PRESENTS

Study Guide for Educators

Sponsors: The Melsheimer Families Brad & Jacquie Hinds

Music by ARTHUR SULLIVAN

Libretto by W.S. GILBERT

Study Guide Complied by DANIEL DENNERT

PCPA – Pacific Conservatory Theatre

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Table of Contents

Welcome to PCPA/Theater Etiquette…………………………………….. 3

How to Use This Guide………………………………………………….... 4

Production Team and Cast………………………………………………... 5

Elements of the Story

Plot Synopsis……………………………………………………… 6

Types of Opera……………………………………………………

Comedy and Opera Terminology………………………………….

Themes and Key Words…………………………………………...

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Elements of the Production

About the Authors……………………………………………….... 9

D’Oyly Carte Opera Compnay……………………………………... 10

Design Concept……...……………………………………………... 10

Activities

Discussion Questions……………………………………………... 11

Preshow: Words Walk the Plank………………………………….... 11

“Do it again! But FASTER!”………………………………………... 12

The Modern Day Match……………………………………………. 12

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Land Ho! PCPA on the Horizon!

A NOTE TO THE TEACHER

Thank you for bringing your students to PCPA at Allan Hancock

College. Our top priority is to provide an enjoyable day of live

theater for the audience. We offer you this study guide as a tool to

prepare students prior to the performance, to prompt discussion,

critical thought, and creativity before and after the performance.

THE PIRATE CODE

Notable behavior is a vital part of theater for youth. Going to the

theater is not a casual event. It is a special occasion. If students are

prepared properly, it will be a memorable, educational experience

they will remember for years.

1. A fully-fledged pirate should always be with the students! Ushers are available to help with seating.

We suggest that teachers sit in between students to help maintain order on the deck.

2. Please remind our young apprentices that we do not permit the following onboard ship:

food, gum, drinks, smoking, hats, backpacks, or large purses

disruptive talking

disorderly and inappropriate behavior (stepping on/over seats, throwing objects, etc.)

cell phones or any other recording devices

light up or noise making objects (including shoes)

patrons should put cell phones on silent or vibrate

3. Before attending the show, teachers should take time to remind students of the following about a live

performance: Sometimes we forget when we come into a theater that we are one of the most important

parts of the production. Without an audience there would be no performance. Your

contribution of laughter, quiet attention, and applause is part of the play. When we watch

movies or television we are watching images on a screen, and what we say or do cannot

affect them. In the theater the actors are real people who are present and creating an

experience with us at that very moment. They see and hear us and are sensitive to our

response. They know how we feel about the play by how we watch and listen. An invisible

bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it enables the actors to do their

best for you. A good audience helps make a good performance.

PCPA welcomes you as a partner in the live theater experience from the moment you take your seats.

We hope that your visit will be a highlight of your school year!

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HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

This study guide is a companion piece designed to explore many ideas depicted in the stage production of The

Pirates of Penzance to enhance the theatrical experience. The Pirates of Penzance is present in a lot of pop-culture,

although students aren’t always aware that TV shows or musical parodies are referencing Pirates. The show

informs audience members of late 19th Century culture and also asks questions about duty, allegiance, love,

and honesty. Be prepared to be transported back in time and then wonder if things really change.

The guide has been organized into three major sections:

Elements of the Story

Elements of the Production

Activities

Teachers and group leaders will want to select portions of the guide for their specific usage. The discussion

questions provided are meant to provoke a line of thought about a particular topic. Frequently, the answers to

the questions will initiate a process of exploration and discovery of varied interpretations sometimes deviating

from original ideas. It is recommended that these thoughts be encouraged and discussed. This can be as

insightful and rewarding as the adventurous experience that The Pirates of Penzance creates onstage.

There are lots of references to Pirates in popular culture, especially

television! Here are a couple of examples:

Star Trek: Next Generation The Muppets

These TV shows will sometimes use music directly from The Pirates

of Penzance. Other times the writers change the lyrics but imitate and

exaggerate the style. This is called a parody. Most of the time

parodies are comedic. Gilbert and Sullivan themselves were known

for making parodies (so these references are like parodies of a

parody). One of the most famous parodies was done by a man

named Tom Lehrer who set all the elements of the periodic table to

the tune of I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.

