Review: The Pirates of Penzance (Tall Ship Windy)

  
  
The Pirates of Penzance  

Music by Arthur Sullivan 
Libretto by W.S. Gilbert  
Directed by Emma Couling, Jessie Mutz  
at Tall Ship Windy, Navy Pier (map)
thru Sept 9  |  tickets: $20-$45   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets 
  
  
   Read entire review
  

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Pirates on the Lake!!

Tall Ship Adventures of Chicago presents

The Pirates of Penzance

Review by J.H. Palmer

Tall Ship Windy, an attraction at Navy Pier that offers tours that run from the architectural to the educational (a few of their their specialty tours have names like: Spirit Ships and Haunted Harbors; War on the Water; and Rum Runners) has collaborated with the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Forest Roberts Theatre, and West Aurora High School to bring a short run of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance to the lakefront.

I was skeptical as I made my way through the packed crowds of tourists and Labor Day weekend enthusiasts to the Tall Ship Windy, where ticketholders were met by cast members dressed as pirates and told the rules of the ship before boarding (don’t drink too much, don’t bring too much stuff with you – it’s a fairly small ship once the audience gets loaded – and bring a poncho in case of inclement weather). Audience members are seated on the boat on a first-come first-served basis, with the prime seating in the center of the boat filling quickly. As the play starts, onlookers from the shore take photos of the spectacle, and the ambient noises of the Pier fill the air, leading one to wonder if this performance will be drowned out by the sights and sounds of the Midwest’s #1 tourist destination. All of that fades away once the boat is let loose from the pier and makes its way out onto Lake Michigan, where the only interruptions are the occasional passing tour boats filled with revel-seeking passengers.

The stage, as it were, is the negative space that remains once the audience has been seated, and the various ropes and edges of the ship that bring the drama to a new level as the Pirate King (Orion Couling) sings librettos from perches that would seem precarious even on dry land. The story opens with Ruth (June Entwisle Miller) trying to convince Frederick (Stephen Boyer), who has been indentured by the pirates until his 21st birthday, that the two of them should be married, despite an age difference of at least two decades. What follows is the folly of Pirates, with all its plot-twisting paradoxes and major generals posing as orphans. Boyer’s Frederick and Michelle Perkowitz’ Mabel are naïvely enthralled with each other, and the pirates, led by the Pirate King, alternately enthrall and terrify the daughters of Major General Stanley (Brian Elliott, who plays the role with just the right notes of cluelessness and nobility.)

What makes this production unique is the fact that it is performed on a moving ship with actors weaving their way between seated audience members, and making direct contact with them – at times audience members are pulled from their seats to participate in the action. While it requires some neck craning in order to follow the action, it enhances the musical experience in ways that being in a traditional theater can’t – there are moments when the audience is in the midst of a chorus of trained musical voices, and the effect is pretty amazing. Intermission takes place on the lake, where the audience gets to view the city from a rarely seen vantage. The voyage ends all too soon, with the docking of the Tall Ship Windy, and as the audience steps off the magic bubble of the ship and back onto the insanity that is the arcade of Navy Pier, the bubble is inevitably burst. This imaginative and interactive production of Pirates is only running through September 9, so catch it while you can!

Rating: ★★★

The Pirates of Penzance continues through September 9th at Tall Ship Windy, Navy Pier (map), with performances Saturday and Sunday at 5:30pm.  Tickets are $45 (children $20, seniors $25), and are available by phone (312-451-2700) or online through 168Tickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at TallShipWindy.com.  (Running time: 90 minutes, includes an intermission)

Photos by J.H. Palmer, Scotty Zacher

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artists

cast

Stephen Boyer (Frederick), Michelle Perkowitz (Mabel), Orion Couling (Pirate King), Brian Elliott (Major General), June Entwisle Miller (Ruth), Mario Aivazian (Samuel), Sydney Ray (Edith), Sarah Sapperstein (Kate), Jenna Schoppe (Isabelle), David Fink (Sergeant of Police), Dean Beever, Christopher Davis, Sam Greszes, Edlyn Griffin, Dan Haymes, Rick Olson, Dustin Rothbart (pirates); Michelle A. Limon, Serena Pomerantz, Melissa Scheele, Cassandra Schiano, Jennifer Wisegarver (General’s daughters)

behind the scenes

Emma Couling, Jessie Mutz (co-directors); David Zizic (music director, keyboardist); Zack Meyer (asst. director); Glenese Hand (stage manager); Angela Davis (asst. stage manager); Amber Wuttke (costumes); Gaby Labotka (choreography); Angela Davis (props); Orion Couling (producer, fight choreography)

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