H.M.S. Pinafore

I think that the general mood of criticism about this production of HMS Pinafore and of Frankie Howerd's performance in particular is very unfair indeed. Generally speaking this production is an excellent straight adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan which is beyond reproach with regard to the various leads (I believe the actor playing th Captain was an American game show host but having no reference to this I just think he is a perfectly good singer) and on my DVD version the sound is super. Frankie Howerd in the role of Sir Joseph Porter has come in for a lot of criticism but having heard so many baritones sing the role from Henry Lytton onwards I absolutely loved the performance. I accept that he does not sing (he speaks with a good sense of rhythm) and that he injects his own mannerisms into the role but I personally think it riffs well with the tone and is very funny (watch his reaction when delivering the line about the common sailor being bulwarks of the empire). I think that G & S are treated with such (understandable) reverence that productions can sometimes become rather stilted and encased in aspic and that Howerd's performance whilst not to everyones taste at least constitutes a good attempt to inject a bit of personality into the role.

H.M.S. Pinafore is, in my opinion, the best so far that I've seen of the series. I really didn't mind either Frankie Howerd or Peter Marshall (Yes, that Peter Marshall!) though I agree that Frankie could have sung his part more and that Peter was a bit too goofy. But they both fit in with the style of the production. I liked the dancing and the youthful supporting cast and the singing generally and enjoyed the DVD extras interview with the producer Judith de Paul, Frankie and Peter. I also enjoyed the part following which showed the real sailing ships and their crews in Portsmouth to, in what seems to be the New York City OpSail celebration, the George Washington Bridge(?). I would have liked to know more about the choral vocals and how they were added to the dancing since it seems that the dancers were also the singers. It seems unlikely that they mostly did both at the same time since the dancing and acrobatics looked rather strenuous. 8 out of 10.

As a life long fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, I was appalled at this production which I personally found to be terribly "high camp".

The singers were surely miscast - age wise - and Frankie Howard as Sir Joseph Porter KGB is the biggest piece of miscasting I have ever encountered.

A funny man does not necessarily make a funny part any funnier - and in this case - it fell totally flat as far as I am concerned.

I would not recommend this purchase to anyone who has a true love of G & S - you will be sorely disappointed - as I was.

I bought this to use as a model for a production of this work I will be mounting in Tennessee in March-April 2007, but I will not let my cast look at this production.

I am sorely tempted to throw it in the trash can.... This may sound harsh - but true lovers of G & S will, I believe, find this production unworthy.

I know from the likes of The Sorcerer and Iolanthe that D'Oyly Carte are capable of producing good Gilbert and Sullivan productions. It's just that they've also produced some disappointments like this, Pirates of Penzanze and Yeomen of the Guard. I love all of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, finding them witty and delightful with catchy tunes and appealing characters, so naturally I want productions of them to be just as much. Other than the musical values and a couple of good performances, I just didn't care at all for this HMS Pinafore. The orchestra apart from being too loud in places still played with a lively intent and the conducting was generally well-judged. Of the performances, I found the Buttercup of Della Jones to be the best. She does lack breath support but does show signs of a vocal ability and she is very funny and quite saucy in I'm Called Little Buttercup. Other standouts are the wickedly funny Deadeye of Alan Watt and Gordon Sandison like he did in The Mikado makes the role of the Bosun more interesting than it actually is. I did have mixed feelings on the chorus though, they sing well(especially the ladies) but they just lack energy, due to mediocre choreography mainly, having seen productions where the men literally don't stop moving. The production values seem lacking to me too, the sound is so muffled at times I was wondering whether my video recorder was broken and the picture quality gives the costumes and sets, which are not as amateurish as Pirates but even Yeomen had more handsome production values than here, a dated feel. The dialogue lacks wit often, and I think a lack of energy and the feeling(like Pirates) that the production was over-stretched or something had a lot to do with it. The rest of the cast disappoint also. Michael Bulman as Ralph and Meryl Drowser's Josephine are good singers, but together and in stage presence they are rather dull for my liking. Even more disappointing were the big names. Peter Marshall as the Captain doesn't have too bad a voice, however the whole performance just felt rather contrived. But my biggest problem was the Sir Joseph of Frankie Howerd, who for me is the biggest miscasting of the D'Oyly Carte G&S productions, even worse than Peter Allen in Pirates or Joel Grey in Yeomen(some may also say Vincent Price in Ruddigore, I thought despite his less-than-great singing he was delightful). Howerd just talks his way through the songs, and most of his performance consists of unfunny ad-libbing and mugging, which also slow the production down in my opinion. All in all, very disappointing, of a hit and miss series, this is a contender for the worst. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I love Gilbert and Sullivan, but the productions in this series are so bad I winced watching them. When Captain Corcoran first appeared on deck, I furrowed by brow and said out loud, "No, it can't be." But sure enough, a check of the credits revealed that the hardy captain of the H.M.S. Pinafore actually was game show icon Peter Marshall. That claim to fame and his constant horse-toothed grin were distracting enough, but his terrible performance made watching this version of Pinafore almost unbearable. Pete should have stuck to the likes of Yahtzee! and Hollywood Squares. Frankie Howerd speaks most of his lines as Sir Joseph. That may have worked fine for Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, but it was a deep disappointment to a die-hard G&S fan waiting to hear some of his favorite songs actually sung. The cast includes a plain-looking Josephine and downright ugly (and aging) Ralph Rackstraw. I focus on Pinafore because it is usually my favorite and was so horribly wrecked here. But the other productions in the series are no better. The choreography is consistently overwrought to the point of being downright silly. The singing, while at times good, is generally uneven. Spoken lines often are poorly delivered. The series was taped in 1982. It shows its age, and not only from the silly looking, big 70s-80s hair on all the men. The camera work is awkward, the sets invariably cheesy. In one scene in Pirates of Penzance, the camera rises from behind a potted plant in an effect reminiscent of early public access cable television. I could go on, and really I'd like to find positive things to say, but I do so love G&S, whose work here is turned into something so bad it's difficult to watch. I was going to sell my boxed set and the extra DVDs I purchased, but I would not inflict them on someone else. Save your money and invest in some of the excellent audio versions that are available.