Fun Fact: although Gilbert and Sullivan,

the writers of Pirates of Penzance were from

the United Kingdom, some of their work

has become synonymous with American

patriotism. With Cat-Like Tread is from Act

II of Pirates. New lyrics were written to the

melody and it became known as Hail, Hail,

the Gang’s All Here, a march frequently

played during the 4th of July and other

patriotic holidays. Look it up!

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Music by ARTHUR SULLIVAN

Libretto by W.S. GILBERT

CREATIVE TEAM

Director/ Choreographer Brad Carroll Music Director Callum Morris

Voice & Text Director Matt Koenig Scenic Design Jason Bolen

Costume Design Eddy Barrows Lighting Design Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow

Sound Design Elisabeth Weidner Assistant Director Nicholas Kowerko

Production Stage Manager Jahana Azodi*

CAST OF CHARACTERS

The Pirate King George Walker Samuel Will Hoshida

Frederic Alex Stewart Major-General Stanley Andrew Philpot*

Sergeant of Police Michael Jenkinson* Mabel Natalie Graham

Kate Molly Wetzel Edith Brittany Law Isabel Courtney Reece Ruth Jacqueline Hildebrand

PIRATES AND POLICE

Blake Brundy, Tyler Matthew Campbell, Devin Cunningham, Cameron Eastland, Garrett Gibbs

Spencer Hamilton, Zachary Hasbany, Mitchell Lam Hau, Garret Lawrence, Zach Johnson, Adam Mantell

Antwon Mason, David Miller

DAUGHTERS

Quinn Farley, Annali Fuchs, Madisen Hayes, Irene Platt, Caroline Whelehan

* Member, Actors’ Equity Association

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The Run Down: a Pirates synopsis The Pirates of Penzance is the story of Frederic who, as a young lad,

was mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates. On this, his

21st birthday, with his apprenticeship complete, he is compelled

by a “sense of duty” to forsake the piratical life and, with his

nanny, Ruth, ventures out into the world. He soon encounters a

bevy of beautiful maidens, all of them daughters of Major-General

Stanley, and is instantly smitten with one in particular, Mabel. The pirates arrive, seize the girls and threaten

them with immediate marriage. But the Major-General begs for their release, claiming that he is an orphan

and that, without them, he would be left all alone. The pirates, orphans themselves, are sympathetic to his

plea and relent. The Major-General, deeply troubled by this ruse (he is not an orphan) fears the consequences.

Frederic arranges for a police force to defend the Major-General against the avenging pirates. Unfortunately

Frederic soon learns that, being born on February 29 in a leap year, he has really only had five birthdays and

is now bound to fulfill his apprenticeship for another 63 years. Against Mabel’s ardent pleas, “sense of duty”

compels him to rejoin the pirates. A battle ensues. The pirates appear victorious until they are charged to yield

“in Queen Victoria’s name.” Love of queen trumps piratical prowess and soon all are set on the path to

happy ever after.

A Night at the Opera

Types of Opera Opera comes in many forms. There are grand operas,

operas written in German, Italian, French, and

Russian, operettas, pop operas, and what have become

known as Savoy operas. Savoy operas, named for the

D’Oyly Carte Opera Company’s Savoy Theatre where

many were first performed, are comedic and a highly

stylized form of Opera written during the Victorian

period. Gilbert and Sullivan pioneered this new genre.

Time has not been kind to Savoy operas and Gilbert

and Sullivan’s work is all that is left of an art from that

has all but faded from memory. Savoy operas now

tend to be lumped together with operettas—operas

with dialogue scenes in addition to the complicated

musical numbers. These dialogue sequences began getting longer and longer over time. Operettas became the

predecessor to the modern American musical: a play with both dialogue (or “book scenes”) as well as sung

music that helps to tell the story. Musicals continue to thrive today as one of the most popular forms of art

and entertainment.

