Drawing of the Act I finale
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of
Duty, is a
comic opera in
two acts, with music by
Arthur
Sullivan and
libretto by
W. S. Gilbert.
The opera's official
premiere was at the Fifth Avenue
Theatre in New York
City
on 31 December 1879, where the show was
well-received by both audiences and critics. Its London
debut was on
3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique
, where it ran for a very successful 363
performances, having already been playing successfully for over
three months in New York.
The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year,
is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tenderhearted
pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and
the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic finds out,
however, that he was born on February 29, and so, technically, he
only has a birthday each leap year. His apprenticeship indentures
state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st
birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years. Mabel agrees
to wait for him faithfully.
Pirates was the fifth
Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and
introduced the much-parodied
Major-General's Song. The opera was
performed for a century by the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in
Britain and many other opera companies and repertory companies
worldwide.
It has been refreshed with several modernised
productions, including Joseph Papp's
1981 production on Broadway
, which ran
for 787 performances, winning the Tony Award for Best Revival and
the Drama Desk
Award for Outstanding Musical, and spawned many
imitations. Pirates remains popular today, taking
its place along with
The Mikado
and
H.M.S. Pinafore as one of the most frequently
played
Gilbert and Sullivan
operas.
Background
The
Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its
official premiere in New
York
. At the time, American law offered no
copyright protection to foreigners. After
their previous opera,
H.M.S. Pinafore, was a hit in London, over a
hundred American companies quickly mounted unauthorized "pirated"
productions, often taking considerable liberties with the text and
paying no royalties to the creators. By mounting their next
opera in New York, Gilbert and Sullivan hoped to forestall further
"piracy" by establishing the official production in America before
others could copy it. They did succeed, by mounting the first
production themselves, as well as operating U.S. touring companies
and delaying publication of the score and libretto, in keeping for
themselves the direct profits of the venture. However, Gilbert,
Sullivan, and their producer,
Richard D'Oyly Carte, continued their
efforts for many years to control the American performance
copyrights over their operas, without success.
After the success of
Pinafore, Gilbert was eager to get
started on the next opera, and he began working on the libretto in
December 1878. The composition of the music for
Pirates
was unusual, in that Sullivan composed the acts in reverse —
intending to bring the completed Act II with him to New York,
with Act I existing only in sketches. When he arrived in New York,
however, he found that he had left the sketches behind, and he had
to reconstruct the first act from memory. Gilbert told a
correspondent many years later that Sullivan was unable to recall
his setting of the entrance of the women's chorus, so they
substituted the chorus "Climbing over rocky mountain" from their
earlier opera,
Thespis.
Sullivan's manuscript for
Pirates contains pages removed
from a
Thespis score, with the vocal parts altered from
their original context as a four-part chorus.
scholars (e.g., Tillett and Spencer, 2000) have offered evidence
that Gilbert and Sullivan had planned all along to re-use "Climbing
over rocky mountain," and perhaps other parts of
Thespis,
noting that the presence of a
Thespis score in New York
when there were no plans to revive it might not have been
accidental. In any event, "Climbing over rocky mountain," one other
song, and a ballet are the only portions of the score of
Thespis known to have survived.
On 10 December 1879, Sullivan wrote a letter to his mother about
the new opera, upon which he was hard at work in New York. "I think
it will be a great success, for it is exquisitely funny, and the
music is strikingly tuneful and catching." True enough,
The
Pirates of Penzance was an immediate hit in New York, and
later London, and takes its place today as one of the most popular
G&S works.
To secure British
copyright, there was a perfunctory performance the
afternoon before the New York premiere, at the Royal Bijou Theatre
Paignton
, Devon
, organised
by Helen Lenoir (who would later marry
Richard D'Oyly Carte). The cast, having performed
Pinafore the night before,
read from scripts carried onto the stage, making do with whatever
costumes they had on hand.
The work's title is a multi-layered joke.
On the one hand,
Penzance
was a docile
seaside resort at the time, and not the place where one would
expect to encounter pirates. On the other hand, the title
was also a jab at the
theatrical pirates who had staged
unlicensed productions of
H.M.S. Pinafore in
America.
