Pirates of Penzance
So, The Pirates of Penzance is a Gilbert and Sullivan opera/musical. It's been around awhile -- the movie version (pretty darn faithful to the opera, though there were a few changes) came out in 1983, so it's been around for at least as long as I've been alive.
I own the DVD recording of a live performance. And I will say, although there are some technical problems with sound and lighting, the energy and skill of the performance is fantastic! But still, I was really pleased to find a copy of the 1983 VHS of the movie (which never made it to DVD, and is pretty hard to get a hold of) because we used to have a tape (recorded from TV, I think) and we wore that thing out while I was growing up. So finding a "new" copy in pretty good shape was great, and I've had the songs running through my head for awhile now.
I may very well blame this campy, utterly ridiculous movie/opera for my continuing love for all things pirate. (It even has a Pirate King! A singing, flamboyant, Kevin Kline Pirate King! How completely perfect!)
Anyhow, the plot is pretty farcical -- and I won't go into it much, since what little there is of it deserves to be followed in person. (It's funnier that way.)
But the songs are catchy and fun, and the performances (especially the live performances) are joyous and whole hearted, so the sketchy plot is forgiven.
The characters, on the whole, are likeable (although I think Rex Smith's character, Frederic, is a hideously callow prat at the beginning, for the way he treats Ruth. But she did try to get him to marry her, his 47 year old childhood nurse, before he got the chance to meet any other woman -- which is pretty manipulative, and kinda skeevy, so I can get past his shallow fixation on beauty.) The main characters are pretty naive, both Frederic and his girl, but the policemen (led by Tony Azito) and the pirates (led by Kevin Kline) are much more interesting, as is the Major General (George Rose) who is adorable.
Anyway, the show is shallow, incredibly catchy fluff, and a lot of fun to watch. Which is why I found some YouTube clips to show you. (Two from the movie, and one from the live performance, because in some cases, the live performance of a song was much better than the filmed one.) They don't expose anything of the plot, really, and they let you see the fun and the complete CRACK of this show.
I own the DVD recording of a live performance. And I will say, although there are some technical problems with sound and lighting, the energy and skill of the performance is fantastic! But still, I was really pleased to find a copy of the 1983 VHS of the movie (which never made it to DVD, and is pretty hard to get a hold of) because we used to have a tape (recorded from TV, I think) and we wore that thing out while I was growing up. So finding a "new" copy in pretty good shape was great, and I've had the songs running through my head for awhile now.
I may very well blame this campy, utterly ridiculous movie/opera for my continuing love for all things pirate. (It even has a Pirate King! A singing, flamboyant, Kevin Kline Pirate King! How completely perfect!)
Anyhow, the plot is pretty farcical -- and I won't go into it much, since what little there is of it deserves to be followed in person. (It's funnier that way.)
But the songs are catchy and fun, and the performances (especially the live performances) are joyous and whole hearted, so the sketchy plot is forgiven.
The characters, on the whole, are likeable (although I think Rex Smith's character, Frederic, is a hideously callow prat at the beginning, for the way he treats Ruth. But she did try to get him to marry her, his 47 year old childhood nurse, before he got the chance to meet any other woman -- which is pretty manipulative, and kinda skeevy, so I can get past his shallow fixation on beauty.) The main characters are pretty naive, both Frederic and his girl, but the policemen (led by Tony Azito) and the pirates (led by Kevin Kline) are much more interesting, as is the Major General (George Rose) who is adorable.
Anyway, the show is shallow, incredibly catchy fluff, and a lot of fun to watch. Which is why I found some YouTube clips to show you. (Two from the movie, and one from the live performance, because in some cases, the live performance of a song was much better than the filmed one.) They don't expose anything of the plot, really, and they let you see the fun and the complete CRACK of this show.
Click to view