A paradox a paradox ha ha ha a paradox
The Pirates of Penzance is a musical that holds a special place in my heart. My grandma took Jon and me to see it, against our wills, when we were in middle school. It was here that I was amazed to learn that the stage could be fun and actually entertaining. The number “I am the very model of a modern major general” was so damn catchy it suck in my head for years.
I saw the musical on Saturday night at the Light Opera Works in Evanston after nabbing some discount tickets from one of my professors who is big into theatre. The production was excellent, and the vocal talent was astonishing. I also swooned for the orchestra and the stage.
During the play, a pirate dropped some kind of small black thing by accident while a maiden was giving a speech. Of course, it is a bit mean spirited of me to notice, but the pirate didn’t bend down and pick it up right away. He waited until the end of the scene when the maidens fled and in the chaos, one of them stomped on his foot affording him the opportunity to pick it up. So delicious! I wonder if they practice messing up, or if some actors are more graceful than others.
Coming out of the play I noticed that the average age of the theatregoers was about 900, and I can’t really figure out why. Either they’re put off by new technologies such as color motion pictures, or you just develop an appreciation for the arts as you age.
In terms of my appreciation, I struggled to understand some of the sung conversations, but was able to pick it up mostly through context and reading the synopsis. I’m pretty sure that Wai fared much worse, their hammed up British accents and falsettos must have made it impossible for even a seasoned non-native speaker to understand. Plus, the play is like from 1880.
I’m looking forward to the next one though. I’m going to make it a point to see more than Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals.