Happy Leap Day

[filkertom]

A gazillion reasons to celebrate (and one to gnash your teeth at, 'cause who the hell needs any more February than we already have to deal with), and I think the one I like best is the plot device in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. (This link is also good.)

What's your favorite G&S operetta, or song, or role? Mine is Penzance without doubt, although The Mikado is right up there. And it's a tough call between "I Am A Pirate King" and "With Cat-Like Tread". But I also have a warm spot in my heart for Private Willis in Iolanthe, another G&S I adore.

And/or, what's your favorite thing about February (besides the obvious, that at last it's over)? Mine would be that I've learned to go south during it. ;)

Comments

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

(1) MIKADO, no question about it. Picking a song is HARD, though. Definitely Nanki-poo, role-wise. PENZANCE would come next, then PINAFORE.
(2) Susan and I both have birthdays in February!

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for the number "For I Am A Pirate King" because I sang in it when I was in 5th grade...several members of the Indianapolis Opera came to my school and each grade got a singer and a musical number. We got this tall, gangly baritone and we got to dress up like pirates, wave plastic cutlasses, and sing "Hurrah for the Pirate King!" What's not to love?

Oh, and best thing about February? Spending February 2nd with a beer and Bill Murray!

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

I confess that I'm only familiar with Pirates and Mikado, alas. Though I did see (and enjoy) the film Topsy-Turvy.

I adore all the sequences in Pirates, but being the linguaphile (and attention whore) that I am, I'd probably go with "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General". Adorable little patter song, as only W.S. Gilbert could write them; I'm surprised it's not at the top of your list, Tom, since it's so easy to filk.

Of course, in the Kevin Kline film production of Pirates, there's a borrowed patter song from Ruddigore, "My Eyes are Fully Open". That one's also fun to perform, especially Kline's all-in-one-breath verse.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Kline kicks ever-lovin' ass on that song. And it's a lovely little in-joke with the audience, at a great point in the show for one.

"Major-General" is indeed an incredibly easy and fun song to filk. That said, the song itself is probably in any top-twenty favorite G&S song list I'd make, but not near the top of it.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

I've always liked Yeoman of the Guard since it has some seriousness and even Angst to it.

Favorite song is much more difficult. I'd probably wind up having to list one from each of the operettas.

And, today is the fourth anniversary of my receipt of my Master's Degree, granted on February 29, 1992.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary! :) And, "Yeoman" is tremendous, one of the few that doesn't have a happy ending. Anne made sure I saw it one year at UMGASS, and it was excellent. The guy playing Jack Point was wonderful -- broke my heart.

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

I've been in the pit for Pirates of Penzance and The Gondoliers. I also read a seriously watered-down adaptation of Pinafore in fifth grade, and saw little bits of Mikado when I went back to my old college campus after having moved to Texas.

As far as a production goes, I have to say I enjoyed Pirates more, but for amusing memories, I have to go with Mikado. See, my best friend in college was the lead alto, and my husband and I had snuck into the concert hall to watch them rehearse. She started trudging up the aisle to leave after rehearsal was over, spotted me, dropped the bag she was carrying and RAN up the rest of the way to give me a hug. My husband remarked that he had never seen that sort of thing happen in real life - just in movies or TV.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I love Ruddigore, for Mad Margaret ("Basingstoke, Margaret!"), for the portraits coming to life, for "This particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn't very often heard and if it is it doesn't matter", and especially for the impeccable logic of the ending.

Favorite song varies, but today I'll go with the nightmare soliloquy from Iolanthe. ("When you're lying awake with a dismal headache and repose is taboo'd by anxiety . . .") And yes, Private Willis is a hoot.

[mbumby.livejournal.com]

Yep. Ruddigore me too -- for probably obvious reasons.

(Snunk backstage with a dorm-mate to check out The Book, since we'd been unable to make sense of that particular patter, and as I remember, it said "... isn't generally heard ..." although I'll readily admit that my memory has never been the best.)

[redbeardsghost.livejournal.com]

I like the Mikkado best, but I was disappointed in Eric Idle's Coco, and the way he performed "I've Got a Little Book", which has made my children leery of G&S and of Idle.

I will always like "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime".

And the first filk I ever tried to write was to "Pirate King". I may try to finish it in time for Millinecon.

[rook543.livejournal.com]

Tonight a good friend is celebrating her birthday with a "Pirates of Penzance" themed party...

[maiac.livejournal.com]

My favorite G&S? All of them... how could I choose?

