007-2008 season. That’s a good thing. DMTC has produced a quite nice, quite respectable, and mostly delightful rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan’s 1880 classic.

Musically, "The Pirates of Penzance" is a parody of serious opera. Parts of the score are direct spoofs of "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata." It offers witty dialogue, a twisting plot and clever lyrics. What’s not to like?

Gil Sebastian’s direction is strictly traditional, with a few little touches that make it uniquely his own (such as the serving of tea during crucial moments).

Frederick, a young man erroneously apprenticed at age 8 to a band of pirates is hoping to reach his 21st birthday so he can devote himself to exterminating his former comrades. The complicated plot moves very quickly and covers a wide range of topics, such as the value of being an orphan, the meaning of true love and the importance of duty.

Travis Nagler, a "Little Abner"-esque Frederick is the one weak link in an otherwise strong cast. While Nagler (who also acted as Master Carpenter for the set) sings well in his lower register, the part is too high and forces him to use a falsetto voice that too often cracks as he strains to hit the notes.

Lenore Sebastian, the hard of hearing nursemaid who mistook "pirate" for "pilot" turns in a funny performance as the piratical maid of all work. She is particularly good in Act 2, discarding her "upstairs maid" costume for more suitable pirate attire. Her beautiful contralto shines in her Act 1 duet with Frederick, "Oh, false one, you have deceived me."

As the Pirate King, Brian McCann is swash-bucklingly delightful. McCann is the perfect comic pirate, at the same time menacing and soft-hearted. The tempo of his "I am a Pirate King" was a bit plodding and I feared for the rest of the show, but tempos picked up as the women came on stage for "Climbing Over Rocky Mountains"

Dan Clanton is his second in command, Samuel, good at handing out a crowbar or a center bit.

What can be said about Allyson Paris, as Mabel, the daughter of Major General Stanley, who is charmed by the young Frederick? Her performance is a gem. Her coloratura parody of Italian opera ("Poor wand’ring one") was delicious.

Rhiannon Guevin was a captivating Edith, with a strong soprano and a twinkle in her eye. Elsbeth Poe and Katie Baad are her Edith’s sisters, Kate and Isabel, respectively, and also give good performances.

Major General Stanley enters toward the end of the first Act, just in time to save his daughters from a fate worse than death (marriage to pirates) and to sing his signature "Modern Major General." Fearn’s diction is impeccable and his characterization very funny. (I particularly liked his Act 2 bathrobe, complete with epaulets - nice touch by costumer Jeanne Henderson.)

No production of "Pirates of Penzance" would be complete without a bumbling band of Bobbies, the police crew enlisted to bring the pirates to their knees. Jonathan Cagle-Mulberg, Scott Griffith, Scott Sablan, Marc Valdez, Arthur Vassar and John VanWart fill the bill, trembling in their boots at the thought of confronting the vicious pirates. Richard Spierto heads up the group as the Sergeant of Police, who tells the plaintive tale about how "a policeman’s lot is not a happy one."

Steve Isaacson is credited with musical direction and gives us some incredibly beautiful choral moments, especially the lovely "Hail, Poetry," and the hauntingly beautiful, "Oh, dry the glist’ning tear."

Director Sebastian also designed the set, which is utilitarian, but, in the first act, does a nice job of suggesting the rocky coast of Cornwall, and, in the second, the graveyard of Maj. Gen. Stanley’s estate.

There's a reason The Pirates of Penzance has been performed virtually non-stop since its premiere: it's so much fun. We humans like to laugh at the foibles of others, and see the pompous brought down a notch or two, when done with humor.

DMTC’s production does Messers Gilbert & Sullivan proud.

Iolanthe

Everyone is in love with Phyllis. And why wouldn’t they be?

Davis Comic Opera company newcomer Kelly Mustain has the role of the young ward of Chancery in DCOC’s production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe,” directed by Jill Wright, which opened at the Veterans Memorial Theatre this week end, for a three week end run. Mustain is cute as a button, with a terrific voice to boot and it’s easy to see why everyone loves her.

