The Pirates of Penzance
Written by Gilbert and Sullivan
Directed by Dominic Missimi
at Marriott Theatre, Lincolnshire (map)
thru June 10 | tickets: $41-$49 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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An inspired evening of glorious pirate goofiness
Marriott Theatre presents
The Pirates of Penzance
Review by Catey Sullivan
The Pirates of Penzance just might be the balmiest operetta ever writ. It is, after all, not just about pirates, but spectacularly loopy pirates. And the utterly ditzy women folk they woo. And a squadron of scaredy cat British bobbies who would much rather dance than face pirates, no matter how essentially inept and harmless said pirates might be. It’s all gloriously silly, a rambunctious romp on the high seas (and through one decidedly un-scary cemetery).
You know at least two songs in this sea-faring frolic. The first – and let’s just get this out of the way because it’s a highlight of the production and everyone who sees Pirates will be chattering about it post-show – is delivered with show-stopping comic timing and pitch-perfect inflection by comic wunderboy Ross Lehman. As lyrics go, those in “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” are as treacherously hysterical as they come. Gilbert is wordier than Tom Stoppard here, and I do mean that as a compliment. The sheer volume of rapid-fire text he packs into any given stanza is as breathtaking as they are rip-snorter laugh-inducing. “Modern Major General” is a roller coaster, a formidable tour de force that demands the precision of an impossibly intricate patter song and the vocal abilities of a opera diva. Lehman nails words, music and mood. When he arrives at the point wherein Kingsley Day has tinkered with the lyrics, the house is reduced to uncontrollable guffaws, Memo to them what insist altering Gilbert’s wordplay is tantamount to blasphemy: You’ll be singing a different tune after you hear just what Day has done here.
The other instantly recognizable tune comes courtesy of the pirates, who late in the second act unleash a rambunctious ode to “piracee”and”burglaree.” To hear it is to feel as if you’re sitting in an English pub swilling tankards of ale with your hearty mates just before heading out to do some wholesome sacking and pillaging. (Think a raucous bar full of groundlings and Falstaffs, but without the high falutin’ Shakespearian poetry or complicated subtext.)
 
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As for Pirates’ plot, it’s so intentionally preposterous it’s almost beside the point. We meet Frederic (Omar Lopez-Cepero) as he’s finishing up his indentured servitude to the pirate band, a servitude he was bound into when his ancient nursemaid Ruth (Alene Robertson) confused “pirates” with “pilots,” intending to indenture the child to the latter but mistakenly doing so with the former. Freed as of his 21st birthday, Frederic is snared back into servitude by a loophole: Since he was born on Feb. 29 in a leap year, he’s had only five birthdays and thus is indebted to the pirates for a few lifetimes longer than he thought.
This bit of trifle sets in motion the main conflict (if you can call anything this relentlessly harebrained a conflict) which has Frederic trying to reconcile his desire to fight for the good and exterminate the scourge of pirates and his duty-bound moral duty to honor his servitude. Additional wackiness ensures when Frederic falls in doe-eyed love-at-first-sight with the winsome Mabel (Patricia Noonan), a virtuous maid who, with her six
Will Frederic be able to reconcile duty with desire? Will the Pirate King (Kevin Earley) and his band prevail over the Chaplin-esque chorus line of landlubber flatfoots? Will everybody wind up married? This is musical comedy, so it’s no spoiler to note that the answers are yes, yes, and yes. What makes Pirates such a joy isn’t the dramatic tension in the piece so much as the fine performances Missimi coaxes from his cast, and music director Nelson’s command of a winning score.
As Frederic, Cepero has the leading-man looks and earnest gumption required of the male ingénue. Portraying his lady love Mable, Noonan displays both some serious operatic skills and a swoony, silly demeanor that’s well matched to Cepero’s Frederic. But the scene stealers here are the pirates, particularly Earley, a tall glass of water clearly relishing every last arrgh and swashbuckle. His surrounding crew of scallywags follows suit – especially Bernie Yvon, whose innately rascally presence seems custom made for portraying pirate-dom. And as the Pirate King’s arch nemesis the Sergeant of Police, Andrew Lupp does a bang-up job creating the world’s nuttiest parade with “When the Pirate Bares His Steel.”
As for Matt Raftery’s choreography, it’s an insouciant hoot from start to finish. Keep your eyes open for his mini-homage to the Rockettes famous collapsing line of toy soldiers. It’s one in a two-hour series of moments inspired by glorious goofiness.
Rating: ★★★
The Pirates of Penzance continues through June 10th at Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire (map), with performances Wednesdays 1pm and 8pm, Thursdays and Fridays 8pm, Saturdays 4:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays 1pm and 5pm. Tickets are $41-$49, and are available by phone (847-634-0200) or online here (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at MarriottTheatre.com.
(Running time: 2 hours, which includes an intermission)
All photos by Peter Coombs
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