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Comedy: Parody, Farce, or Satire? That is the Question. Gilbert and Sullivan shows are considered to be masterworks of comedy.

Comedy can be broken down into a few sub-categories: parody, farce, and

satire; all of these are simply types of comedy. Parody imitates and/or mocks

a specific person or thing in an exaggerated manner to make things funny.

Farce uses unlikely and exuberant situations with buffoonish characters to

create ludicrous and silly jokes. Satire exaggerates ideas or people to ridicule

and demonstrate their absurdity and provide social commentary. Typically,

satire makes fun of government and attempts to initiate change.

So what type of comedy is The Pirates of Penzance? There are satirical elements in

Pirates – however, this humor is not meant to be harmful or provide social

commentary. Gilbert and Sullivan rely on mock-heroes and wordplay for their

comedy. They use well known icons of their time such as the Bobby (a British policeman), Pirates, and

Generals and make them anything but what the audience expects. The strong and terrible pirates are wimpy,

the courageous and stubborn Bobbies are cowards, and the strategic and witty general is babbling and

uncomposed. This mockery does not suggests that all pirates are wimpy—just this particular group—and is

therefore more characteristic of parody than satire. And the story is not so improbable to infer it is a farce.

Wordplay is the other element that Pirates of Penzance relies on for comedy. There is an entire scene on the

similarities between the sound of “orphan” and “often.” Or the premise of the show is due to the mishearing

of the word “pilot” and “pirate.” The famous song of the Major-General is humorous because of the

increasing rapidity and patter quality of the lyrics, forcing the character to stop for air. The listener needs to

keep a sharp ear out to catch some of the jokes which are hidden within speeches and songs.

Opera Terminology Having knowledge of a few key opera terms will help the audience make sense of and be able to follow along

with the storytelling in Pirates of Penzance.

Aria – a solo piece written for a main character,

which focuses on the character's emotion.

Recitative – words sung in a conversational style,

usually to advance the plot.

Patter song – A song in which the character sings

as many words as possible in a short amount of

time.

Cadenza – a passage of singing, often at the end

of an aria, which shows off the singer's vocal

ability.

Aside – a comment from an actor directly to the

audience that the other characters cannot hear.

Leitmotif – A short, recurring musical phrase

associated with a particular character or event.

Soprano – the highest voice for a female.

Typically young ingénues like Mabel are sopranos.

Mezzo-Soprano – the middle voice for a woman.

Alto – the lower voice for a woman.

Tenor – a high male voice. Young male leads like

Frederic are frequently tenors.

Baritone – the middle voice for a man.

Bass – the lowest voice for a man.

Falsetto – A method of singing above the natural

range of the male voice. Often used in opera for

comic effects such as a man imitating a woman.

Vibrato – A natural wavering of frequency (pitch)

while singing a note. It is usually inadvertent.

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Messages from the Pirate Bottle Themes in The Pirates of Penzance

– DUTY –

A promise is a promise. But what happens when you discover that keeping that promise means you are going

to hurt someone else, or do something illegal? These are some of the questions Frederic and other characters

have to struggle with. Pirates is subtitled The Slave of Duty. Duty is a bond or an obligation. Frequently our

desires and what we have to do are not the same (think of simple things like taking out the trash). We use the

word duty to describe an obligation to a greater community or cause. Frederic thinks he frees himself from

one responsibility, the Pirates, only to find that he is not so free after all. He then has to make a choice about

whether or not he will honor his duties.

– DECEPTION –

Hiding the truth is one tactic humans use to get things. Ruth deceives

Frederic to try and get him to marry her. Frederic helps the Major-General

make the pirates believe he is an orphan so that the daughters are set free.

However, each time the truth comes back to haunt the deceiver and becomes

their downfall. Frederic runs away from Ruth when he realizes that she lied

to him and the Major-General spends all night in prayer for forgiveness. Less

literally, the pirates put on a façade, or deceive people into believing that they

are scary and mean when they really are sentimental. Honesty follows

deception in every situation. A complex web of lies becomes as instable and

sinkable as a 2-dimensional theatre with a pirate ship as soon as one bit of truth comes to light.

