Pirates of Penzance - Critique
The Pirates of Penzance was an opera performed by the Southwest Texas Opera Workshop. The Pirates of Penzance, composed by Gilbert & Sullivan, is a light-hearted parody of the traditional opera. This opera takes place somewhere in the British Virgin Islands. It is about a boy, Federic, who is to be apprenticed by his nurse, Ruth, to become a pilot. Ruth mistakes the word pilot for pirate and apprentices him to a band of pirates. She, too, remains with them as a maid-of-all-work. Act I opens with the celebration of Frederic's coming of age. He is planning to leave the pirates and devote his life to the eradication of piracy. Now that Frederic has come of age, Ruth wishes to become his spouse and he reluctantly agrees, believing that she is as beautiful as she says. Soon after he agrees to marry Ruth, Major-General Stanley's many daughters stumble upon the island. After Frederic sees their beauty, especially that of Mabel's, he renounces Ruth and pursues Mabel. The other girls are seized by the pirates and threatened with marriage. When the Major-General shows up he too is captured by the pirates. The Major-General eludes the pirates by telling them a lie about being an orphan. Havi
The musical numbers performed by the orchestra were soothing. Most all of the pieces had slow tempos, steady rhythms and were moderate in texture. Many of the numbers were of this slow, romantic style since a lot of them were duets between Frederic and Mabel, therefore, intensifying their feelings of love for one another. The orchestra consisted of two violins, a viola, a cello, a string bass, two flutes, percussion and a piano. Though it was small, the orchestra produced the perfect sound, loud enough to be heard by all without taking anything away from the actors. The opera, although based around a love story, had an appeal to even those who do not care so much for "mushy" love stories. There were many humorous remarks, looks, and dances from the entire cast, mainly coming from the Pirate King. The police took on "Keystone Cop-like" demeanors through their follies and slap-stick comedy. Another amusing aspect of this opera was the cameo performance and complete cast dance to the Southwest Texas Panorama Steel Drum Band piece. This stoppage of the opera and dance number at the beginning of Act I set the tone for the entire opera. The light-hearted humor along with outstanding personal performances by every cast member made this a truly enjoyable opera. Although he was not the main character, the Pirate King, played by Joshua Ryan Phillips, stole the show
Some common words found in the essay are:
Major-General Stanley's, Virgin Islands, Frederic Mabel, Brumley's Shipman's, King Ruth, Pam Brumley, Major-General Stanley, Scott Shipman, Matthew Kendrick, Drum Band, pirate king, pirates penzance, major-general stanley, entire cast, seized pirates, southwest texas, frederic mabel, pirates major-general,
Approximate Word count = 929
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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