The Pirates of Penzance: A campy musical comedy performance at the Springer Theatre that has its fun moments!

Photo: Jay Kopinski.  Mabel (Alison MacDonald) and Frederic (Adam Charles).

Whatever one does to a Gilbert and Sullivan production, the original witty book and lyrics, the music, the operatic influences, the satire and the perfectly delightful characters /caricatures, all come through in the end. The works of Gilbert and Sullivan are indestructible and that is exactly what I kept thinking through this recent matinee performance in Gananoque as the pirates and the Major General’s daughters lapsed into a wild Charleston to celebrate their collective marriage . This new contemporary version, the first really campy production of G and S I have ever seen, was apparently done to show the Americans, those “Yankee Boozers” on the other side of the river who visit the Playhouse, that we too can do the kind of musical comedy they know best. We too have our own G and S or Gin and Soda style of stage fun.That was what we learned during the prologue to the show which preceded the overture. .

However all that got lost in this huge over the top performance where everything was overdone, overstated, over performed. What I noticed was that often the book was drowned in stage business so the witty lines were lost because the spectator’s attention was constantly distracted by the wiggling bodies and I had to make a special effort to catch the portion I was waiting for. I have always felt that because the lines and lyrics of G and S are usually so funny by themselves, if the staging is underplayed, the satire can even be more hilarious because that gives the spoken and sung word more emphasis. Take for example the policeman’s chorus turned into a chorus of sailors from the U.S. Coast Guard.  The sailors come out dancing, gesticulating, moving their arms and legs in different ways and hopping about and around each other, hiding their faces or making huge grimaces, falling on the ground, and clowning about while the girls are telling them to go to glory, go to slaughter by serving their country and Yes but they Don’t go!! . The satire is in the words, and the satire is in the trembling reactions of the male chorus as each subject becomes a parody of heroism. But in this version, none of that really stands out, All we see are the men clowning about, making faces of various kinds, moving in ways that produce an easily laughable clown choreography, constant references to other G and S productions,  but too noisy and bouncy to allow the original Penzance words and lyrics to emerge. The result is that the words drown, and the real humour and nasty satire are gone.

There were a lot of moments like that and they all changed the show into a rather silly business for young people except that the young people sitting next to me (8-12 years old) told me they didn’t understand anything. But I’m sure the clowning around was enough for them.

To its credit however, the ensemble singing was excellent, the principle performers had fine voices and the original music was not transformed except for the odd change of rhythm by musical director Steven Greenfield who at times made Sir Arthur’s notes swing in a fun sort of way, What they did add was extra music from other popular culture sources at certain  emotional  high points. That lead  to changes in the lyrics from time to time but then one is supposed to bring in contemporary jokes in a G and S production, so that worked rather well

What stole the show, however, was the campy pirate band –all excellent singers and real dancers – with their tattoos, nimble limbs, tight pants , fancy weapons and their real Francophone Canadian captain who often lapsed into French, at moments of most distress. Hysterically emotional, and yet ready to shoot and stab at any moment, this band of soft hearted thieves and murderers somehow caught the spirit of G and S’ own version of pirates who easily break out into tears when they learn someone is an orphan. Again, the solo voices were very good, especially Shelley Semester as poor Ruth, Eric Morin the Pirate Captain, Alison MacDonald as Mabel, Adam Charles as Frederic and W. Joseph Matheson who carried off the Major General’s patter rather well although he lost many occasions to emphasize the comedy of the lyrics. He was hoping no doubt that his Union Jack socks would be enough.

At times the musicians, located back stage, were not always completely in sync with the singers and that sounded rather “unfortunate” at moments, as the odd singer seemed to slide out of tune. The piano was the biggest culprit on that score. All those bits were very clear because there were only four other musicians behind the curtain during the show so we could hear each one of them distinctly.

AS for me, I like my G and S fairly straight forward with only the amount of stage business that is absolutely necessary because the lyrics and music are sufficiently funny and even outrageous in their own right. Sporting a most elegantly manicured moustache, the Captain shows us he must have brought along his own private barber on board the ship. All together they give us the magnificent feeling that we are soaring into an upper crust operatic mode while naughty Gilbert hits us with his nasty, witty jabs of lyrics from the ground. That contrast is the basis of all their humour. Here it was mostly all so silly that unless you knew what you were listening for, you would never have guessed, for example, that Sir Arthur really was a musical genius .

The Pirates of Penzance. By W.S Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, plays until July 18 at the Springer Theatre (1000 Islands Playhouse), in Gananoque. Call 1-888-382-7020 or 613-382-7020 for info and tickets.

Adapted by Ashlie Corcoran, Andrew Kushnir and Steven Greenfield (musical )

Directed by Ashlie Corcoran

Musical director Steven Greenfield.

Set and costumes Drew Facey.

Sound Adam Fahrendorf

Choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt

Lighting Michelle Ramsay