Sullivan's score borrowed from several musical traditions. In the
Major-General's Act II song, "Sighing softly to the river",
the composer imitates Schubert's partsongs for male voices. Also,
the "Come, Friends Who Plough the Sea" section of "With Catlike
Tread" resembles the anvil chorus from
Il Trovatore. In another scene in
Act II, Mabel addresses the police, who chant their response,
in an imitation of the form of an Anglican church service's
canticle and response. One of the most famous passages from the
finale to Act I, referred to as "Hail Poetry", is a five-part
musical piece, utilising all of the voices in a chorale
style.
The character of
Major-General Stanley was also based
partly on Field Marshal
Garnet Wolsely.
Roles
- Chorus of Pirates, Police and General Stanley's Daughters
Synopsis
Act I
On the
coast of Cornwall
, at the time of Queen
Victoria's reign, Frederic, a young man with a strong sense of
duty, celebrates, amidst the pirates, the
completion of his twenty-first year and the apparent end of his
apprenticeship ("Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry"). The
pirates' maid of all work, Ruth, appears and reveals that, as
Frederic's nursemaid long ago ("When Frederic was a little lad"),
she had made a mistake "through being hard of hearing": she had
misheard Frederic's father's instructions and apprenticed him to a
pirate, instead of to a ship's
pilot.
Frederic has never seen any woman other than Ruth, and he believes
her to be beautiful. The pirates know better and suggest that
Frederic take Ruth with him when he returns to civilisation.
Frederic announces that, although it pains him to do so, such is
his sense of duty that, once free from his apprenticeship, he will
be forced to devote himself to their extermination. He points out
that they are not very successful pirates, since, being orphans
themselves, they allow their prey to go free if they too are
orphans. Frederic notes that word of this has got about, so
captured ships' companies routinely claim to be orphans. Frederic
invites the pirates to give up piracy and go with him, so that he
need not destroy them, but the Pirate King notes that, compared
with respectability, piracy is comparatively honest ("Oh! better
far to live and die"). The pirates depart, leaving Frederic and
Ruth. Frederic sees a group of beautiful young girls approaching
the pirate lair, and realizes that Ruth lied to him about her
appearance ("Oh false one! You have deceived me!"). Sending Ruth
away, Frederic hides before the girls arrive.
.jpg/180px-Pirates_of_Penzance_(A.S._Seer,_1880).jpg)
1880 poster
girls burst exuberantly upon the secluded spot ("Climbing over
rocky mountain"). Frederic reveals himself ("Stop, ladies, pray!")
and appeals to them to help him reform ("Oh! is there not one
maiden breast?"). One of them, Mabel, responds to his plea, and
chides her sisters for their lack of charity ("Oh sisters deaf to
pity's name for shame!"). She sings to him ("Poor wand'ring one"),
and Frederic and Mabel quickly fall in love. The other girls
contemplate whether to eavesdrop or to leave the new couple alone
("What ought we to do?"), and eventually decide to "talk about the
weather," although they steal a glance or two at the affectionate
couple ("How beautifully blue the sky").
Frederic warns the girls of the pirates nearby ("Stay, we must not
lose our senses"), but before they can flee, the pirates arrive and
capture all the girls, intending to marry them ("Here's a first
rate opportunity"). Mabel warns the pirates that the girls' father
is a Major-General ("Hold, monsters!"), who soon arrives and
introduces himself ("
I am the very
model of a modern Major-General"). He appeals to the pirates
not to take his daughters, leaving him to face his old age alone.
Having heard of the famous Pirates of Penzance, he pleads for their
release on the ground that he's an orphan ("Oh, men of dark and
dismal fate"). The soft-hearted pirates are sympathetic and release
the girls ("Hail, Poetry!"), making Major-General Stanley and his
daughters honorary members of their band ("Pray observe the
magnanimity").
Act II
The Major-General sits in a ruined chapel on his estate, surrounded
by his daughters. His conscience is tortured by the lie that he
told the pirates, and the girls attempt to console him ("Oh dry the
glist'ning tear"). The Sergeant of Police and his corps arrive to
announce their readiness to go forth to arrest the pirates ("When
the foeman bares his steel"). The girls loudly express their
admiration of the police for facing likely slaughter at the hands
of fierce and merciless foes. The police are unnerved by this, and
remain around (to the Major-General's frustration) but finally
leave.