Arrrg! A Pirates Vocabulary ANCESTORS: people who proceed others in a family line. Great-great grandparents. CRANK: an abrupt and unexpected turn of speech. DIMITY: a see-through, cotton fabric with a variety of thread patterns, typically used for dresses. EMUETE: a French word meaning brawl or riot. FOEMAN: an enemy or “foe” during wartime.

FUGUE: a musical piece that has staggered entrances of the same melody. GLASS: a barometer. A glass object used to predict weather. INDENTURES: a legal agreement binding a servant to a master. LEAP YEAR: most every 4th year (including 2016!), adding an extra day, February 29. LIFE PRESERVER: not a floating ring of foam, but a club with a metal end.

MAJOR-GENERAL: a high ranking military official. PARADOX: a situation that seems self-contradictory and illogical, but is true. SAT A GEE: having rode a horse. “Geewas” was a common 19th century term for a horse which originated from commands to start and turn. SCUTTLE: To sink a ship by opening holes in the hull under the waterline.

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Victorian Era until Now… They Live on as

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN

W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) was born as the son of a navel surgeon and

storyteller. He followed his father’s footsteps and began writing stories and

poems early in his life. At first, writing was a way for Gilbert to make a little

money on the side. Gilbert became known for his unique “topsy-turvy” style

of writing. He would imagine absurd circumstances and then work out the

logical consequences. His work lent itself to comedy. He began working with

composers to write “entertainments,” or family-friendly comedic operas. This

initial exposure to working with music led to him meeting Arthur Sullivan, a

composer who would change his career forever.

Arthur Sullivan (1840-1900) was a child musical prodigy. By the age of 8 he

could play every instrument in the school band. He won the Mendelssohn

Scholarship and studied at the Royal Academy of Music. He continued his

training in Leipzig. His music became instantly popular when it was

performed at the Crystal Palace in 1862. He continued to compose for

Shakespeare plays, symphonies, ballets, operas, and ballads. He also served as

a church organist to provide income while he was busy composing.

Gilbert and Sullivan were commissioned as partners to write a couple

“entertainments” and short operas. The public loved their comedy and work, causing producers to extend

runs of their shows. Richard D’Oyly Carte, a theatre manager, kept commissioning the team to work together

due to the financial gain he received from Gilbert and Sullivan’s shows. The team that began with short

operas such as Trial by Jury which led to a full-length The Sorcerer developed a new opera entitled H.M.S.

Pinafore. The operetta became the craze and talk of the Western world. One newspaper described the

sensation as “Pinafore Mania.” The show became the second longest running show in musical theatre history

at that point in time. Many unauthorized or pirated versions of the show started popping up—especially in

the United States. Gilbert and Sullivan headed to the U.S. to stage an official version of the show, but also

write a new show, The Pirates of Penzance. Once in New York the pair found a surprise. No longer were they

W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, but the forever conjugated Gilbert and Sullivan. The team wrote, staged,

and premiered The Pirates of Penzance in both the U.S. and England in order to secure copyright so illegal

productions like they experienced with Pinafore could not happen. Pirates was a bigger success than even

Pinafore, although Gilbert and Sullivan were unsuccessful with the copyright issues and had lots of imitation

productions of their work. Over the course of their partnership, the duo wrote a total of 14 comic operas.

Many were successful, although some were flops. Both men continued to write their own individual pieces,

and eventually, conflict between them and their artistic styles led to an end of collaboration. Each produced

some work following their separation, but nothing that was of substantial success. When Sullivan died in

1900, Gilbert said the two had “completely bridged over” their conflict. Gilbert died in 1911 without any

further artistic success.

