The Pirates of Penzance

One of Gilbert and Sullivan's finest, this production of The Pirates of Penzance shows off the wonderful hilarity of the book and music. Frederic (the very funny Jeff Hyslop), an honourable boy accidently indentured to a pirate instead of a pilot, has fulfilled his term of servantude, and now wishes to "exterminate" his former friends. He falls in love with the silly Mabel (Caralyn Tomlin), but when his old band of pirates come to kidnap Mabel's sisters, her father tells a lie to save them. As Frederic raises a police force to attack the pirates, he learns a shocking secret that will force him to rejoin his enemies and give up Mabel forever! But through some silly plot contrivances, everything ends happily.

This video recording of the live Stratford Shakespeare Festival production is ideal: all of the dance numbers are filmed from far enough away to show off the whole body, the acting is wonderfully and appropriatly silly, and all of the actors are excellently cast (I did feel bad for Pat Galloway; her Ruth was constantly being overshadowed by Hyslop and the incomprable Brent Carver, and she did do a very good job). The added lines and verses make the zaniness even more delightful, and the choreography works wonderfully. All in all, this would be a perfect recording of the stage play if the sound weren't so off: I had difficulty understanding some of the lines, and it was not due to poor enunciation. The sound system of the theatre must not have been up to snuff that night. Otherwise, a very enjoyable movie that is not inappropriate for children, and that parents can appreciate as well.

Although an interesting interpretation, the Stratford production of "Pirates of Penzance" failed to do the original material justice. Like most post-Papp productions, this one attempted to turn the operetta into a more traditional musical. What this amounted to was ultimately extended dancing and almost every number ending in a tableau. Much of the dialog was extended but added little. The dancing was decent, but few of the actors' voices were really exquisite.

Norman Campbell seems to be the major problem of the production. The actors look as though they'd been directed to milk their parts for laughs, and some of the genuinely funny parts of the libretto seemed considerably less humorous after the many other effective, but cheap laughs. Campbell also falls into the category of directors who don't believe an audience can sit through an overture and feels the need to place dancers on stage throughout the overture, sometimes even talking over the orchestra.

Of note, however, was Pat Galloway as Ruth, whose sometimes rough voice suited the character fabulously.

The quality of this specific taping was pretty dismal. Although the production was partly to blame, the camera operators didn't quite seem sure of what they were doing.

In conclusion, it's a mediocre production, but worth a look if you're interested in other version of the operetta.