"Have mercy on us!"
alone, Frederic, who is to lead the group, pauses to reflect on his
opportunity to atone for a life of piracy ("Now for the pirate's
lair"), at which point he encounters Ruth and the Pirate King. It
has occurred to them that his apprenticeship was worded so as to
bind him to them until his twenty-first
birthday – and,
because that birthday happens to be on 29 February (in a
leap year), it means that
technically only five birthdays have
passed ("When you had left our pirate fold"), and he will not reach
his twenty-first birthday until he is in his eighties. Frederic is
convinced by this logic that he must rejoin the pirates, and thus
he sees it as his duty to inform the Pirate King of the
Major-General's deception. The outraged outlaw declares that their
"revenge will be swift and terrible" ("Away, away, my heart's on
fire").
Frederic meets Mabel ("All is prepared"), and she pleads with him
to stay ("Stay Frederic, stay"), but he explains that he must
fulfill his duty to the pirates until his 21st birthday in 1940. He
promises to return then and claim her. They agree to be faithful to
each other until then, though to Mabel "It seems so long" ("Oh here
is love and here is truth"), and Frederic departs. Mabel steels
herself ("No, I'll be brave") and tells the police that they must
go alone to face the pirates. They muse that an outlaw might be
just like any other man, and it is a shame to deprive him of "that
liberty which is so dear to all" ("When a felon's not engaged in
his employment"). The police hide on hearing the approach of the
pirates ("A rollicking band of pirates we"), who have stolen onto
the grounds, meaning to avenge themselves for the Major-General's
lie ("With cat-like tread").
The police and the pirates prepare for the fight ("Hush, hush! not
a word"). Just then, the Major-General appears, sleepless with
guilt, and the pirates also hide, while General Stanley listens to
the soothing sighing of the breeze ("Sighing softly to the river").
The girls come looking for him ("Now what is this and what is
that"). The pirates leap to the attack, and the police rush to the
defence; but the police are easily defeated, and the Pirate King
urges the captured Major-General to prepare for death. The Sergeant
plays his trump card, demanding that the pirates yield "in
Queen Victoria's name"; the
pirates, overcome with loyalty to their Queen, do so. Ruth appears
and reveals that the orphan pirates are in fact "all noblemen who
have gone wrong". The Major-General is impressed by this and all is
forgiven. Frederic and Mabel are reunited, and the Major-General is
happy to marry his daughters to the noble pirates after all.
Musical numbers
- Overture (includes "With cat-like tread", "Ah, leave me not to
pine", "Pray observe the magnanimity",
"When you had left our pirate fold", "Climbing over rocky
mountain", and "How beautifully blue the sky")
Act I
- 1. "Pour, oh pour, the pirate sherry"
(Samuel and Chorus of Pirates)
- 2. "When Fred'ric was a little lad" (Ruth)
- 3. "Oh, better far to live and die ...I am a pirate king!"
(Pirate King and Chorus of Pirates)
- 4. "Oh! false one, you have deceiv'd me" (Frederic and
Ruth)
- 5. "Climbing over rocky mountain" (Chorus of Girls)
- 6. "Stop, ladies, pray" (Edith, Kate, Frederic, and Chorus of
Girls)
- 7. "Oh, is there not one maiden breast?" (Frederic and Chorus
of Girls)
- 8. "Poor wand'ring one" (Mabel and Chorus of Girls)
- 9. "What ought we to do?" (Edith, Kate, and Chorus of
Girls)
- 10. "How beautifully blue the sky" (Mabel, Frederic, and Chorus
of Girls)
- 11. "Stay, we must not lose our senses" ... "Here's a
first-rate opportunity to get married with impunity" (Frederic and
Chorus of Girls and Pirates)
- 12. "Hold, monsters" (Mabel, Major-General, Samuel, and
Chorus)
- 13. "I am the very model of a
modern Major-General" (Major-General and Chorus)
- 14. Finale Act I (Mabel, Kate, Edith, Ruth, Frederic, Samuel,
King, Major-General, and Chorus)
- "Oh, men of dark and dismal fate"
- "I’m telling a terrible story"
- "Hail, Poetry"
- "Oh, happy day, with joyous glee"
- "Pray observe the magnanimity"
Act II
- 15. "Oh, dry the glist'ning tear" (Mabel and Chorus of
Girls)
- 16. "Then, Frederic, let your escort lion-hearted" (Frederic
and Major-General)
- 17. "When the foeman bares his steel" (Mabel, Edith, Sergeant,
and Chorus of Policemen and Girls)
- 18. "Now for the pirates' lair!" (Frederic, Ruth, and
King)
- 19. "When you had left our pirate fold" ("A paradox") (Ruth,
Frederic, and King)
- 20. "Away, away! My heart's on fire!" (Ruth, Frederic, and
King)
- 21. "All is prepar'd; your gallant crew await you" (Mabel and
Frederic)
- 22. "Stay, Fred'ric, stay" ... "Oh, here is love, and here is
truth" (Mabel and Frederic)
- 23. "No, I'll be brave" ... "Though in body and in mind"
(Reprise of "When the foeman bares his steel") (Mabel, Sergeant,
and Chorus of Police)
- 23a. "Sergeant, approach!" (Mabel, Sergeant of Police, and
Chorus of Police)
- 24. "When a felon's not engaged in his employment" (Sergeant
and Chorus of Police)
- 25. "A rollicking band of pirates we" (Sergeant and Chorus of
Pirates and Police)
- 26. "With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal" (Samuel and
Chorus of Pirates and Police)
- 27. "Hush, hush, not a word!" (Frederic, King, Major-General,
and Chorus of Police and Pirates)
- 28. Finale, Act II (Ensemble)
- "Sighing softly to the river"
- "Now what is this, and what is that?"
