The Pirates of Penzance

Need to Know

The Pirates of Penzance was the fifth collaboration between Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert and the only to have its official premiere in the United States. Because US law at the time didn’t offer copyright protection to foreigners, the two creators lost a great deal of money on “pirated” versions of their hit H.M.S. Pinafore. To circumvent this happening to Pirates, they decided to delay publication and mounted their own production on Broadway.

Arthur Sullivan and W.S Gilbert are best known for their 14 opera collaborations which include The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, and The Mikado. However, both were equally prolific and successful on their own, Sullivan composed 24 operas, 11 major orchestral works, and numerous pieces in other genres. Gilbert wrote over 75 plays and multiple short stories and poems, both comical and serious. Listen to Sullivan’s Irish Symphony.

We owe a lot of credit to Richard D’Oyly Carte for bringing Gilbert and Sullivan together. D’Oyly Carte was a composer, hotelier, and theatre manager and after a decade of G&S hits, decided to build his own theatre that would feature the duo’s works, more importantly, all three would share in the profits. When the Savoy Theatre opened, it was the first public building to be lit entirely by electricity and Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Iolanthe was one of the first productions to use electricity for staging. Read more from England National Opera.

G&S Today

Comedy and satire usually don’t age well since humor is often reliant on the times it lives and becomes an examination of those eras. Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas created “topsy turvy” worlds that parodied the social construct of their time, the Victorian period. Historian and Rutger’s professor Carolyn Williams: “Parody has a temporal or historical function. Once you start parodying something, the object of parody gets seen all of a sudden as something from the past.” Thus, parody can aid in social change. “By loosening our hold on things, parody makes room for something else,”

Here are a few articles that examine Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas from our 21st century viewpoint.

What’s the matter of all this patter?

Gilbert and Sullivan are probably best known for their show stopping patter numbers (patter songs: singing very quickly in rhyme). Even today, the Major General’s patter song is parodied. Here are a few of our favorite G&S patter songs.

Deeper Dive?

Here is a link to our opera book club session discussing The Pirates of Penzance.

Synopsis

Plot overview:

The Pirates of Penzance is set during the reign of Queen Victoria, Act I off the coast of Cornwall and Act II on the estate of Major General Stanley.

ACT I: Frederic, a pirate apprentice, is celebrating his 21st birthday and now that he has completed his apprenticeship, announces he hates piracy and will leave the crew to find a wife and settle down. On shore, he quickly happens upon a group of young women, wards in chancery to Major-General Stanley, and finds kindness and love at first sight with the daughter Mabel. Meanwhile, the pirates from Frederick’s crew have crept up on him and the ladies with the intentions of making the daughters their sweethearts. As they are about to be abducted, Major-General Stanley arrives and explains his impeccable credentials and save his daughters by declaring himself an orphan. The pirates, who are also orphans, leave empty handed as they have pledged to never harm another orphan.

ACT II: At his estate, Major-General Stanley fearful the pirates will soon find out, confesses to his daughters that he is not actually an orphan. He finds solace in learning Frederic has plans to join a band of policemen against the pirates. Frederic’s intention is derailed when he learns from the Pirate King and his former nurse Ruth that he was born on Leap Day (February 29th) and while he’s lived 21 years, he has had far fewer birthdays. (His pirate apprenticeship contract remains until his 21st birthday, not his 21st year.). Frederic, a “slave to duty” acknowledges his obligation to return to the pirates, but first asks Mabel to promise and wait for him until he comes of age.

Learning that the Major-General lied about being an orphan (Frederic’s “duty” to inform the pirate king), the pirates make plans to assault his home and steal his daughters. The band of policeman are already hiding at the estate and after a quick melee with the pirates, the chief of police demand they yield “in Queen Victoria’s name.” The pirates, loyal to their queen, give in are ready to be taken in, when Ruth saves them by declaring them “noblemen gone wrong.” Since this class of people are held in high esteem, they are released and Major-General Stanley gives permission for them to marry his daughters, including Frederic and Mabel.

Streaming

Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, Linda Ronstadt as Mabel, need we say more? Treat yourself to this wonder 1983 movie version of The Pirates of Penzance.

Here is a 1985 production from the Stratford Festival of Canada

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Guest UserAugust 3, 2021