The Brigham Young University School of Music will present the popular Gilbert and Sullivan opera “The Pirates of Penzance; or the Slave of Duty” Wednesday through Saturday, June 12-15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pardoe Theatre at the Harris Fine Arts Center.
Tickets for all seats June 12 and 13 are $6; June 14 and 15 are $10. The opera is for adults and children over the age of six. For tickets, visit the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 422-4322 or visit byuarts.com/tickets. The ASL-interpreted performance will be on Thursday, June 13.
The opera centers around Fredric, a child apprenticed to a band of tenderhearted, orphaned pirates by his nurse, who, being hard of hearing, had mistaken her master’s instructions to apprentice the boy to a pilot.
Fredric, upon completing his 21st year, rejoices that he has fulfilled his apprenticeship and is now free to return to respectable society. Unfortunately it turns out that he was born on Leap Year, and so he must remain with the pirates until his actual 21st birthday.
“This 134-year-old story has everything a modern audience could ask for,” says director Marc Reynolds in the director’s note. “It has pirates, a ‘bevy of beautiful maidens,’ pirates, a protective quirky old father, pirates, policemen, a ridiculous plot, donuts, beautiful music — and pirates. What isn’t there to love? Did I mention there were pirates?”
The production is double-cast, with Larisa Spurlock and Aria Taylor as Mable, Ben Bird and Solomon Reynolds as Frederic, Elise Read and Dru Daniels as Ruth, Tyrell Wilde and Ben Kramer as the Pirate King, Nathan Egan and Jacom Clarkson as Samuel, Zach Wetzel and Davis Hansen as the Major General, Paul Black and Kyle Harper as the Sergeant of Police, Brittany Andam and Kalie Martin as Kate, Paige Petersen and Jane Della Silva as Edith, and Becky O’Neil and Catherine Maynes as Isabel.
The production staff includes producer Lawrence Vincent, director Marc Reynolds, musical directors Ty Turley-Trejo and Mariah Wilson, vocal coach Barbara Allen, technical director Travis Coyne, production manager Bridget Benton, stage manager Katie Sue Porter, scenic designer Russell Richins, scene shop supervisor Ward Wright, lighting designer Michael Handley, costume designer and makeup designer Julie Adams.
For more information, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-9348 or ken_crossley@byu.edu.
Writer: Hwa Lee
