The veteran Skylight Music Theater closes its current season with a joyous, charming and utterly daffy production of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic, Pirates of Penzance. . All the appropriate elements are assembled here to guarantee an audience’s satisfaction: gorgeous voices, attractive lovers, darling maidens, soft-hearted pirates, bumbling police officers, an outstanding live orchestra, and lovely sets that hint of the modern-day elements of this show. Pirates was first performed in New York in 1879. Like Shakespeare and many other great playwrights, Gilbert & Sullivan were able to capture the essence of human nature – and were particularly keen at pointing out our foibles. Written for British audiences, Pirates has a few elements that may seem odd to American viewers, such as the jibes at social class and the characters’ allegiance to, in this case, Queen Victoria. The show received numerous revivals, perhaps none so famous as Joseph Papp's 1981 Broadway production, which ran for 787 performances, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical, and spawning many imitations and a 1983 film adaptation. The production starred Kevin Klein as Frederic, a lad who completes his apprenticeship to a band of pirates and vows to lead a civilized life, and Linda Ronstadt as Mabel, the girl he loves. Although the Skylight theater company can’t claim a lineage as long as that of Gilbert and Sullivan, it’s no newcomer, either. This is the ninth time in its history (since 1959) that Skylight presents a production of Pirates. The current staging is set in its original time period, although hints of modern-day visual gags can be seen from the first curtain. A real-life, picture-postcard view of a rocky shoreline is enhanced by, well, a large vintage postcard of the same scene that hangs upstage. In the foreground, the rocky bluffs are defaced by spray-painted graffiti, not to mention a bright, yellow-painted safety railing that leads characters to the beach. These obviously modern touches remind us that what Gilbert and Sullivan expressed a century ago remains true today.
One new thing about this show is that it marks the Skylight debut of director Shawna Lucey. In the past, she has worked with such prestigious companies as the Sante Fe Opera, Houston Opera, San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Lucey has worked hard to make this Penzance one that emphasizes women’s empowerment. So we have a handful of marriageable daughters dressed not in frothy, feathery finery, but sporting the no-nonsense outfits of suffragettes. When left alone on the beach, their picnic baskets reveal the fixings of splendid martinis (down to the olives). They also use this occasion as an opportunity to smoke cigarettes. Likewise, the sudden appearance of brawny guys (pirates) elicits a sense of mock fright in these adventurous girls. Although a large casts prohibits individual mention, a few actors must be noted. Frederic (Ben Robinson) and Mabel (Julie Tabash Kelsheimer) create a positive chemistry that makes their attraction plausible. Both have fine voices; Mabel’s showcase tune, “Poor Wand’ring One” is absolutely not-to-be missed. All of the songs are handled well, and the cast demonstrates no lack of talent in either the vocal or acting categories. This is a particularly physical production that has pirates swinging onstage from heavy ropes or doing the hilarious choreography (by Ryan Cappleman). The fight scenes, which in this production often have the women beating up the men (whether pirates or police officers), is by Christopher Elst. It must be terribly difficult to catch one’s breath after taking a few swings at one’s partner, but this cast is up to the challenge. Three other actors drive the show. One of them is Andrew Varela (Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway) as the Pirate King. His larger than life presence, accentuated by a colorfully decadent, mock-military costume, has no trouble drawing the audience’s eyes on a crowded stage. His voice is another gift to the production, and as he sings, he carries himself with the swagger one expects of Pirate #1. Conversely, another “military”-type figure, the Major General, is handled with care by Milwaukee veteran actor Drew Brhel. Although some actors take this character’s harshness to extremes, Brhel is fairly even-tempered throughout. Perhaps Brhel’s confidence stems from the fact that he has one of the best songs in the show: the ever-popular “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.” His opening night rendition of this tongue-twister went off without a hitch. After being begged by the pirates for an encore, Brhel goes through one of the verses even faster. This forces the orchestra to “struggle” in their efforts to keep up with him (it doesn’t). One of the show’s best sight gags is a white flag emerging from the orchestra pit. Last but certainly not least is the impressive performance by Diane Lane as Ruth, the nursemaid who stays with Frederic until adulthood. Her range requires this character to be a cougar-type vixen as well as a swashbuckling pirate and a detective. Ruth alone can solve the play’s mysteries, and Lane moves easily through her various appearances. From start to finish, this Pirates of Penzance is a splashy, gorgeous production worth seeing, whether for the first time or the 10th. Much like traditional Christmas shows, it’s a classic that never grows old.
