‘Pirates of Penzance’ brings local touches to an old classic

For those who love a good laugh and pirates, “Pirates of Penzance” will be performed at the San Juan Community Theatre opening May 10 and running through the 26.

“I cannot wait for the audience to see the pirate ship roll onstage, or for them to see many of the local touches from around the island. This is a production of Pirates of Penzance that could not be shown anywhere else!” the theatre’s Executive Artistic Director, and Director of “Pirates of Penzance” Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey exclaimed. “The set design by Larz Anderson is one of the biggest we have had since I started at SJCT. There has been a crew of six to eight volunteer carpenters working on it for almost two months.”

For those who are not familiar with the story, “Pirates of Penzance” was originally an operetta with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert performed in New York in the late 1800s.

The musical is packed full of sentimental pirates, blundering policemen, absurd adventures, and improbable paradoxes.

The main character, played by Cody Balcomb-Bartok, Frederic, is a pirate’s apprentice. Fredric falls head-over-heels in love with Mabel, played by Chelsea Parrott. Mable happens to be the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Depending on the night, the general will either be Jill Urbach or Mason Turnage. Frederic is due to be released from his apprenticeship on his 21st birthday, but there’s a snag. Born on a leap day, 29 February, Frederic discovers that he is technically still a youngster, and will technically need to continue as an apprentice for 63 more years. Although very much in love, his dedication to duty is unshakeable. Can he find a way to live happily ever after with Mabel? When asked if parallels could be drawn around modern work culture, Kessler-Jeffrey responded that while some may draw parallels between Frederic’s situation of long-term apprenticeship and the modern American work culture, the story really is about duty. “Gilbert and Sullivan were not writing a satire on labor practices, they were writing a satire on the feeling of needing to do one’s duty,” he said. “How many times are we motivated by a sense of duty in modern life? Duty to friends, family, co-workers, country, etc. seems still very much a part of modern existence. And how do we reconcile our sense of duty with our other responsibilities and desires? These are some of the questions ‘Pirates of Penzance’ addresses with humor and wry wit.”

Kessler-Jeffrey continued, saying that “Pirates of Penzance” is purposefully a rollicking, funny, heartwarming adventure story. “We wanted to bring something to the stage that was great for the whole family, entertaining from start to finish, and featured an opportunity for locals to shine. I hope audience members go out humming the tunes, delighted to have had a great time.”

While humor was part of the equation, Kessler-Jeffrey also opted to direct Pirates of Penzance because it has been one of his favorite musicals since he was a child. “I grew up watching the Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury film from the early 1980s,” he said adding that his brother later played Frederic in high school, adding to the sentimentality of the operetta.

“It is hysterically funny and because it’s in the public domain (written in the 1870s), we are able to put a very unique, fun, and specific Friday Harbor spin on it,” Kessler-Jeffrey said. This musical version will take place in the 1800s, however, there will be some very local touches.

Like the set, the cast is also large. The audience will be watching twenty islanders on stage, with several of them doubling as pirates, constables, daughters, etc. In particular, the actors playing Ruth and Major General Stanley have learned both parts and will be swapping roles throughout the run, according to Kessler-Jeffrey. For the first weekend (May 10-12), Jill Urbach will be playing Ruth and Mason Turnage will be playing the Major General. For the second weekend (May 16-19), Mason will be playing Ruth and Jill will be playing Major General. “For the final weekend (May 23-26), the audience will determine at random who is playing what role that night! It’s the kind of experience you can only get in live theatre—the final weekend, even the cast won’t know in advance who’s playing who!” Kessler-Jeffreys said.

While there’s some spoken dialogue, according to Kessler-Jeffrey, there is not as much as one might typically expect in a modern musical. “Much of the show is sung. For the first time since I arrived in 2018, we are going to be attempting to feature supertitles of the words above the stage as they do in most opera performances,” he said. “We typically think of the modern musical being birthed by Rogers & Hammerstein with Oklahoma! And to some degree, that’s absolutely true, but that writing duo owes a debt to Gilbert and Sullivan. Over sixty years before Oklahoma! opened, Pirates of Penzance was a comic, lyrical, and musical masterpiece. Gilbert and Sullivan were two writers who penned incredible earworm songs. In this show we’ve got “I Am the Pirate King,” “Poor Wandering One,” and “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” I’ve been humming these nonstop for weeks.”

And why is it people love a good story about pirates?

“Freedom! Adventure! Exploration! Treasure and treachery and skullduggery! Honestly, any show in which I get to have actors crossing swords with one another is a win in my book,” Kessler-Jeffrey responded.

The show runs May 10-26, Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $26 for adults, $15 for students, and $5 for student rush tickets. Thursdays are pay-what-you-can admission at the door. To buy tickets online, visit www.sjctheatre.org or by call the box office at 360-378-3210.