- "Frederic here! Oh, joy! Oh, rapture!"
- "With base deceit you worked upon our feelings!"
- "You/We triumph now"
- "Away with them, and place them at the bar!"
- "Poor wandering ones!"
Versions
In the original New York production, the revelation by Ruth that
the pirates are "all noblemen who have gone wrong" prompted the
following exchange (recalling a famous passage in
H.M.S. Pinafore):
| GENERAL,POLICE & GIRLS: |
What, all noblemen? |
| KING & PIRATES: |
Yes, all noblemen! |
| GENERAL, POLICE & GIRLS: |
What, all? |
| KING: |
Well, nearly all! |
| ALL: |
They are nearly all noblemen who have gone wrong.
- Then give three cheers, both loud and strong,
- For the twenty noblemen who have gone wrong....
|
In the original London production, this exchange was shortened to:
| GIRLS: |
Oh spare them! They are all noblemen who have gone wrong. |
| GENERAL: |
What, all noblemen? |
| KING: |
Yes, all noblemen! |
| GENERAL: |
What, all? |
| KING: |
Well, nearly all! |
Gilbert deleted this exchange in the 1900 revival, and the Chappell
vocal score was revised accordingly. The revived
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
restored the original version in their 1989 production.
Production history
the beginning,
The Pirates of Penzance has been one of
Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular comic operas. After its unique
"triple opening" in 1879–80, it was revived in London in 1888, in
1900, and for the Savoy repertory season of 1908–09. In the British
provinces, the
D'Oyly Carte
Opera Company toured it almost continuously from 1880–1884, and
again in 1888. It re-entered the touring repertory in 1893, and was
never again absent through to the company's closure in 1982.
In America, after the New York opening on New Year's Eve, 1879,
Richard D'Oyly Carte launched
four companies that covered the United States on tours that lasted
through the following summer. Gilbert and Sullivan themselves
trained each of the touring companies through January and early
February 1880, and each company's first performance – whether it
was in Philadelphia, Newark, or Buffalo – was conducted by the
composer.
In Australia, its first authorized
performance was on 19 March 1881 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney
, produced by
J. C. Williamson.
There was still no international copyright law, and the first
unauthorized New York production was given by the Boston
Ideal Opera Company at Booth's Theatre in September 1880.
The first
non-D'Oyly Carte professional production in a country that had been
subject to Gilbert's copyright (other than Williamsons' authorised
productions) was in Stratford, Ontario
, Canada
, in
September 1961. In 1979, the Torbay
branch of
the Gilbert and Sullivan Society presented a centenary tribute to
the world premiere performance of Pirates in Paignton,
with a production at the Palace Avenue Theatre (situated a few
metres from the former Bijou Theatre).
As discussed below,
Joseph Papp's
1980–83
Pirates gave a boost to the opera's popularity.
Professional and amateur productions of the opera continue with
frequency. In 2007, the
New York
City Opera mounted a new production as did
Opera Australia.
