Lyme–Old Lyme High School and the Old Lyme Players present ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at the high school on Feb. 6, 7 and 8. This production is your chance to get carried away by pirates, bumbling British Bobbies, frolicsome Victorian maidens, and the delightfully funny Major-General.
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ or ‘The Slave of Duty’ was first performed at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City in 1879. It was the only Gilbert and Sullivan operetta to have its world premiere in the United States and has remained popular ever since. ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ features one of the most beloved scores of Gilbert and Sullivan, including perhaps the most famous song of them all, “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.”
The plot of ‘Pirates’ centers on the dilemma of young Frederic who, as a child, was mistakenly apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday. Since he was born in leap year on Feb. 29, he is honor-bound to remain a pirate until the distant date of 1940, despite his moral objection to piracy.
Helping Frederic to deal with this unusual predicament are the brash Pirate King, Ruth (the pirate maid-of-all-work), romantic Mabel, and the delightfully stuffy Major-General Stanley. The truly delightful ‘Pirates of Penzance’ is likely to be yet another sold-out production at the high school.
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ will star Cooper Kendall as Frederic, Emily Kramm as Mabel, Hugh Cipparone as The Pirate King, Sarah Golden as Ruth, and Jeffrey Paine as Major-General Stanley.
The cast also features Christian Valli (Sergeant of Police), Jason Feng (Samuel), Campbell Mann (Edith), Abigail Cipparone (Kate), and Katie Judy (Isabel). The ensemble includes Lexi Duddy, Megan Cole, Caeli Rice, Taylor Rumm, Bailey Nickerson, Ava Sullivan, Skylar Shaw, Megan Cushman, Marissa Smith, and Tess Hamilton-Ward playing girls and Olivia Angeli, Dillon Dean- Frazier, Meredith Kegley, Ian James, Brian Buttrick, Maria Donato, Rose Datum, Sophie Edson, Callie Kotzan, Jeffrey Zhang, and Ben Jackson as pirates.
‘The Pirates of Penzance’ is directed by Kristine Pekar, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School Choral Director. She previously directed the high school musicals Legally Blonde, Footloose, Bye Bye Birdie, Once on This Island, Les Miserables, The Boyfriend, Into the Woods, and Beauty and the Beast.
The creative team for The Pirates of Penzance also includes professional tenor Brian Cheney (Music Director), Denise Golden and Dorothy Paine (Costume Designers), and students Kathleen Stedman and Veronica Rollins (Production Stage Managers).
Performances are Thursday, Feb. 6 and Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m., plus two shows on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 reserved, $10 general admission and$12 student/seniors. They are available at the high school office at 69 Lyme Street and The Bowerbird. If tickets are still available, they can also be bought at the door on the night of each show.
For more information about the show, e-mail Kristine Pekar at [email protected].