...a parrot with eye patch, saying: 'arrr!'...

An opera devoid of pathos seems about as unlikely as a Yale dramatic production devoid of postmodern angst. However, the Yale Gilbert and Sullivan Society has always bucked the dramatic trend, routinely offering Yalies those rare pieces lacking any sort of tortured cynicism at all. Its latest production, The Pirates of Penzance, succeeds in the manner that any quality Gilbert and Sullivan performance does: it's whimsical, it's musically impressive, and it avoids causing the audience the slightest degree of introspective anxiety.

KATHERINE ALDRICH/YH Damsels in distress, pirates in Penzance: Grace Kuckro, BK '03, and Patrick Lank, CC '02, share a private song.

The farcical plot revolves around a quite Dawson-esque Fredric (Patrick Lank, CC '02), a young apprentice to a pirate, who falls in love with a general's daughter (Grace Kuckro, BK '03) just as he's preparing to abandon his unruly cohorts to rejoin British civilization. Their relationship is complicated, of course, by the hesitations of the Major-General (Jonathan Meier, PC '01), who is protective of his 16 daughters, and by the persuasions of the pirate king (Hanif-Salim Peters-Davis, PC '00), who hopes to enlist his apprentice into a longer term of service. As one might expect, these intrigues frequently collapse into scenes of comedic mayhem, but never truly threaten the inevitably cheery conclusion.

If the appeal of any opera lies in the quality of its singing, then it is the leads in The Pirates of Penzance who assure this production's success. Kuckro, for one, delivers her part with an effortlessly radiant voice that she backs with a charismatic stage presence. Preserving her smug pout through even the most challenging of her solos, she becomes the perfect counterpart to the wide-eyed, more soft-spoken Lank. Perhaps this talent runs in the on-stage genes: Meier, as her militaristic father, commands attention through his stiff posturing and classically British smirk even before he breaks into song. When he does, he explains that he "is the very model of a model Major-General" at top speed (and while maintaining a perfectly-dictated English accent!) without even a hint of strain. This introductory solo helps him to pull off the caricatured British general, who is pompous enough to wax romantic about hypotenuses and to pronounce "cruel" with two syllables.

The female chorus also hits the right musical key. At times, this gaggle of 16 daughters harmonize so well that they threaten to upstage the leads. The acting of the individual chorus members (which consists, for the most part, of alternatively scowling or cooing at the male characters) garners laughs without diverting attention from the leads. The male chorus does not match this balance quite as well; the surly pirates' grimacings and silent antics are amusing, but frequently distract from the opera's main focus. However, whenever this chorus becomes the focal point, as it does in several carefully choreographed battle scenes, the physical energy of the pirates supports the playful spectacle.

Though it's difficult to act while singing in operatic range, several characters admirably strive for this balance. Peters-Davis, as the pirate king, manages to sing his lines powerfully while still undercutting them with an appropriate tone of malicious intent. The police sergeant (Steven Timoner, MUS '01) takes advantage of his bass voice and dour expression to deliver a nearly perfect rendition of the bumbling British officer, complete with oversized outfit and moustache. His cohorts, a line-up of four or five equally awkward officers, provide him with an amusing backup, while they, as morose as he, still bounce and wave their bobby clubs in time with the music.

Theater

The Pirates of Penzance Directed by Aleagia Mercer-Falkoff Fri., Mar. 31, 9 p.m. Sat., Apr. 1, 9 p.m. Morse dining hall $2

Occasionally, the other characters fail to capture the same balance that Timoner can—either the acting struggles while the voice shines, or the singing gets lost somewhere in the walls of the Morse dining hall—but such moments occur infrequently and do not detract much from the opera's overall success. The orchestra, directed by Roy Lee, SM '01, picks up the slack when it needs to, providing a reliable background to the occasionally inconsistent singing parts.

Of course, in the end, such minor flaws are hardly even relevant. From its opening scenes, in which a surly pirate orders an awkwardly amused Lee to conduct at gunpoint, to its concluding ones, in which the chorus makes slight, tongue-in-cheek jabs at Queen Victoria, The Pirates of Penzance is all done in harmless, good-natured fun. No one is reconciling himself with an uncaring God, no one is tortured by his confused sexual identity, and no one is even swearing. While it's hardly cathartic, it is amusing, and this renders The Pirates of Penzance a refreshing addition to Yale's bustling dramatic scene.

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