Reviewed by James Karas
Toronto Operetta Theatre, alive and well, has mounted a redoubtable production of The Pirates of Penzance in front of an enthusiastic audience. Guillermo Silva-Marin delivers a smartly and imaginatively directed production with drive and humour. The 9-member orchestra is conducted by an animated Jennifer Tung. The musicians are all on the stage rather than being lined up around the front of it as in the past.
There is no shortage of operettas from Europe but it would be hard to imagine the genre without W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan in the English-speaking world. The Pirates may not be their best (I prefer The Mikado), but it is a thoroughly delightful work and TOT’s production’s is sprightly, funny and mostly well-sung.
The Pirates of the title are not the characters we see in movies set in the Caribbean but Englishmen who pursue their dastardly trade off the coast of Cornwall with some serious and unprofitable moral controls. They will not interfere with orphans. And wouldn’t you know, all English merchant ships are manned by orphans.
We need a hero and a heroine. Frederic is an apprentice pirate who must serve until his 21st birthday with the swashbucklers. He was supposed to be apprenticed to become a pilot but his nurse Ruth (delightful Karen Bojti) made a phonetic error and sent him to become a pirate. Alexander Cappellazzo strikes the right note of naivete and innocence with his shorts and bowtie at first and the ardent young man of love with Mabel and duty. Remember he is to be discharged on his 21st birthday and not at 21 years of age. He was born in a leap year if you get my message.
The lively and lovely Mabel (Ana Isabella Castro) loves Frederic. She has a lovely voice at midrange with a bit of difficulty with the high notes but a fine performance. And she is the daughter of the Major-General, which adds class to all her virtues. The program lists Mabel and her three friends as wards of the Major-General but I thought they were his daughters. Baritone Gregory Finney is a veteran of the TOT and has done numerous roles in his vocal range. In Pirates he got the juicy role of Major-General Stanley and no one will deny that he is “the very model of a modern Major-General.”
The cast did overall excellent work with the numerous melodies that Gilbert and Sullivan provide. The eleven-member chorus deserves special praise for their marvelous work. They sang prettily and added significantly to the pleasure of the production.
Silva-Marin as director, lighting designer and décor manages the production with almost no sets. A few boxes are pushed on and off and for the rest he lets Gilbert and Sullivan do the work. As for costumes, the pirates look like pirates, the ladies are dressed prettily and the Mejor-General looks like a major-general. No complaints.
Jennifer Tung conducts the orchestra with a minor and amusing role as traffic cop. When some exits are called for, she directs the people to the wings. Nice gesture.
The performance was met by raucous enthusiasm from the audience which is always a pleasure to see.
May I repeat myself. The reason
we have operetta productions in Toronto is Guillermo Silva-Marin. He is the
General Director of TOT and, as noted above, the stage director, lighting
designer and set designer. He adds some humour with references to current
politics but he is relatively restrained. The directing is vigorous. The set is
minimalist. He and TOT deserve more funding, a better theatre and more productions.
Kudos to him for what he is doing.
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The Pirates of Penzance by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
was performed three times on October 20, 21 and 22, 2023 at the Jane Mallett
Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East, Toronto,
Ontario. www.torontooperetta.com
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