Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan
Directed by Mandy Morrison

FEB 21-23
7:30 pm 
BPAC

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​Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious, hopeful farce follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates' way of life and falls for the beautiful Mabel. Frederic's melodious tones win over the heart of Major-General Stanley's songbird daughter, Mabel, but when the Pirate King discovers that General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an "ingenious paradox" may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of "The very model of a modern Major-General."

Auditions

Auditions will be during Opera Workshop class on Tuesday Sept 4 at 2:30 in the MTA Black Box.

Cast List

Costume Research

Joseph Papp production, 1983

Production Meetings

Because we have done this show once before and still have the Bobby uniforms, we are able to re-use most of them on the current actors.  I will only have to order one more in a larger size, which fortunately is only going to cost us $298.00.  Last time we did this most of our Bobbies were girls and little girls at that.  This time most of our Bobbies are big men.  We do have two girl Bobbies but they are also big girls.  We have a much larger budget than I did last time, so we're going to make a very official looking blingy Major General uniform of red coat and black pants with lots of gold braid and epaulets.   I have pulled out all the old daughter bodices and skirts that we made before to see if we can re-use any of those.   We have plenty of petticoats and bloomers to go around, so we won't need to make any more of those.  I have not been able to find the nightgowns, so we may have to remake all of those.  The original ones pre-exist my tenure here, so they probably needed to go bye-bye anyway.  

Build Process

We're starting with the nightgowns needed for Act II.  I chose Snuggle prints in flannel from Joanne's.  I tried to get the most amount of pattern and color but in the least modern prints.  Plaids were very popular in the Victorian period, so there are a few of those.  I drafted a pattern that has raglan sleeves, a drawstring neckline, elastic at the sleeve hem that forms a ruffle.  The previous nightgowns had a yoke and a high collar high collar.  This pattern is less constrictive around the bosom and more flowy at the hem.  Also, the thicker flannel won't be see through under light which was a complaint about the previous nightgowns. They were made from very thin fabric and made the girls self-conscious.
1-8: Tuesday: 8;30-12 patterned nightgown for daughters, 2:30-3:30 cut and serged nightgown. 4.5 hours
1-9 Wed.: shopped for fabric 9-10:30, began washing fabric 12:30-3:30. continued working on nightgown mockup. 4.5 hours
1-10 Thurs: completed the nightgown mockup. 8:30-10:30 finished washing and ironing all the fabric, 12:30-2:30. 4 hours