Pirates! (No ninjas)
The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players was formed in 1974 by a group of friends, mostly alumni of the Barnard College Gilbert & Sullivan Society. The troupe’s first performances were held at block parties, street fairs, nursing homes, and in city parks, with costumes, sets and a sound system borrowed from the school. From those humble beginnings, the troupe has grown over the last three decades to become “America’s preeminent professional Gilbert & Sullivan repertory ensemble” with over 2,000 performances of G&S masterpieces throughout the eastern United States and Canada under their belts.
NYGASP’s 2008 New York season includes six productions over four weeks at City Center – two weeks each in January and June. This month features performances of Princess Ida, The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and Trial by Jury; June’s repertory will include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Gondoliers, The Mikado, and The Pirates of Penzance.
The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, which J and I were here to see tonight, is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s enduring “Big Three” comic operas, along with H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Mikado. Even those who have only a passing familiarity with the Victorian-era composing duo’s works are able to identify The Mikado as the faux-Japanese/yellowface operetta (the production of which was the subject of Mike Leigh’s 1999 Academy Award-winning biopic Topsy-Turvy); the other two operettas are perhaps slightly less distinguishable from one another, as I discovered when a couple of different people I spoke with that day conflated the sea-faring works in their recollections.
Buttercup? (No, that’s Pinafore.) “What, never?”/“No, never!”/”What, never?”/“Well, hardly ever!” (Pinafore again.) Pirates is the story of Frederic, a dutiful young man mistakenly apprenticed to a band of tender-hearted, orphaned pirates, who yearns to return to “respectable society” and marry his love Mabel, the daughter of a Major General. The comic opera features a bevy of beautiful, unwed maidens, a team of timid constables, plots and hijinks galore. Cutting edge theatre it’s not, and NYGASP’s production, despite its physical proximity to Broadway is not quite a Broadway-caliber show. What it is, though, is a flagrantly and joyously fey production of painted backdrops, goofy costumes and hokey choreography, which at one point, includes a broadly hammy kickline of pirates shaking sparkly silver hats. I laughed aloud several times: the performers’ unabashed love of Gilbert and Sullivan was downright infectious. Even J, just a day back from his tour of Italy, managed to battle off jetlag through to the end.
Of course, we all sat up in anticipation during the rapid-fire patter-filled Act I showstopper, “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” It takes some wit (and quite a bit of gall) to rhyme “lot o’ news” with “hypotenuse.” Check out this clip from the 1983 film version (Kevin Kline as The Pirate King! Linda Ronstadt as Mabel! Angela Lansbury as Frederic’s maid, Ruth!) then watch the same video dubbed over with “Baby Got Back,” G&S-style, by Sirs Gilbert, Sullivan and Mix-a-Lot. (According to the folks at VH1’s Best Week Ever, it’s among the “Top Ten Worst Karaoke Trap Songs.”) Isn’t YouTube great?
There are 3 Comments ... Pirates! (No ninjas)
How could you leave out mention of the dreamy Rex Reed!
January 11, 2008
Hmm. “Dreamy” isn’t exactly the first adjective that comes to mind when I think of film critic Rex Reed. Chacun à son goût.
Or, for that matter, former teen idol Rex Smith, the actor who was in Pirates. 😉
(You know I can’t help myself.)
February 6, 2008
I loved the following excerpt from TMQ on ESPN.
I Thought So Little They Rewarded Me, and Now I Am an Associate Senior Director of the NFL-eee: Every year, the NFL gets more top-heavy — the league is veering perilously close to becoming a ship called the NFL Pinafore. Every year, Tuesday Morning Quarterback charts title inflation in front offices. Some highlights from the 2007 league directory
Go for it ...
Search
Popular Tags
Categories
Archive
- July 2010
- July 2009
- January 2009
- November 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
January 11, 2008