H.M.S. Pinafore

As a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, I watched this live performance and found it very refreshingly entertaining. It is not for "purists" however, there is a lot of added dialogue some of which is very smutty, the characters' personalities are changed Sir Joseph in particular and the orchestra is more a synthesised small band.

I did love this production's energy, it is never dull and notice how the chorus never stop moving, I loved the refreshingly camp choreography(such as Dick and the Captain under the cloak and especially Sir Jospeh's leg movements), I did like how different and nifty the arrangements were and I loved the hilarious dialogue especially the Return of the Dead-eye quote, Dick's digs at the orchestra and conductor and Sir Joseph's interaction with Dick about his name.

The story may be standard perhaps, but as always with G&S the music is amazing, with memorable melodies and witty and droll lyrics. Costumes and sets wise, this production also scores highly, the idea of the revolving ship set was very clever and apart from Dick's the costumes look great and stick to the time they were set in.

The performers do give it their all, the male chorus and the three ladies who strongly reminded me of the Andrews sisters are superb, and David Gould has a dashing presence and a very mellow bass baritone voice. Helen Donaldson and Simon Gallagher sing wonderfully too, and Jon English has superb comic timing. The scene stealers are Drew Forsythe as a Sir Joseph that is a criss-cross between Toad, Mr Bean and Nosferatu and how he sang all those words AND did those very funny leg movements as well amazes me, and Rita Te Wiata, trust me after seeing this production you will never find a Buttercup this raunchy.

Overall, maybe not for all, but I thought it was a lot of fun. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This version of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta is a fabulously comedic and musical show! Essgee Entertainment performed H.M.S Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado as a trilogy starring Jon English.

The live show was performed throughout Australia and New Zealand in 1997, and whilst people from other countries will enjoy watching this, the recognizable Australian and New Zealand stars will entertain their home audiences on a higher level.

I saw all 3 shows live in Australia when I was seven years old, and have since become a die-hard fan of all GnS operas. I bought the videos shortly after, and having a permanent recording of this fantastic show means I can enjoy these musicals for a long time to come.

Love the show and love rita in it but 1 bad thing i didn't get around buying the video they made of it and they have no copys left so i upset tat i could not get a copy of it. but i loved the show and rita in it.

The principles and Ensemble make this one of the truly memorable versions of HMS Pinafore I have ever seen. It is hilarious as a performance, and all credit for making this one version that I personally, as well as all my friends enjoy most.

It is the type of production that makes the audience appreciate G&S.

G&S wrote in order to poke humour at the government of the day and the people, sailing close to the wind with their humor.

How sad it is that when a show such as this, that has the opportunity to make people laugh almost all the way through is condemmed by a minority for not being a fully authentic version faithful to the exact letter of the original.

First of all I will admit that G&S is not my thing. I find the plots silly, many of the songs utterly boring and that the staging is often lacking in energy. I say this as a director myself, and having seen a particularly bad update of this show into the realms of star trek: the 'starship pinafore' no less.

However, in complete contrast to the other reviewer I found this production fresh, fun, self-consciously camp and at the end I found that I could actually like this G&S thing. I loved the camp choreography, the revolving set, the physical creepiness of Forsyth and its general lack of reverence. Above all it made the show accessible. It certainly wasn't without weak moments of course, some of the ad-libs were cringe-making, while there were times when the actors playing Josephine and Ralph just couldn't be understood - particularly in the upper realms of their registers. Similarly, I found some of the lighting fairly poor and uninspiring.

Nonetheless, I found this production engaging - good actors with good voices; characterisation that didn't make you want to knock sense into the ingénues is, in my eyes, a Good Thing. With a plot that is silly as anything it is clear that the interpretation was meant to reflect that silliness; meaning that when a moment of genuine emotion or sadness or regret was expressed, it was far more effective than a production, for example, that wanted to go heavily dramatic and serious.

I would recommend this show to someone who has never seen a G&S production as a nice segue into the other shows and interpretations. Although it was modernised and often tongue-in-cheek, I felt it never undermined the history of the show. Now I want to see the Mikado and Pirates of Penzance. And I never thought I'd say that.

I have to disagree strongly with negative comments on this production. I have adored G&S since I was in my early tens (I'm 60 this year) and EssGee have done a wonderful job with HMS Pinafore. Purists would, of course, disagree, but I have to say that so much of Gilbert's comedy has been brought out in these productions, and the fact that some members of the cast are not 'opera singers' does not matter a jot. The humour is delightful, the extra content fits in extremely well and the 'electronic orchestra' is a delight compared to some out-of-tune so-called 'professional' orchestras I have heard over the years. Bravo EssGee!!