H.M.S. Pinafore

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.

Having already enjoyed Essgee's version of 'Tne Pirates', I came this production open minded and ready to be entertained. And was not disappointed. O.K it's not for G&S purists, but then Doyle Carte production can be a little (whisper it) boring. This was anything but. Great fun from the rollicking opening, with fantastic dancing from the chorus,to the irreverent and different ending. Jon English as the promoted 'Dick dead eye' kept the action moving at a fast pace, no time to think of the daft plot. I enjoyed all the performances.The Sister, cousin and Aunt, made a refreshing change from the usual ladies chorus. Drew Forsythe was a very funny and camp'Sir Joseph', David Gould warmed to the part of 'Captain Corcoran', not surprising as 'little Buttercup' in the hands of Amanda Muggleton, was far from the usual rotund Bumboat woman. Josephine and her Ralph, played by Helen Donaldson and Simon Gallaher, made a lovely couple, their singing a high point of this production.I have no gripe with using songs from other G&S shows.(W.S Gilbert was known to do the same when it suited). I am very glad I bought the DVD.

I've rarely seen any kinds of theater-plays, operettas and the like, most because it doesn't really appeal to me. But I must say I truly enjoyed this one.

I became aware of this play (HMS Pinafore) while re-watching Star Trek: Insurrection, where an android goes crazy after been by a weapon and it's (his) captain tries to catch it (him). To do so, the captain distracts the android by singing "A British Tar" from HMS Pinafore, which the android has prepared a performance of. The song appealed to me, and I found a version on it on YouTube, from the Esgee production.

I have not seen any other performances of the play before or after, but I have done some research. This helped me notice, that there ARE minor differences between this version and the original, mostly in the music. And while some may call such changes "blasphemy" or close to it, it is my opinion that it have been integrated quite nice.

The actors for the different roles have been well-chosen, each giving a fine performance as their respective characters. Additionally, the different actors who perform the duets compliment each other perfectly; especially where the Captain and Little Buttercup sing "fair moon" and "things are seldom what they seem".

Other reviewers have stated that the Little Buttercup in this play, especially when played by Rima Te Wiata, is not the "plumb" type as she was supposed to be. Instead, she is rather slim and fit, and rather saucy/sexy at times. I'm especially impressed by how she manages to vary her tone of voice, from almost "squeaky" at times, to a more "normal" tone and at some points rather "deep"; and how she performs those changes quite nice. As I wrote above, she (Buttercup, that is) and the Captain really complement each other when performing "fair moon" and "things are seldom what they seem"; with Buttercup's varied tones of voice and the Captain's deep, dark voice, absolutely beautiful.

All in all a great performance, and well worth watching more than once.

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!!

This is an excellent production. Certainly it gets a bit smutty at times, but it is really well done. I found the singing excellent, and the innovative use of characters was inspired.WS Gilbert hinted that Grossmith was gay according to some writers and this is exploited to the full with the part that he played many years ago - that of Sir Joseph Porter. Dick Deadeye (Jon English)is given a prominent role and he links the character parts together exceptionally well. I loved the sisters, cousins and the aunts - Andrea Gallaher,Mellissa Langton, and Marissa Craig. Little Buttercup (Rima Te Wiata) sang in Calypso style and was superb. Simon Gallaher(handsome) and Helen Donaldson(beautiful) played the main parts of Ralph and Josephine and both had fine voices. I found no weak links in the parts played by the other players. As a bonus there was a selection of songs from other operas by G & S and who cares if they were out of place - they were beautiful melodies in their own right. If you belong to the D'oyley Carte camp then you will hate this show, but hey! I don't like DC productions at all. This is fun by today's standards - 'Of that there is no shadow doubt'