The Opera: Frederic has turned 21 which marks the end of his apprenticeship with the Pirate King (he was supposed to be apprenticed to a Pilot but his nursery maid, Ruth, mis-heard and apprenticed him to a Pirate). Frederic has done his duty to the pirates but once a free man he will do his duty as a citizen and hunt them down. Frederic falls in love with Mabel the youngest daughter of a major-general but before they can be married a loophole is discovered in his indenture of apprenticeship that requires him to rejoin the pirates. As with most operettas, the plot is complicated and there are subplots. The Pirates of Penzance was first performed at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, United Kingdom on December 30, 1879 and officially premiered at the Fifth Avenue Theater, New York on December 31, 1879. It includes the classic "A Very Model of a Modern Major-General".
Composers: Gilbert & Sullivan
Principal Cast:
Daniel Luis Espinal (tenor) sings Frederic and is making his OTSL main stage debut with this opera. He has sung with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. He has a beautiful voice but he looked older than 21 years (often a problem with opera).
Jana McIntyre (soprano) sings Mabel, the love interest of Frederic and the youngest daughter of General Stanley. She sang Tatiana in last year in OTSL's A Midsummer Night's Dream and is scheduled to be in Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera. She was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. She sang beautifully and played Mabel with appropriate coquetry.
Robert Mellon ( baritone) sings (and steals the show as) Major-General Stanley. Last year he appeared at OTSL in Die Fledermaus and in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He pulled off "A Very Model" to the delight of the audience and was also very funny. Of all the principal cast he seemed the most comfortable as an actor.
William Socolof (Bass-Baritone) sings the Pirate King. He is making his OTSL debut. He was very funny but I would have liked a bigger voice in the role.
Director: Sean Curran
Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one 25 minute intermission
One good thing: James Schuette's bright set and colorful costumes evoke the music hall of the late 1800's and Sean Curran's stage direction and choreography make the most of the slapstick aspects of the operetta. This would be a very good Opera Theatre of St. Louis production for people who have never been to the Opera before. In fact, there were a number of children (wearing Pirate hats) at my performance.
One not-so-great thing: Because this is an operetta there are portions that rely on the spoken word. Sometimes the singers (who are singers and not actors) speak a little bit too fast and words get lost. But this is a minor nit.