Phyllis has a few problems. She doesn’t know that her fiance is half a fairy, the girl she thinks is his secret girlfriend is actually his mother, her guardian and all the noble peers are in love with her and it looks like she might have to marry an old man she does not love.

Not a good day for Phyllis.

“Iolanthe,” the seventh collaboration of the British dynamic duo, opened at the Savoy theatre in 1882. The Aristocracy had always been the target of W.S. Gilbert’s biting wit, but in this "fairy opera," the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, the privileged and the dim-witted. The political party system and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire.

DCOC gives a visually striking, often sprightly production that brought many laughs to the audience.

Marguerite Morris plays the title character, Iolanthe, a fairy banished many years ago for breaking the biggest fairy law: she married a mortal. Morris has a beautiful voice and brings much depth to the character, with an especially poignant and tender scene in Act 2.

Rachel Robinson, as the Queen of the Fairies, is an interesting bit of casting. Gilbert & Sullivan were famous for including a large matronly woman in each of their operettas--Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore and Katisha in The Mikado, for example. The Fairy Queen is traditionally an older, larger woman (making the line “I see no objection to stoutness--in moderation” worthy of laughs). However, Robinson is neither older nor larger. And for once, the casting makes sense, since the dialog indicates that the nice thing about fairies is that they are immortal and never grow old.

The Fairy Queen is approached by fairies Celia (Rhiannon Guevin) and Leila (Savanah Scott) to forgive Iolanthe and return her to her fairy band. Guevin and Scott are delightful fairies, Scott bewitchingly impish and 14 year old Guevin coyly petulant. Both are consistently fun to watch.

As Iolanthe’s young son, Strephon, Roy Spicer is a likeable fellow who gives an energetic performance. From his first entrance, one has the sense that this is a professional at work. He has a strong baritone voice and there is nice chemistry between himself and Phyllis.

Craig Morphis’ Lord Chancelor is simply wonderful. Morphis takes command of any stage and never fails to deliver a memorable performance. The Lord Chancellor struggles with his love for Phyllis and his sense of duty, which will not permit him to award her hand to himself. Morphis’ rendition of the “Nightmare Song” was crisp and clean with every rapid-fire syllable understandable.

The Peers are led by Lord Tolloller and Lord Montararat. Peter Shack as Tolloller has never been better. He made the role his own.

Montararat is played by long-time DCOC favorite, Malcolm MacKenzie, who effectively portrayed the peer as a doddering old fool. MacKenzie was a late addition to the cast, replacing the original actor who was unable to continue, and had not yet learned all his lines, which he read from a notebook he carried around with him on stage. This may also explain why he lacked his usual forceful projection, having difficulty getting some of his lyrics over the orchestra.

Malcolm’s son Ken MacKenzie played Private Willis, the Grenadier Guard with the impossibly tall fur hat, who catches the eye of the Fairy Queen. Willis’ song does not fit comfortably within Ken’s vocal range but he made the best of it.

The orchestra, under the direction of Sean Bianco was full and rich and special kudos are due trumpeters Christopher Rumery and Paul Marenco for their competent handling of the introduction to the March of the Peers.

Sets were designed by Robin Houston, who has created an enchanting fairy glade, including a stone bridge arching over the orchestra pit. The second act, set in front of the Houses of Parliament includes a Big Ben so realistic that even the hands on the clock move.

The sets are enhanced by the intricate lighting design of Richard Williams.

Laura Coe’s costumes were colorful, with wispy fairy garb and rich fur-lined capes for the peers.

Will Phyllis and Strephon wind up together? Only Iolanthe, whose dark secret is the key to their happiness, knows the answer to that question. The peers and the fairies are virtually at war, and long friendships are nearly torn asunder. But in the end, it is the Legal Mind which comes up with a clever solution to the problem.