Pirates of Penzance

Critiqued by Emma Gift

Pirates of Penzance by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan is a comedic opera for all ages that follows the life of a young boy by the name of Frederick, who has been training for his whole life to become a pirate. When he turns 21 he is finally able to graduate and live on his own, but then falls in love with a maiden by the name of Mabel in the process. Although I saw the show a week before opening, my overall thoughts were very positive. Surely, there was some polishing that needed to be done, however I thought everyone who was cast definitely made the most of their characters and every choice made by the directors and actors only enhanced the show more.

Pirates of Penzance at Littleton High School. Photos by Jenny Garland.

During the overture, a pilobolus style ship was formed by the pirate chorus, which was very impressive and such a creative idea. Right from the start, I knew I was in for a fun couple of hours. The pirate king, (senior Doron Burks) was thoroughly energetic and entertaining from beginning to end. His overwhelming commitment boosted the comedic manner and delivery of his part. Although his singing needed a little work, it didn’t affect his performance at all because his pirate comrades definitely fed off of his energy. It was clear that he was a role model on and off the stage for them. Frederick, (sophomore Jake Nice) was especially charismatic as a young, naïve boy of 21 who has fulfilled his fate to become a pirate and is being set free to commit to piracy on his own. I was shocked at how much I believed Nice as an actor and how much I was captivated with his character’s story. His life-long maid, Ruth (senior Natasha Fish) is much older than he is, and yet has convinced him to be in love with her, Fish did a great job of portraying a quirky, old woman. I felt that her characterization was nearly perfect because of the way she acted physically and the way she held herself.

The beautiful and forgivingly spacey maidens were very endearing, and I was most impressed by their singing. They rarely ever strayed from their notes and featured Mabel (senior Brittany Newell), who was had an excellent voice. I found that when Newell started singing, I could sit back and relax without having to worry if she was going to hit that next note. She had incredible accuracy and made very few mistakes in that department. Her chemistry with Nice was also very believable and engaging, and I believe that the whole audience will be rooting for them the entire time.

The father of the maidens, also known as the Major General (senior Peter Farley) was incredible. Not only was his singing spot on, but also his character choices and comedic timing were perfect. I absolutely loved how he was the epitome of a silly old man who although stoic, would randomly burst out into tacky dance moves during the famous song Model of a Modern Major General. I would have never expected the way that Farley portrayed his character, and I immediately fell in love with it.

In the second act, we are introduced to the cop chorus, who, in my opinion were choreographed the best out of all of the groups and individuals in the show. They stayed very much so in sync and resembled little toy soldiers who were attached to strings as they moved all around the stage. This leads me to the most fantastic number in the entire show: I was possibly the most excited and impressed during With Catlike Tread as I was during the whole performance. The cops and pirates feed off of each others’ energy and are completely in tune with each other. This song, with the combination of the two choruses combined, completely stole the show.

Pirates of Penzance at Littleton High School. Photos by Jenny Garland

The criticism I have is this, I felt that although the pirates pulled it together in the end, their energy in the beginning was disappointing. This goes for the maidens as well, because I couldn’t tell if they were purposefully being flighty, or if they too, were lacking in energy. Also, I wasn’t convinced that Frederick and Ruth’s chemistry was completely there even though they were supposed to have known each other for 21 years. The two didn’t seem nearly as comfortable with each other as the dialogue let on. My last qualm is that although the singing sounded very good for the most part as far as note accuracy goes; it was hard for me to follow the story because the enunciation was less than sufficient.

However, despite all of this the show went on with a bang! Thanks to the director and choreographer Kryssi Martin, with the exceptional help of assistant director, senior Lexi Warden and stage manager, junior Samantha Scotti, this show was one to remember. With the creative and surprising choices (i.e. pilobolus, etc…) I was always on the edge of my seat and thoroughly entertained.

Pirates of Penzance
By Gilbert and Sullivan
Directed by Kryssi Martin