“And it is! It is a glorious thing to be a pirate king!†sings the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance.
South End audiences may think sitting in the king’s shadow is pretty special, too, as “The Pirates of Penzance†takes the stage in Langley this weekend.
Whidbey Children’s Theater is busy getting ready for the Oct. 6 opening of the much loved Gilbert and Sullivan opera.
Director and musical director Kira Keeney is captain of this ship of continuous fun and it shows. The cast was full of enthusiasm during a recent rehearsal at the South Whidbey High School auditorium.
Keeney’s approach in directing this play is to encourage the actors to walk down every plank with the play’s comedic antics.
“If the actors are truly having fun with it up there then that will translate to the audience,†she said.
“I’ve encouraged them to do a lot of brainstorming on their own to find the personal qualities of their characters. One character is always finding things, and at one point the actor even brought a dead bird with him in the scene,†Keeney said.
She has some of the actors speak directly to the audience at times which breaks down the fourth wall and brings the audience in on the jest.
Keeney — who made her directing debut with WCT with “Les Miserables†in October 2004 — talked about the difference between directing the high drama of that play and the side-splitting, tongue-in-cheek, schtick-infused comedy of “Pirates.â€
“Comedy is much harder to do,†she said. “It’s easier to send an audience to that dramatic, emotional place than it is to pull off a good laugh.â€
“I truly believe that Gilbert and Sullivan were 100 years ahead of their time and that modern comedy, like Monty Python for instance, is descended directly from them,†Keeney said.
“The Pirates of Penzance†remains one of the most popular and enduring works of musical theater.
The opera had its premier on Dec. 31, 1879 at the Fifth Avenue Theater in New York with Sullivan conducting.
He knew it was something special early on. In a letter to his mother before the opening Sullivan wrote, “I think it will be a great success, for it is exquisitely funny, and the music is strikingly tuneful and catching.â€
In addition to Keeney, WCT’s artistic director, Martha Murphy has put together a crack team of theater artists for the production including producer Rob Scott, technical director Quinn Ianniciello, conductor Michael Yocco, and costumer Valerie Johnson.
Talent also abounds in the cast of 35 young actors, the hardworking crew and student orchestra.
If the energy of excitement surrounding the recent rehearsals is any indication of how the WCT production of “The Pirates of Penzance†will fare with audiences, then the island is in for a real treat. Pirates, generals, bumbling fools and pretty lasses raising their voices in a “tuneful and catching†musical score, all with a pirate’s bounty of good humor, sounds like an evening not to be missed.
“The Pirates of Penzance†opens Friday, Oct. 6 for a two-weekend run at the South Whidbey High School auditorium. Show times are at 7 p.m. Oct. 6, 7, 14 and 2 p.m. on Oct.7, 8, 14, 15.
For more info, call WCT at 221-8707 or visit the Website at www.wctonline.com
Patricia Duff can be reached at 221-5300 or pduff@southwidbeyrecord.com.