The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte
productions in Gilbert's lifetime:
Drawing from children's
Pirates
| Theatre |
Opening Date |
Closing Date |
Perfs. |
Details |
| Bijou Theatre, Paignton |
30 December 1879 |
30 December 1879 |
1 |
English copyright
performance. |
| Fifth Avenue
Theatre, New York |
31 December 1879 |
6 March 1880 |
100 |
Original run in New York. The company toured the
Eastern seaboard between 8 March and 15 May. Three other touring
companies were launched in January and February 1880. |
| 17 May 1880 |
5 June 1880 |
| Opera Comique |
3 April 1880 |
2 April 1881 |
363 |
Original London run. |
| Savoy Theatre |
23 December 1884 |
14 February 1885 |
37 |
Children's Pirates –series of matinées with a juvenile
cast. |
| Savoy Theatre |
17 March 1888 |
6 June 1888 |
80 |
First professional revival. |
| Savoy Theatre |
30 June 1900 |
5 November 1900 |
127 |
Second professional revival. |
| Savoy Theatre |
1 December 1908 |
27 March 1909 |
43 |
Second Savoy repertory season; played with five other operas.
(Closing date shown is of the entire season.) |
Historical casting
The following tables show the casts of the principal original
productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at
various times through to the company's 1982 closure:
Joseph Papp's Pirates
In 1980,
Joseph Papp and the Public
Theater
of New York City brought a new production of
Pirates, directed by Wilford
Leach and choreographed by Graciela
Daniele, to the Delacorte Theatre
in Central
Park
, one of the series of Shakespeare in the Park summer
events. The show played for 10 previews and 35 performances.
It then
transferred to Broadway, opening on 8 January 1981 for a run of 20 previews
and 787 performances at the Uris
and Minskoff
Theatres. This take on
Pirates
earned several
Tony Awards, including a
Tony Award for Best
Revival and the
Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Musical.
Compared to traditional productions of the opera, Papp's
Pirates featured a more swashbuckling Pirate King and
Frederic, and a broader, more
musical
comedy style of humour. It also featured an adapted
orchestration and a number of key changes. The "Matter Patter" trio
from
Ruddigore and "Sorry her
lot" from
H.M.S.
Pinafore were interpolated
into the show. The production also restored Gilbert and Sullivan's
original New York ending, with a reprise of the Major-General's
song in the Act II finale.
Linda Ronstadt starred as Mabel,
Rex Smith as Frederic,
Kevin Kline as the Pirate King,
Patricia Routledge as Ruth (replaced by
Estelle Parsons for the Broadway
transfer),
George Rose as the
Major-General, and
Tony Azito as the
Sergeant of Police. Notable replacements during the Broadway run
included
Pam Dawber,
Karla DeVito and
Maureen McGovern as Mabel;
Robby Benson,
Patrick Cassidy and
Peter Noone as Frederic;
James Belushi,
Gary
Sandy,
Wally Kurth, and
Treat Williams as the Pirate King;
David Garrison as the Sergeant;
George S. Irving as the Major-General; and
Kaye Ballard as Ruth. The national tour of the
production featured
Barry Bostwick as
the Pirate King,
Jo Anne Worley as
Ruth,
Clive Revill as the
Major-General,
Pam Dawber as Mabel,
Paxton Whitehead as The Sergeant,
and
Andy Gibb as Frederic.
The
production opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, London, on 26 May 1982 to generally warm reviews
for a run of 601 performances. Notable among the cast were
George Cole and
Ronald Fraser as the Major-General;
Michael Praed and
Peter
Noone as Frederic;
Tim Curry,
Timothy Bentinck,
Oliver Tobias and
Paul Nicholas as the Pirate King;
Chris Langham as the Sergeant of Police;
Pamela Stephenson as Mabel;
Annie Ross as Ruth;
Bonnie Langford as Kate; and
Louise Gold as Isabel.
1984 Australian Production
The
Australian production opened in Melbourne
in January 1984 at the Victorian Arts Centre and
was the first work staged in the new performing arts
complex. It was directed by John Feraro and starred
Jon English as the Pirate King,
Simon Gallaher as Frederic,
June Bronhill as Ruth,
David Atkins as the Sergeant of Police, and
Marina Prior as Mabel. The six week
limited season was followed by an Australian national tour
throughout 1984, 1985, 1986 and also another come-back tour with
same cast in the mid 90's.
In 1985, Pirates was the first
production in the new Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane
and set attendance records that were not surpassed
until many years later by The Phantom of The
Opera.
