By Samuel Barber
The Pirates of Penzance (with a Halloween Twist), at the Orem Community Church Fellowship Hall in Orem, is a great example of what hard work and a strong sense of duty can do for you in life. This small band of actors have only been practicing for two weeks and are already avidly performing this two-part comedic opera. They pushed themselves to put this on before the end of October, because, as back in September, Emerson-Smith Media, directed by Pamela Lockwood, is still working toward their goal of creating a set production group with their own venue. Another name for this production is “The Dutiful Slave,” so-called because the main character, Frederick, has an overdeveloped sense of duty that causes him both joy and grief in this hilarious adventure of swashbuckling and song.
The show normally opens with a piratical celebration as the pirates, Fredrick (Alek Jordan), and Frederick’s devoted nursemaid Ruth (Katie Young) celebrate the final hours of Frederick’s indentureship as a pirate. This production has a “Halloween Twist” and so instead opens with three witches from Macbeth cackling over their pot of boiling witch’s broth. This and most of the other Halloween elements are not directly connected to the story, but they are a fun break from the normal run of the play. After the witches are shooed off the stage by Jack Samuel, who has a striking resemblance to another famous pirate who may or may not have been played by Johnny Depp, the show begins with its normal opening, and after that, the action doesn’t stop.
This show is full of amazing costumes, songs, and funny elements that repeat throughout the entire production. And the cast is doing a wonderful job of not only keeping the spotlight entertaining, but the different interactions in the background as well. Everywhere you look the energy is high, and something fun is going on. Song and dance numbers make up the majority of the show, so I will not be writing about all of them in this review. However, there are a few great ones that I want to mention.
I loved the songs with the pirates. The pirates, Blackbeard (Chris Chao), Pintel (Caleb Safley), Ragetti (Johnathon Street), Jack Samuel (Eduardo Alencar), led by the Pirate King (Jonathan Mier), are a funny, simple group with a love for the pirate life and hearts too big for their own good or fortune. They exemplify the frightening harsh side of the pirates, but also that tender side that makes villains loveable. Mier does a great job putting passion into his lines and acting the very scoundrel. Two of my favorite pirate songs were “With Cat Like Tread,” where the pirates are surrounding the castle with the intent to pillage and burn, and “Oh Men of Dark and Dismal Fate” where the Modern Major General (Gabe Birch) convinces them not to marry his daughters because he is a “poor orphan boy,” and their sympathetic hearts can’t take it. In that same number, Birch does a fantastic job. His voice is easily heard and you can enjoy the emotion that he puts into the song. I think it is his best one. The classic “I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major General” song is done splendidly as well, however it is so fast that you can’t enjoy his voice as much. As the General, Birch does a good job portraying a doting, dutiful, and slightly eccentric father, who cares very much for his daughters.
The daughters, who are being played by Jessie Ibrahim (Edith), Amy Judd (Kate) , Hailey Sewell (Isabelle), Miriam Ibrahim (The Little Sister) , and Hannah Cobb (Mabel), perform their best number together in “Oh Dry the Glistening Tear” where they console their poor father who is distraught because he had to lie to save them. The daughters are a very excited bunch and thirsty for adventure, however, they don’t much care for pirates. Which is lucky for Fredrick (Jordan) because since he has decided to stop being one, the lovely Mabel is willing to give him a chance.
Jordan and Cobb have a nice duet in “Stay Fredrick Stay” where they tearily promise to love each other for basically forever, since through a cruel twist of fate, and misconstrued duty, Fredrick has to go back to being a pirate for the next 60 years or so. Cobb follows that song up with another one with the police force who is made up of Caleb Safley (The Sergeant) and his two cops Hailey Sewell and Chris Chao. The police are worth seeing by themselves. Their choreography and expressions while performing their various numbers are brilliant. Safley especially is fun to watch because he is a tall, lanky fellow who moves about with a practiced tip toe that is all elbows and knees. You’ve got to see it to understand.
I need to make a better mention of Young and her talents. She, as mentioned before, plays the devoted and conspiring nursemaid. Nobody wants her, but the show wouldn’t be as good without her. She does all her lines, singing and all, with an endearing accent. Her best song is done with Mier (the pirate king) as the two of them convince Jordan that it is his duty to return to their crew. She is an endearing character, who uses her wits to make something out of her life. A very good performance from her.
Lockwood has put a lot of time and energy into the directing of the production, however, she’s a smart woman and has Cobb acting as an assistant director. But it isn’t just these two running things being the scenes. Judd and Young act as assistants to the directors. And then we have the technical crew which consists of Jordon, Safley, and Street. I’m sure it isn’t easy performing and doing the background work at the same time, but they pull it off, and the show runs smoothly.
I rate this show as being family friendly, and fun for all ages. The seating is on flat ground so sitting in the front will afford you the best view, but the acoustics are really good, so while you might not catch all the words, especially when they are singing fast, you can hear what is going on from everywhere. Being that they have only had two weeks to practice, there are a few places where they struggled with the lines, and I did have a hard time hearing some of them as well. However, those are both things that a little more practice and enunciation can fix. The only other note that I have for the actors is that the beginning part with the witches, while very good and well scripted, had a bit too much shriek to the voices and made it hard to hear what they were saying.
Come see The Pirates of Penzance (With a Halloween Twist)–even after Halloween, it’s a show for all with lots of laughs and fun.
Emerson-Smith Media presents The Pirates of Penzance (With a Halloween Twist). Music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert
Orem Community Church Conference Hall, 130 400 E, Orem, UT 84097.
Oct 26-Nov 3, excluding Sundays and Halloween. 7:30 PM-8:30 PM
Tickets: $6 Children $7 Students/Seniors $9 Adults $35 Family Pass (Immediate Family Only) Tickets can be purchased at the door.
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