Poor Wand'ring One, Don't Miss CPT's The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan is a comedic opera. It tells the story of Frederic, a young man who has just been released from his pirate apprenticeship and is looking to live an upstanding life. Frederic meets Mabel and falls in love, but due to a most ingenious paradox learns that his apprenticeship isn't over and he must remain true to his pirate duties. Will Mabel wait for him? Will the rest of his pirate band find happiness too?

I will begrudgingly own up to the following things:
1. I am not terribly familiar with anything Gilbert and Sullivan.
2. I've seen Penzance two other times in my life and struggle to remember the plot.
3. I am afraid of opera because I'm worried I won't "get it" and feel dumb.
But it was silly of me to let these things attempt to dissuade me from this production because the production team, with Direction and Choreography by Liz Christensen and Music Direction by Anthony T. Buck, was completely prepared for an audience member like me. This was evident from the very beginning with a glossary of terms in the program, clever puppetry on the sides of the stage to show action and movement, and all of the lyrics projected above the stage.

The actors in this piece had the daunting task of not letting these devices to help audiences understand upstage them and I think they did a great job. The Pirates of Penzance both in musical style and theme is a parody and the cast played it accordingly. I really enjoyed Laura Alsop Checketts as Ruth. Her character choices were cleverly played in that they were believable and committed, but entirely silly when they needed to be. Jason Wadsworth as Major General was a delight to watch. I think that having one of the most well known Gilbert and Sullivan songs as your very first introduction to the audience would be a bit intimidating, but it was fun, well-played, and a perfect introduction to the beloved Major General.

The cast made this music so fun to listen to. My favorite voices of the night came from Jake Omer as The Pirate King, Alan Smith as Frederic, ShaRee Larsen as Edith, and Sarah Jane Watts as Mabel. Omer played a perfectly dashing Pirate King to Smith's pink-cheeked and innocent Frederic. The different personalities of Edith and Mabel were fun to see manifest on stage, since I admittedly get the different daughters confused. Larsen's beautiful voice was a fun juxtaposition with her steampunk, sassy costume and Watts' incredible soprano paired nicely with what can only be described as Glinda-the-Good-Witch-on-island-holiday costumes. The ensemble of pirates, daughters and police made for a full, fun show and everyone was committed to telling the story.

I've been to and been in many productions at Centerpoint Legacy Theatre, but this set was probably one of my favorites to look at. With Set Design by Bryan Christensen, Properties Design by Jackie Smith and Scenic Charge Art by Cynthia Klumpp, the puppetry windows and the beautiful gilded frame around the stage made it feel like we had been immersed into a storybook. And of course, the colorful lighting (by Seth Miller) and crisp, clear sound (by Alyssa Evans) made sure that we could see and hear inside this storybook, too.

The costumes by Nita Smith and Jeana Forthman were a departure from previous versions of Penzance and I appreciated the creativity and choices that went into it. I really enjoy when the matching pairs in musicals have costume elements that go together. It's a nice visual cue for the audience and it adds color. So I was delighted to see that each pirate and each daughter had coordinating color pops in their costumes. Inspiration seemed to come from lots of different places from steampunk to anime and fantasy. All of these different styles created a really rich visual palette for audience members to snack on throughout the show.

This production is unlike any other and it really shows what creativity and a new approach to an old work can do. Even the pre-recorded reminder to turn off your cell phones was stylized in such a charming way that any other way seems incredibly boring. You might be like me who entered thinking "Ugh. Opera." and left singing "I am the Pirate King!" Or better yet, you might be like one young audience member sitting behind me as we left the theatre: "I love Pirates of My Pants!"

You can get your tickets here - show runs until September 1st!