I have fond memories of seeing a friend play Mad Margaret in Ruddigore (drzarron and dhstein, do you remember seeing it with me?). She pranced onto the stage in her first scene with flowers in her hair and a large rubber snake draped around her neck. She ad-libbed snarky remarks to the snake. She'd asked me what she should call the snake, and so addressed it as "Packwood" after Sen. Bob Packwood, who'd just resigned after being outed as a serial sexual harasser. She also detoured momentarily from the libretto: "I love you, you love me -- oh, wait, I'm not that mad."

My favorite song is "I Have a Song to Sing, Oh!" from Yeomen of the Guard.

I remember my father saying, "What, never? Well, hardly ever!" to my sisters and me when we were wee small children. I was so disappointed to discover that he hadn't made that up himself.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I do indeed remember seeing that production, its one of my favorite production of "Ruddigore"

[kengr]

Actually Leap Day was the 24th... Really.

http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/node3.html#SECTION00330000000000000000

Summer Operetta Workshop

[ericcoleman]

A couple 100 years ago there was a summer theatre thing here in Iowa called the Summer Operetta Workshop. I think it ran 15 or 16 seasons. I worked on a bunch of them, Pirates, Ruddigore, Mikado, Yoemen, Iolanthe.

I think that Iolanthe is my fave, since it was one of the two that I actually performed in, I did lights for the rest.

The other that I performed in, Yoeman Of The Guard, has a special place for me as well. I was called by the director (my older brother) when a chorus guy dropped out. I learned that sucker in 4 days. There was also this very cute cellist in the orchestra who I later dated for 3 years, and who is still one of my dearest friends in the world (as well as being a victim of several songs)

[mdlbear]

My favorite G&S is Yeomen of the Guard, no question, followed probably by Princess Ida and Ruddygore. My favorite character is probably King Gama in Princess Ida.

Favorite song is a hard one; it's somewhere between "I Have a Song to Sing, O!" in Yeomen, King Gama's song (the first line of which escapes me -- it's the one with the refrain "and isn't your life extremely flat / with nothing whatever to grumble at") in Act II of Ida, and the entire second act of Pirates. But choosing is hard.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

"Everybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!
And I can't think why!"

"He Can't Think Why!"

[dubheach.livejournal.com]

I love them all. Even if you throw "Cox in Box" and "Rose of Persia" in the mix. My absolute favorite is "Yeoman of the Guard" because Spawn hit his 10th birthday performing in that with me. Favorite song is "Oh Leave Me Not" from Pirates...Ah me.

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

Oh, the giggles "Cox in Box" used to inspire at board meetings. . . (I was on the board of a G&S student group in college. Inevitably someone always brought up "Cox in Box" or "Thespis".)

[nuveena.livejournal.com]

It's so hard to choose.. I dearly love each and every one of them.

My favorite role, though, would be Katisha, in The Mikado. I do have a very nice left shoulder blade, thank you very much. :) Your revels cease! Assist me, all of you!

My husband only went to see "Topsy Turvy" with me on the strict condition that I not sing along audibly.

"With Cat-Like Tread" is great; I adore "I've jibe and joke;" "A Private Buffoon" - "They don't blame you, so long as you're funny;" For sheer lyrical brilliance "I Am So Proud"... the list goes on.

[jss]

Favorite show(s)? Probably Pirates, Mikado, and Pinafore in that order. I saw most of the UMGASS productions in the 1987-1990 timeframe (i.e., while I was there except my frosh term). Alas, I've still never seen Yeoman.

I will confess my first safeword was "Basingstoke" thanks to Ruddigore.

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

My favorite patter song is probably "When You're Lying Awake" from Iolanthe. I have a soft spot for "When a felon's not engaged in his employment" after filking it ("when an actor's not engaged in his employment"). The SM for the production of "Pirates" we did in college came up with "Away Away! The Set's On Fire", after many long nights of staring at a cumbersome, monochromatic first-act set painted a truly hideous shade of brown. (Seriously, I think the tech director was on crack when he bought that can of paint.)

For some reason, at Stanford pretty much everyone knew about "what, never?" "hardly ever". When I was transplanted to LA for grad school I kept hoping I'd run into someone who knows it. No luck yet. T_T

[senea.livejournal.com]

Obviously you just need to come back to us! Either that, or get the LA people to do Starship Pinafore ;)

BTW, Stanford's doing Yeomen in April if anyone is in the area... :)

[liddle-oldman.livejournal.com]

When I was in high school, our drama (and English) teacher was Kate Phillips, who had been Kay Linnaker, who was the woman who wrote The Blob. It's the closest I come to celebrity.

In my junior year, we put on Penzance, and I had the role of the police chief. Obviously, that's my favorite G&S -- and also the only one for which I know, or at least knew, every role and song.