The Papp production was turned into
a film in 1983, with all
of the original Broadway cast reprising their roles, except that
Angela Lansbury replaced Estelle
Parsons as Ruth. The minor roles used British actors miming to
their Broadway counterparts. The film was not a success, but,
according to the IMDB, this "had nothing to do with the reviews,
which were often quite positive.
The real problem lay with Universal Pictures' decision to release
the film simultaneously to SelecTV (a
Los
Angeles
subscription
television service) and to theaters. Theater owners were
so angry that they boycotted the film; in the end, only 92 theaters
agreed to show it, and it enjoyed a long run at only one of them."
The film has been shown occasionally on television. Another film
based loosely on the opera,
The
Pirate Movie, was released during the Broadway run.
The Papp production design has been widely imitated in other modern
productions of
Pirates, even where traditional
orchestration and standard score are used. Many modern productions
are also influenced by the popular Disney film franchise
Pirates of the
Caribbean.
Recordings
This opera has been recorded many times. Of the recordings by the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, the 1968 recording (with complete
dialogue) is regarded as the best: "This recording is one of the
best D'Oyly Carte sets of all time, and certainly the best
Pirates." The 1957 D'Oyly Carte recording is also well
rated. The 1993 Mackerras recording is admired for its musical
values, and the 1981 Papp recording is excellent, although it has
adapted orchestrations. Of the available commercial videos, the
Brent Walker is considered better than the Papp version.
- Selected recordings
- 1929 D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: Malcolm Sargent
- 1957 D'Oyly Carte – New Symphony Orchestra of London;
Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
- 1961 Sargent/Glyndebourne – Pro Arte Orchestra, Glyndebourne
Festival Chorus; Conductor: Malcolm Sargent
- 1968 D'Oyly Carte (with dialogue) – Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra; Conductor: Isidore Godfrey
- 1981; 1983 Papp's Pirates (with dialogue) – Director: Wilford Leach; Musical Director: William Elliott; Choreographer: Graciela Daniele
- 1982 Brent Walker Productions (with dialogue) – Ambrosian Opera
Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra; Conductor: Alexander Faris;
Stage Director: Michael Geliot
- 1990 New D'Oyly Carte – Conductor: John Pryce-Jones
- 1993 Mackerras/Telarc – Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh
National Opera; Conductor: Charles Mackerras
- 1994 Essgee Entertainment
(video adaptation) – Director and Choreographer: Craig Schaefer;
Orchestrator and Conductor: Kevin Hocking; Additional Lyrics:
Melvyn Morrow
Cultural impact
Pirates is one of the most frequently referenced works of
Gilbert and Sullivan. The
Major-General's Song, in particular, is
frequently parodied,
pastiched and used in
advertising. Its challenging
patter has
proved interesting to comics, a notable example being
Tom Lehrer's song "
The Elements", and it is used in film
and on television, unchanged in many instances, as a character's
audition piece, or seen in a "school play" scene. Examples include:
- In Family Guy, in the
episode "Peter's Got Woods", there is a clip in which Brian Griffin sings "Sighing Softly", with
Peter Griffin appearing in the middle
to sing the tenor line.
- In Animaniacs, Yakko Warner, in the episode "H.M.S. Yakko,"
sings the famous pastiche, "I am the very model of a cartoon
individual";
- The computer-animated series ReBoot ended its third season with a recap of
the entire season, set to the song's tune;
- In the Babylon 5 Episode
"Atonement", Marcus Cole uses the Major-General's Song to drive Dr Stephen Franklin crazy on a long journey
to Mars.
- In the Doctor Who Big Finish Productions audio,
Doctor Who and the
Pirates, the Doctor
sings, "I am the very model of a Gallifreyan buccaneer" (and other songs, from
Pirates, Pinafore and Ruddigore, are parodied);
- The Muppet Show (season
3, episode 52) staged a duet of the song with guest host and
commedienne Gilda Radner and a
seven-foot tall talking carrot (The scene bore an ironic parody to
another scene in Pirates, as Radner had requested a
six-foot tall talking parrot, but was misheard);
- David Hyde Pierce's monologue,
as host of Saturday Night
Live, was a parody of the song;
- In the Frasier episode
Fathers and
Sons, Frasier, Niles and Leland Barton sing the first
verse of the song. Martin tries to join in but confuses the lyrics,
singing about a "scary hippopotamus" (instead of "the square of a
hypotenuse");
- In the Mad About You
episode "Moody Blues," Paul directs a charity production of
Penzance starring his father, Burt, as the Major-General.
