Let’s celebrate this extra day by listening to a song that was around long before the days of rap & is lyrically quite impressive! This song comes from the musical, ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ written by the popular duo Gilbert & Sullivan.
The story line is somewhat ingenious, following the tale of Frederic who entered the pirate circle accidentally as a youngster; the story commencing with his 21st Birthday where the pirates are celebrating Frederic’s coming of age. At the time Frederic was all set to marry his nanny which would have kept him within the pirate circle, however he wished to meet other women & eventually came across some beautiful maidens & fell in love with the Major General’s daughter.
The pirates attempt to abduct Mabel so that Frederic can marry her but the Major General cooks up a plan to change their mind & get his daughter back. Basically the pirates are known to be orphans so the Major General makes out that he too is an orphan. The storyline is a little complex, the true streak of ingenuity becoming apparent when it is revealed that Frederic was born on 29th February, a leap year , therefore officially only 5 and still within the bounds of the apprenticeship which expires on his coming of age. After a few more twists & turns including police intervention, it is revealed that the pirates were originally old nobles and not orphans & they end up renouncing their piracy which frees Frederic from his apprenticeship leaving him free to marry Mabel.
This is a fun musical full of popular songs and well worth watching, although it is many years since I last saw it!
For those of you with an interest in musicals we will be posting our interview with Vicky Watkins shortly. Vicky is a long standing member of the Croydon Operatic & Dramatic Association, providing us with a good insight into the dynamics of putting on a musical. Hope you are looking forward to it!
Jaz McKenzie
If you would like to let us know about your production please contact itsbraap@live.co.uk
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