The Pirates of Penzance

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. It is one of the Savoy Operas. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on December 31 1879, where the show was a hit with audiences and critics.^[1] The London premiere was on April 3 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances, having already been playing successfully for over three months in New York.

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. Its 1981 Broadway revival by Joseph Papp ran for 787 performances and spawned many imitations.

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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[2] 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.^[4]

The creative period for Pirates was unusual, in that Sullivan composed the acts in reverse — bringing the completed Act II with him, with Act I existing only in sketches. When he arrived in New York, 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.

Poster for the copyright performance at Paignton

Some 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 December 10 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.

There was one other premiere of note. 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.^[5] 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.

Roles

Catherine Ferguson (Kate), Nellie Briercliffe (Edith), and Ella Milne (Isabel), 1920

• Major-General Stanley (comic baritone)
• The Pirate King (bass-baritone)
• Samuel, his Lieutenant (baritone)
• Frederic, the Pirate Apprentice (tenor)
• Sergeant of Police (bass)
• Mabel (soprano), Edith (mezzo-soprano), Kate (mezzo-soprano), Isabel (speaking), General Stanley's Daughters
• Ruth, a Piratical Maid of all work (contralto)

• Chorus of Pirates, Police and General Stanley's Daughters

Synopsis

Act I

On the coast of Cornwall, 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.

Marion Hood: "Yes, 'tis Mabel!"

Frederic has never seen any women 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.

1880 poster

The 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 (false) 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.

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!"

Left 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 the (February 29) in 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

Drawing of Richard Temple as the Pirate King

• 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"

Isabel Jay as Mabel

Pirate King Henry Lytton denounces the Major General

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 productions, 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):

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 new D'Oyly Carte Opera Company restored the original version in their 1989 production.

Production history

1881 programme cover

From 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.

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 J. C. 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 March 2007, the New York City Opera is mounting a new production, following their recent productions of The Mikado and Patience.^[6]

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime:

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

Rex Smith, Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline at the Delacorte Theatre

In 1980, Joseph Papp and the Public Theater of New York City brought a new production of Pirates directed by Wilford Leach 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 January 8 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.

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. 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 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 and Andy Gibb as Frederic.

The production opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, on May 26 1982 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, Oliver Tobias and Paul Nicholas as the Pirate King; Chris Langham as the Sergeant of Police; Pamela Stephenson as Mabel; and Annie Ross as Ruth.

The production was turned into a film (released in 1983), with all of the original Broadway cast reprising their roles, except that Angela Lansbury replaced Estelle Parsons as Ruth. 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's decision to release the film simultaneously to SelecTV 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."^[7] The film has been shown occasionally on television. Another film based loosely on the opera, The Pirate Movie, was released during the Broadway run.

Opera Australia's 2007 touring production, with Anthony Warlow as the Pirate King

The 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.

Cultural impact

Main article: Cultural influence of Gilbert and Sullivan

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, notably as 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. A few examples include:

• 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 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 61)^[8] staged a duet of the song with guest host and commedienne Gilda Radner and a six-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 episode of Frasier titled Fathers and Sons, Frasier, Niles, and Leland Barton sing the first verse of the song. Martin, hearing them, tries to join in, but instead confuses the lyrics, singing something about a "scary hippopotamus" (instead of "the square of a hypotenuse");
• 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.

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. 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 March 1, 1873, or March 1, 1877. That is, did Gilbert take into account the fact that 1900 was not a leap year?^[9]

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 gaff 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.

In the TV series, The West Wing, "The Pirates of Penzance" and other Gilbert & Sullivan plays are mentioned, in particular by Deputy Communications Director, Sam Seaborn, who was once recording secretary of the Gilbert and Sullivan society in school. In Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, a poster from "The Pirates of Penzance" hangs on Matt Albie's (Matthew Perry) office wall.

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 Melbournian 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 a 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival.
• Parson's Pirates by Opera della Luna
• The Pirate Movie
• Pirates! Or, Gilbert And Sullivan Plunder'd (2006), a musical comedy, adapted by Nell Benjamin, first presented Nov 1, 2006 at Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, then June 9-July 8, 2007 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.
• Pirates of Penzance - The Ballet!

See also

• Major General's Song

Notes

References

• Gänzl, Kurt (1986). The British Musical Theatre—Volume I, 1865–1914. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

• Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph.  Also, five supplements, privately printed.

• Tillett, Selwyn & Roderick Spencer (2002). "Forty Years of Thespis Scholarship". Retrieved on 2006-05-25.

External links

• The Pirates of Penzance at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive
• The Pirates of Penzance at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
• Discussion of the background of the Paignton and New York openings
• The Pirates of Penzance at IMDB
• Papp's Pirates at The Internet Broadway Database
• Review of the opening night by