The Pirates of Penzance

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J. Miner Photography

Cast members of "The Pirates of Penzance."

Cast members of "The Pirates of Penzance," Madison Savoyards, 2023.

With swashbuckling silliness and frothy fun throughout, The Pirates of Penzance is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most produced operettas. The Madison Savoyards should do well with hummable tunes like “Poor Wand’ring One” and the tongue-twisting “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” Who says the Victorians didn’t know how to have fun? Shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday; also, a free program for kids takes place at 1 p.m. on Aug. 6.

media release: Yo-Ho, me hearties! Madison Savoyards Ltd. be presentin’ The Pirates of Penzance by W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arrrgh-thur Sullivan! There be pirates, maidens, bobbies, and a modern major general! So shiver your timbers and swash your buckles; come and see this rollicking piratical farce!

Frederic, who was mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates by his aurally challenged nursemaid, just turned 21. He rebels against his former masters, and he decides to leave the profession to which he was indentured. He encounters a troupe of lovely young girls, who are the wards of one Major General Stanley, and falls in love with a coloratura soprano (as happens so often in these cases) named Mabel. Ruth, the nursemaid, is jealous of Mabel. Ruth wants Fredric for her own, despite an age difference of some 26 years. She informs the Pirate King that Frederic was born on the 29th of February in a leap year. The two of them confront Fredric with the fact that, reckoning by birthdays, he is only 5; and, by appealing to his overweening sense of duty, force him back into the pirate fold. The rest of the story is how the lovers are re-united — boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.

Performed on the Drury Stage.

Performances: August 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 at 7:30pm; August 6, 13 at 3:00pm

Also: Sunday, August 6, 1:00pm: Ahoy, swashbuckling youth! Join us for a pre-show event for children of all ages (particularly 4+). We’ll dabble in some pirate lingo, romp through the ins and outs of Mr. Gilbert’s story and Mr. Sullivan’s songs, and tour the set and backstage of The Pirates of Penzance. This event will run 45 minutes, and is free and open to the public.