This is a past performance, occurring April 19 and 24. Join us for our next production! Details coming soon.
About 'Pirates'The Pirates of Penzance is a comic English opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was in New York City in 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut in 1880 ran for 363 performances.
The story concerns a character named Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and they fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied "Major-General's Song". The opera was performed for over a century by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Britain and by many other opera companies and repertory companies worldwide. Modernized productions include . . . a popular 1983 film adaptation starring Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury and Linda Ronstadt. Pirates remains popular today, taking its place along with The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore as one of the most frequently played Gilbert and Sullivan operas. CHARACTERS Major-General Stanley The Pirate King Samuel, his Lieutenant Frederic, the Pirate Apprentice Sergeant of Police General Stanley's daughters:
Chorus of Pirates, Police and General Stanley's Daughters Borrowed from “The Pirates of Penzance” page on Wikipedia. |