I did have to look up emutes, though.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Iolanthe for me. Not sure why. Mostly that I love the music, but the characters strike me as unusually funny and quirky, too. And the story just a little more romantic than they usually get.

My favourite thing about February? Being able to walk on the canal. Eating Beaver Tails. Increasing hours of sunlight. Anticipating spring.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

This is one of those very hard question(s) to answer for the wealth of answers.

I'll say "Mikado" is my favorite play, but "Pirate King" is my favorite song.

My favorite production I've ever seen is the 1978 Brian MacDonald production of "The Mikado" from Stratford. (Available on DVD, See HERE from amazon.ca) If you haven't seen them, the CBC record several of the Stratford "G&S" productions and put them out on DVD, HIGHLY recommend them.

I adore the Kevin Kline version of "Pirates..." (Which is available VHS, but NOT on DVD yet grr... BUT you can find the same cast "live" on stage from Broadway on DVD).

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I've got that Mikado. "OHHHHHH, Mikado!" Love it. The set design is fantastic.

And, I've got the live Kline Penzance. I will point out that it has Estelle Parsons, rather than Angela Lansbury, as Ruth. I have no idea why the fuck the Papp movie isn't out on DVD.

[jbacardi.livejournal.com]

Since I am a rude and uncultured country boy, my G&S experience is weird and haphazard. Of course, I'd seen G&S operettas referenced in TV and movies growing up, but the first time I noticed that something was actually by them was when Todd Rundgren did a sound-effects-heavy version of the "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" on his 1974 album Todd. After that, I read a little about them but never got the urge to explore any further until I saw Topsy-Turvy, which I enjoyed a great deal. I purchased the soundtrack to that film, and have considered getting some actual recordings, but haven't yet. I'd like to see a G&S play performed live somewhere someday, but living in south central KY and having limited disposable income means this goal probably won't be realized anytime soon.

So, short story long, I like G&S, esp. The Mikado, but I am far from versed in their repertoire.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

The Mikado is my favourite, but that's mostly because we did a performance of it in high school. ;) And my favourite parts of February are 1. my little sister's birthday, and 2. it's a short month, and therefore paydays are usually closer together. ;)

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Pirates is it, hands down, and probably would be even if I were more thoroughly versed in G&S's oeuvre:

* I sang "For I Am a Pirate King" for my Oberlin audition.
* Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, and Linda Ronstadt. I mean, come on.
* My family--by which I mean me, my mom, and at least one of my sisters--used to sing along with the soundtrack. Most especially when one of my sisters had a boyfriend over; I think my parents were at least partially using this as a sort of hazing ritual. (Can you sit through a family G&S sing-a-long without looking horrified--or, better yet, and join in? OK, you're in.)

I also cherish a perverse fondness for The Pirate Movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084504/)

As for favorite song...I'm quite fond of "For I Am a Pirate King" and "I Am The Very Model Of a Heroine Barbarian" (the latter may have been garbled in translation), of course. But the one I find myself singing most often is Mabel and Frederick's ballad duet: "Oh, leave me not to pine"/"Ah, must I leave thee here". Sounds pretty good on the French horn, too. :)

and another reason why it's "Pirates"...

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

I played in the pit for our high school's production of Pirates, and I sat right next to the stage (my head actually at stage level). At one point during the police/pirates brawl one of the policemen got tackled right next to me and lost his baton, which bounced off my music stand. I retrieved it and passed it back to him (while he lay with his face squashed into the floor). It was a great moment in the good kind of high school drama. :)

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Oh, and re: Leap Day: this year I'd be twenty birthdays "older" than my father had he been born 5 hours earlier; I've always been tickled by that.

[snobahr.livejournal.com]

coincidentally, I watched Pirates of Penzance, last night. It was the stage production with Kevin Kline, and it would have been fan-freakin'-tastic if the camerawork didn't suck and the film copy that got transferred to DVD wasn't warped in the last 30 minutes.

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Have to go with Iolanthe. Faeries and lawyer-politicians, two of my favorite subjects, improbably combined in one plot.

And the chancellor is one of the few times that the stock old wrinkly character is something other than consistently goofy. My favorite line of his is not even the nightmare song, but this line:

"The law is the true embodiment
Of everything that's excellent.
It has no kind of fault or flaw,
And I, my Lords, embody the law."

I want to play the chancellor some day. Thankfully, I'll still be eligible for the role even if it happens long after I get to retire from my day job.

In one of the best Iolanthes I've seen to date, Willis is played as a kakhi-clad bailiff character who stands unobtrusively in the background during most of Act 1, wryly observing everything. Act 2 opens with him sweeping the floor after hours as he sings. It seemed to me a major improvement over having this new character injected out of nowhere. His faerie wings at the end were kakhi and brown leather.