Parts of rehearsal and performance of the song are shown. When the
lyrics slip Burt's mind, he improvises a few lines about his
son.
- In The Wild
Thornberrys episode "Sir Nigel," Nigel Thornberry sings a
song about the family to the tune of the song;
- In a VeggieTales episode
entitled "The
Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment!", Archibald Asparagus sings the first two
verses of this song when asked to sing about "Military
Intelligence";
- In the Studio 60
on the Sunset Strip episode "The Cold Open" (2006), the
cast performs a sketch including a parody of the song: "We'll be
the very model of a modern network TV show"; and
- In an episode of Pinky and
The Brain, The Brain sings a typically megalomaniacal
parody of the song.
- In The Simpsons episode
"Deep Space Homer" (1F13), Barney Gumble quotes the first lines while
executing difficult gymnastic tumbles for astronaut training.
- In an Assy McGee episode
entitled "Pegfinger", Detective Sanchez's wife is a member of a
community theater that performs the opera.
- In an episode of Home
Improvement, Al Borland sings half of the first verse when
tricked into thinking he is in a soundproof booth.
Other songs from the show that have been used frequently include
the chorus of
With cat-like tread, which begins "Come,
friends, who plough the sea," which was used in the popular
American song, "
Hail,
Hail, the Gang's All Here," popularized by
Fred Astaire. It is also part of the
soundtrack, along with other Gilbert and Sullivan songs, in the
1981 film,
Chariots of
Fire. The song was also pastiched in an episode of
Animaniacs in a song about
surfing a whale.
Other notable instances of references to
Pirates include a
New York Times article on 29
February 1940, memorializing that Frederic was finally out of his
indentures.
Six years previously, the arms granted to
the municipal
borough of Penzance in 1934 contain a pirate dressed in Gilbert's
original costuming, and Penzance had a rugby team called the
Penzance Pirates, which is now called the Cornish Pirates. In 1980,
Isaac Asimov wrote a short story called "The
Year of the Action", concerning whether the action of
Pirates took place on 1 March 1873, or 1 March 1877. That
is, did Gilbert take into account the fact that 1900 was not a leap
year?
Film references to
Pirates include
Kate and Leopold, where there are
multiple references, including a scene where Leopold sings "I Am
The Very Model of A Modern Major General" while accompanying
himself on the piano; and in
Pretty
Woman, Edward Lewis (
Richard
Gere) covered a social gaffe by prostitute Vivian Ward
(
Julia Roberts), who said that the
opera
La Traviata was so good
that she almost "peed in [her] pants" by saying that she had said
that she liked it almost as much as "The Pirates of Penzance." In
Walt Disney's cartoon
Mickey,
Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004), there is a
performance of
The Pirates of Penzance that becomes the
setting for the climactic battle between the Musketeers and
Captain Pete.
Pirates songs sung in the cartoon are "With cat-like
tread", "Poor wand'ring one", "Climbing over rocky mountain" and
the Major General's song.
In the TV series
The West
Wing,
Pirates and other Gilbert and Sullivan
operas are mentioned, especially by Deputy Communications Director,
Sam Seaborn, who was recording secretary
of his school's Gilbert and Sullivan society. In
Studio 60 on the Sunset
Strip, a poster from
Pirates hangs on
Matt Albie's office wall. Both TV series were
created by
Aaron Sorkin. In the pilot
episode of the 2008
CBS series,
Flashpoint, a police officer and
his partner sing the policeman's song.
The show is referred to in video games. In
Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas, a casino is called "Pirates in Men's Pants", a
crude play on "Pirates of Penzance".
The opera has also
lent itself to other cultural references, such as the unlikely
slang used by Melburnian youths, who refer to marijuana as "Pirates of
Penzance" or the "Gilbert & Sullivan Special."
Adaptations
- Di Yam Gazlonim, A Yiddish
adaptation of Pirates by Al Grand that continues to be
performed frequently in the United States. The 2006 production at
the National Yiddish
Theater Folksbiene was nominated for the 2007 Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Revival. The Montreal Express wrote in 2009,
"Grand’s adaptation is a delightfully whimsical treatment".
