January 22, 25, 28 & 30, 2022
Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
Cast: Curt Olds (Major-General Stanley), Craig Irvin (The Pirate King), Santiago Ballerini (Frederic), Susanne Burgess (Mabel), Katharine Goeldner (Ruth). Creative: Francesco Milioto, conductor; Seán Curran, stage director & choreographer; James Schuette, set & costume designer.
GILBERT & SULLIVAN: The Pirates of Penzance
Mark Gresham | 24 NJAN 2022
The Atlanta Opera mounted a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance for the first time in March 2016. It was so successful that the company had to add an extra performance to the schedule due to public demand.
That same production of Pirates has returned to The Atlanta Opera stage this month with a mostly new cast, but essentially the same set and some updates to the stage direction.
The essential connection between the two is stage director/choreographer Seán Curran. The earlier production was seen initially at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, then revised as a co-production of Atlanta Opera and Palm Beach Opera. This 2022 version does not start from ground zero but builds upon the foundation of that 2016 iteration.
Pirates of Penzance is an ideal show for combining stage director and choreographer roles. Curran takes advantage of that, going beyond the conventional minimal approach to dance steps, allowing dance and comedic movement to keep pace with the forward-moving musical score.
Guest conductor Francesco Milioto and the Atlanta Opera Orchestra kept the music lithe and vibrant throughout, only running into some trouble in “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” not because of velocity but trying to follow the occasionally inconsistent delivery pace of Curt Olds, who reprises the role of the eccentric Major-General Stanley that he portrayed in the 2016 production.
Curt Olds as Major-General Stanley (credit: Raftermen)
This challenging rapid-fire patter song requires a very disciplined, steady pace and keen articulation from the singer-actor to pull off – not so much singing “words on notes” as singing “every sound, every moment” without hesitation, avoiding mental tumbling blocks of verbal meaning. At its best, it’s a genuine tour-de-force that thrills the audience.
Nevertheless, Milioto and the orchestra did their job of following Olds in this crucial number. These hard-working musicians should not be underestimated and have an excellent capacity to interact with the flow and occasional spontaneity that naturally occurs in performing a staged work, particularly the Italian model from which Sullivan’s score draws much inspiration (Rossini in particular).
Most certainly, Olds does bring to the role a comic vibrancy that keeps the energy going in scenes that could too easily stall (such as the ballad “Sighing Softly to the River” in Act II).
In the rest of the score, from the understated Overture to the opera’s final bar, the Atlanta Opera Orchestra met the goal of both motivating and responding to the action on stage. Outstanding work, too, by The Atlanta Opera Chorus, which has been in hibernation through months of pandemic, hut came out singing and dancing, the 23 singers wearing masks for safety but otherwise fully engaged.
Craig Irvin (who made his Atlanta Opera debut as Lieutenant Horstmeyer in the company’s 2016 production of Silent Night) boldly portrays the swashbuckling Pirate King.
Susanne Burgess and Santiago Ballerini as Mabel and Frederic. (credit: Raftermen)
Santiago Ballerini is the young Frederic, upon whose naïve devotion to duty the plot twists and turns. His smooth, lyric tenor voice ideally reflects the character.
Susanne Burgess aptly portrays Frederic’s sympathetic (and slightly taller) young love interest, Mabel Stanley, which afforded her lots of opportunity for vocal display, at times even in loving parody of operatic clichés.
Katharine Goeldner portrays Ruth, the English nanny, who mistakenly apprentices an 8-year-old Frederic to a pirate then follows him onto the pirate crew. Daniel Sumegi portrays the Sergeant of Police, who does his service to duty and the law, even if somewhat reluctantly.
Sankara Harouna ably portrayed Samuel, the Pirate King’s sincere, earnest lieutenant. Gretchen Krupp, Eva Lukkonen Sullivan, and Julia Metry are cast in the minor roles of Edith, Kate, and Isabel, three of the other numerous daughters of Major-General Stanley. As she did in the 2016 production, Corinne Scott appears in her brief moment on stage as Queen Victoria
As it did in 2016, this performance of The Pirates of Penzance is an entertaining, light-hearted romp that is not overly self-conscious. Pirates will cheer and lift you out of any pretense of gloom. It’s an engaging ensemble performance that brings smiles and laughter in these times when we truly need that. ■
Mark Gresham is publisher and principal writer of EarRelevant. he began writing as a music journalist over 30 years ago, but has been a composer of music much longer than that. He was the winner of an ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism in 2003.
Georgia Philharmonic blends multicultural flair, concerto premiere, and Firebird firepower for 40th season finale • 21 May 2025
Henry Cheng named music director of Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, signaling new era of innovation and growth • 20 May 2025
.png){kind=logo}