The Pirates of Penzance

As the show opened and the pirates made their entrance I was pleasantly surprised by the number of them. The volume was great and the enthusiasm evident. The ladies chorus matched the men’s and produced a lovely harmonious sound. It was encouraging to see so many young chorus members thoroughly enjoying themselves with great potential for future principal roles.

This was a very relaxed version of this popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and the audience loved it. I was slightly surprised by the acrobatics of Hugh Farey as the Pirate King. It was also unusual for him to conduct the chorus for ‘O Poetry’ but as the small band were situated in the wings with the conductor sitting with his back to the cast I can perhaps understand the reason for this. It was slightly off-putting to have the Conductor keep turning round to see who was in the audience and should perhaps have been reminded that he was on stage and completely visible.

I did feel for Rob Hollis, who played Frederic, as he sang well when the songs were in his range but he struggled valiantly with others. Heather Marshall as Ruth was a roaring success with the audience and she did very well.

Lisa Legge who played Mabel has a beautiful voice; she sang ‘Poor Wondering One’ extremely well and I held my breath and she reached the higher notes but I needed have worried, she nailed it. She was more than ably supported by Georgina Tabberer-Catt and Lucy Sewell as Edith and Kate, who too have beautiful and powerful voices. My only negative comment is that they all tend to ‘wander’ when they sing. Moving is good only when you are going somewhere, but just moving backwards and forwards like you are attached to a piece of elastic is quite distracting.

Will Henderson played the Police Sergeant and he was very energetic as only his youth could allow. Kevin Ilsley played Major-General Stanley extremely well and the patter song was great. His portrayal of the beleaguered Father was very funny and came across very well.

Thank you Conquest for inviting me.

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