- The Parson's Pirates by Opera della Luna
- The Pirate Movie
- Pirates! Or, Gilbert And Sullivan Plunder'd
(2006), is a musical comedy set on a Caribbean island, involving a
voodoo curse that makes the pirates
"landsick". It is adapted by Nell Benjamin, Gordon Greenberg and John
McDaniel and was first presented 1 November 2006 at Goodspeed
Opera House
in East
Haddam
, Connecticut
, then in 2007 at the Paper Mill
Playhouse
in Millburn, New Jersey
, and in 2009 at the Huntington Theatre Company in
Boston
, Massachusetts
. Other Gilbert and Sullivan numbers, such as
the Nightmare song from Iolanthe
are interpolated.
- Pirates of
Penzance - The Ballet!
- Essgee Entertainment
produced an adapted version of Pirates in 1994 in
Australia and New Zealand. Their producer, Simon Gallaher (Frederic in the Australian
Papp production), produced another adaptation of Pirates
that toured Australia from 2001 to 2003.
- The Pirates of
Penzance
See also
Notes
- Prestige, Colin. "D'Oyly Carte and the Pirates", a paper
presented at the International Conference of G&S held at the
University of Kansas, May 1970
- Ainger, p. 166
- Ainger, p. 177
- Ainger, p. 179
- Smith, Tim. "A consistent Pirates of Penzance",
The Baltimore Sun, July 16, 2009
- Ainger, pp. 180–81
- In medieval times and later, however, Penzance was subject to
frequent raiding by Turkish pirates, according to Canon Diggens
Archive 1910.
- Information from NY City Opera website
- The first performance was by invitation only. The official
opening was on 26 December 1884. The Times announcement,
20 December 1884, p. 8
- Rollins and Witts, p. 30
- Rollins and Witts, p. 32
- Rollins and Witts, p. 7
- Rollins and Witts, p. 11
- Rollins and Witts, p. 18
- Rollins and Witts, p. 22
- Rollins and Witts, p. 132
- Rollins and Witts, p. 148
- Rollins and Witts, p. 160
- Rollins and Witts, p. 170
- Rollins and Witts, p. 175
- Rollins and Witts, p. 183
- Rollins and Witts, 2nd Supplement, p. 15
- Rollins and Witts, 3rd Supplement, p. 28
- Information from the IMDB database
- Shepherd, Marc. "The 1968 D'Oyly Carte Pirates", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 7 September 2008, accessed
20 August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. List and assessments of recordings of the opera, A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 9 July 2009, accessed 20
August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The 1929 D'Oyly Carte Pirates", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 29 March 2009, accessed 20
August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The 1957 D'Oyly Carte Pirates", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 23 December 2003, accessed
20 August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The Sargent/EMI Pirates (1961)", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 July 2009, accessed 20
August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "Papp's Pirates (1980)", A Gilbert and Sullivan
Discography, 7 September 2008, accessed 20 August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The Brent Walker Pirates (1982)", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 13 April 2009, accessed 20
August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The New D'Oyly Carte Pirates (1990)", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 2 December 2001, accessed 20
August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The Mackerras/Telarc Pirates (1993)", A
Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 7 September 2008, accessed
20 August 2009
- Shepherd, Marc. "The Essgee Pirates (1994)", A Gilbert and
Sullivan Discography, 9 July 2009, accessed 20 August
2009
- Schillinger, Liesl. "Dress British, Sing Yiddish", The New York
Times, 22 October 2006
- "Frederic Goes Free", The New York
Times, 29 February 1940, p. 18
- Description of the story, which appears in
Banquets of the Black
Widowers (1984)
- "The Pirates of Penzance... in Yiddish?",
Montreal Express, 25 May 2009
- Saltzman, Simon. CurtainUp New Jersey Review 2007, CurtainUp. Retrieved
June 13, 2009.
- Nesti, Robert. "Pirates! (Or, Gilbert and Sullivan
Plunder’d)", EDGE, June 8, 2009
References
- Bordman, Gerald. American Operetta: From H.
M. S. Pinafore to Sweeney Todd Oxford
University Press, 1981.
- Lamb, Andrew. "From Pinafore to Porter: United States-United
Kingdom Interactions in Musical Theater, 1879-1929" in American
Music, Vol. 4, No. 1, British-American Musical Interactions
(Spring, 1986), pp. 34-49 University of Illinois Press.
- Also, five supplements, privately printed.
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search