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D’Oyly Carte Opera Company–Keeping G&S Alive For over 130 years the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in England has continued to

perform and celebrate the canon of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works. The company was

passed down through the D’Oyly Carte family, who produced international tours and

frequent productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s work. Shows like The Pirates of Penzance and

HMS Penafore became the main staple of the company. D’Oyly Carte is what kept the

work of Gilbert and Sullivan as well as Savoy operas alive. The company no longer

produces year round tours and performances, but instead occasionally collaborates with

other theatres. However, the legacy they have left is very evident in more recent

productions. In 1981 The Pirates of Penzance, retooled for the Broadway stage and featuring

Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt and Angela Lansbury, won the Tony Award for Best

Musical Revival. In 1983, the Broadway production was further remodeled, filmed and

released as a major motion picture.

DESIGN CONCEPT

Weather it is the pirates, the Victorian-

era culture of Britain, or the Major-

General and his daughters, the entire

world in The Pirates of Penzance is a

complete façade. It is phony and fake.

Jason Bolen, set designer for our

production capitalized on these themes

and incorporated it into his design of

the set. Each element of the production

ensures that the audience is aware of its

artificial nature. For instance, there is a

lot of 2 dimensional set pieces such as

the cannons. The designer contributes

to the comedic elements of the show by

giving performers clearly fake objects

that they then treat as real. It is humorous that the characters become frightened by things that aren’t

frightening at all.

The design also incorporates the appearance traditional theatre curtains. The façade and external element of

the production is evident. Clearly this is not really a pirate ship, a chapel, or a rocky shore. The viewer is

always reminded that they are watching a play and that this story is make-believe. In terms of the matching

key points in story, the designer has to make sure that things are not quite as they seem.

Alex Stewart as Frederic & Natalie

Graham as Mabel

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. Gilbert and Sullivan are considered to be among the best of comedic geniuses. What makes

comedy? How can you compare The Pirates of Penzance to popular TV sitcoms, improv shows, and

sketch comedies? Does the definition of “funny” change from one generation to the next?

2. What is a musical theatre? Can you think of the evolution of musical theatre? Discuss music hall

reviews, operettas, American musical theatre, rock operas, hip-hop musicals.

3. Do you think there are differences between the way you experience The Pirates of Penznace and the way

an audience in Victorian-era Britain experienced the show? If so, what would cause these differences?

Is it important to understand cultural references from a time period you don’t live in?

4. In this show, duty and responsibly are the characteristics of an honorable person. Name some

contemporary world leaders or political figures who honor their duties and responsibilities. For

example, compare Frederic’s choices to leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama,

George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and Desmond Tutu. How has each figure carried out their

sense of duty?

5. How does poetry connect to song lyrics and musical storytelling? Can any poem become a song? Do

lyrics always have to rhyme to get the point across? Does all musical poetry require a melody?

PRESHOW ACTIVITY:

WORDS WALK THE PLANK

Below are sets of 4 words. Identify which word doesn’t belong in the group. Why? Make it walk the plank!

Alto

Tenor Aria

Soprano

Paradox Artificial Façade

Make-believe

Recitative Aria

Falsetto Patter song

Satire Fugue Farce

Parody

Major General Bobbies

Hero Foeman

“Entertainments” Operettas

Musical Theatre Emuete

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“Do it again! But FASTER!!”

Rap music is a close relative of the patter song Gilbert and Sullivan readily employed for comedic purposes.

As an activity, create a contemporary patter song using the mediums of rap or spoken word. We encourage

you to make these light in subject and humorous. Identify what elements of the piece is comedic and why.

Share these among the class or privately with another student.

THE MODERN DAY MATCH

Many young people see Gilbert and Sullivan as being irrelevant and outdated. Using the list below, identify

and write down contemporary examples that parallel the roles in The Pirates of Penzance.

The Pirates of Penzance Present Day

Ruth, as Frederic’s caretaker

Pirates, as wanted men

Orphans

Large Families

Frederic, as an apprentice

Frederic, as a hero

Major General, as a military figure

Police or Law Enforcement

Any others you can think of!

Ex: Nannies, Babysitters, Foster Parent

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Thank you! We hope you enjoyed your adventure aboard the

pirate ship PCPA! Come sail with us again soon.