“The Pirates of Penzance”

[rating=5] When it comes to “Light Opera”, like the works of the masters, Sir Arthur Sullivan (music) and Sir W.S. Gilbert (libretto/words), Rudy Hogenmiller is the director who truly understands what the purpose is. To tell a story, filled with music and to entertain the audience for almost three hours, taking their minds off the problems of their world, or in fact, the problems of the world. Most people are aware of Gilbert & Sullivan through “The Mikado” and “HMS Pinafore”, but Music Theater Works ( formerly Light Opera Works) under the skilled direction of Hogenmiller, is presenting the enchanting and highly comical “The Pirates of Penzance” on its stage at Cahn Auditorium, and doing it with a powerful cast of players. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

“The Pirates of Penzance” has  another little part of the title “The Slave of Duty”. As the story goes, Frederic ( deftly handled by Ben Barker) the pirate apprentice, has been under the tutorship of The Pirate King ( Larry Adams, having as much fun as an actor can have with a role) since his childhood. He is now 21 years of age and he no longer must be held a slave to the Pirate Captain, being free to explore his own way. His “nanny” Ruth ( a comic touch by the delightful Nancy Hays) wants to remain with him as she has fallen in love with him, but young Frederic wants to explore life, so he sends her off. It seems that the band of pirates he has been living with, under its King, are not as evil as pirates should be, and when they come across a ship of group of people to rob or kill, should they be orphans, they are let go.

While Frederic is trying to figure out where his life is headed, a large group of beautiful young ladies enters the beach. These are the daughters of Major-General Stanley ( an incredible performance by the one and only James Harms- just watching him do a one-handed somersault is worth the price of the ticket) and the way he handles “I Am The Very Model Of a Modern Major General” is terrific. Young Frederic falls in love with Mabel ( a delightful performance by Cecilia Lole). The other daughters are being sought by the other pirates who are all in need of wives. The Major-General, in order to keep these men away from his daughters announces that he is an orphan and he and his girls are set free.

The Major-General cannot handle the lie he has told and has become sleepless. Frederic has made a plan to have the police capture the pirates in order to make Mabel’s family secure. Meanwhile, The Pirate King and Ruth discover that there was a problem with the agreement that would let Frederic be free on birthday 21. It turns out his “birthday” is February, 29, which means that instead of being 20 plus one, he is in fact a little over 5 ( in Leap Year says), so he is still under the power of his master. Now he must confess that the Major-General is NOT an orphan and the pirates once again return to take their women away from this liar. The scenes that follow this are comical as the pirates and the policemen, headed by their Sergeant ( a delightful spin by PJ Wilborn) go at it until he commands the pirates to yield in Queen Victoria’s name. Then Ruth explains to the Major-General that the pirates are in fact, not bad or evil. She says they are men of nobility who have gone astray- hearing that he allows for his wards to say yes to marriage and they all live happily ever after.

This is a truly fun experience for the entire family and Hogenmiller has found the perfect cast to pull it off. The voices on this stage are terrific and with an operetta, there is a lot of music. The choreography by Clayton Cross is terrific and the 26 piece orchestra ( allowing us to hear the full rich music with ease) is conducted by Linda Madonia. The ensemble of players is worth mentioning. The powerful Cary Lovett is back as the Pirate King’s Lieutenant ( you may recall his wonderful Smee with Adams as Hook in “Peter Pan”). The perfect side-kick, Caitlyn Glennon, Abby Murray Vachon, Anna Dvorchak,  Thomas Bailey, Anna Brockman, Jar’Davion Brown, Teaira Burge, Warren C. Dailey, Olivia Doig, Leon Evans, David Fink, Evelyn Finne, David Gordon-Johnson, Ryan Hamman, Peter Ruger, Omar Mulero, Halli Morgan, Joshua Heinlein, Gabrielle Sarcone, Sarah Wasserman, Brian J. Wlas and choreographer Clayton Cross- an impressive group, indeed!

The set (Joe Schermoly) is very simple but helps to convey the story which needs us to focus on the characters and the music. When you see the pirate ship sail off, it happens in the first act, you almost feel that there is a ship, stage left. Jana Anderson’s costumes are wonderful. They always seem to have the look of a major “Broadway-style) at Music Theater Works. Considering they only do two week-ends, they still make sure their audience gets the best of the best for tickets prices far less than a major production downtown. The sound (Aaron Quick) and lighting (Andrew H. Meyers) along with the props (Bob Silton) complete the technical part of the production. The tech crew and staff are led by stage manager Sean McStravick who makes it all run smoothly.

“The Pirates of Penzance” will only run until June 17th ( I told you a short run) with performances as follows:

June 10th  at 2 p.m.

Wednesday, June 13th  2 p.m.

Friday, June 15th at 8 p.m.

Saturday  June 16th at 8 p.m.

Sunday, June 17th at 2 p.m.

Tickets starts at $34 ( ages 25 and younger are 50% off) and can be purchased by calling 847-920-5360 or visiting www.MusicTheaterWorks.com

The theater, Cahn Auditorium , is located at 600 Emerson Street ( on the Northwestern University Campus) at Sheridan, where it meets Chicago Avenue and the parking garage two blocks south is ideal, but you may find a meter along Chicago Avenue as well.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Pirates of Penzance”. If you love Gilbert & Sullivan, this is a DO NOT MISS!