Music Theater Works Presents THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

A Conundrum

The story—such as it is—begins with Frederic (Ben Barker) completing his apprenticeship on a pirate ship. The nursemaid who brought him there when he was eight, Ruth (Nancy Hays), claims to be sorry she misheard his parents’ instructions to apprentice him to a “pilot,” but the way Hays plays her, she doesn’t seem to be sorry at all. Frederic is arranged to marry her (she claims to be only a little over twice his age) and has never met another woman. For his part, Frederic graciously thanks the pirates for teaching him a sense of duty and declares that as soon as he’s free, he’s going straight to the cops.

This area is supposed to be deserted but has recently become the home of Major General Stanley (Harms) and his many daughters. Frederic sees them, realizes Ruth is not an appropriate mate, and instantly falls in love with the only girl who will have him, Mabel (Cecilia Iole). The Pirate King (Adams) and his crew emerge to marry the remaining girls, but the Major General tricks them by playing to their sympathy for orphans. It works and the pirates retreat, for now…

Music Theater Works Veterans Find New Ways to Win Crowd

Spry and cunning, Harms’s Major General is like a Bugs Bunny in argyle socks. During his famous patter song “I am the very model of a Modern Major General,” he literally gets the rest of the cast dancing to his tune. The opening night audience cheered in amazement at Harms’s verbal dexterity and gasped as he pulled off a one-handed cartwheel. By contrast, Adams’s Pirate King is like a very stupid Tony Stark who is quick to pull his sword on everyone but quickly gets distracted. There’s something oddly satisfying about watching the Major General get the better of him with some old-fashioned comedy circuit wordplay. Dim though the Pirate King may be, Adams moves gracefully and has a sonorous baritone voice.

Pulling Out the Stops in an Intimate Space

Sullivan’s score has earned the descriptor of “timeless” in its own right even if the sort of melodramas Pirates parodied are no longer commonly performed. Linda Madonia conducts them ably, so that even an audience member who is fresh to the play can leave humming several tunes. Hogenmiller strikes the right balance of silliness while moving the show along. He created several visual gags to go along with Gilbert’s clever lyrics and has organized the fifteen-member chorus with an aloof sensibility to contrast with the named characters’ larger-than-life presence. One of the key joys of Music Theater Works shows is their impeccable sense of aesthetics and use of a large orchestra. Though Pirates is a bit of a cardboard world, it is no disappointment in this regard. The show is a feast for the eyes, the ears, and the funnybone.

Lots of Young Talent

The younger cast members bring an incredible amount of energy and finesse to their roles, as well. Ben Barker’s Frederic is the only character for most of the play who seems to have any real sense of seriousness about the situation, though he behaves as if he thinks he is in a real melodrama. Barker’s tenor voice and crisp diction sail over the surrounding chorus and he almost never stops moving. He grins slyly when he plans to win the women’s pity and commands the police force he conjures with a pop star sensibility. Cecilia Iole peppers “Poor wondering one” with coloratura to hilarious effect and her ironic sense of humor beautifully complements those of Barker and Harms. Credit should also go to PJ Wilborn as the Sergeant of Police, whose appearance in Act II adds a quirky, distinctly English quality.

Tickets

Start at $34
Half-off for ages 25 and younger
847-920-5360

Music Theater Works

James Harms (Major-General Stanley), Larry Adams (Pirate King), Ben Barker (Frederic), Cecilia Iole (Mabel), Nancy Hays (Ruth), Cary Lovett (Samuel), PJ Wilborn, (Sergeant of Police), Arthur Sullivan (music), W.S. Gilbert (libretto), Rudy Hogenmiller (director), Linda Madonia (conductor), Clayton Cross (choreographer), Joe Schermoly (scenic), Jana Anderson (costume), Andrew H. Meyers (lighting), Aaron Quick (sound), Sean McStravick (stage manager), Katie Beeks (production manager)

Photo Credit: Brett Beiner

About the Author: Jacob Davis

Jacob Davis has lived in Chicago since 2014 when he started writing articles about theatre, opera, and dance for a number of review websites. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Theatre, where he specialized in the history of modernist dramatic literature and criticism. While there, he interned as a dramaturge for Dance Heginbotham developing concepts for new dance pieces. His professional work includes developing the original jazz performance piece The Blues Ain’t a Color with Denise LaGrassa, which played at Theater Wit. He has also written promotional materials for theatre companies including Silk Road Rising.

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