Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Hyslop, Tomlin, Carver, Stratford Festival
by Norman Campbell

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DVD Reviews of Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Hyslop, Tomlin, Carver, Stratford Festival

DVD Review: Good production, but filled with unnecessary additions.
Summary: 4 Stars

First off, there were additions made to the show that served no purpose. However, while completely unnecessary, they were well executed in their own rite. The two main examples are the dialogue that was added to the daughters' scene that gets them to strip off a lot more than just their shoes and stockings, and the entire 15-minute ballet added to the end of the show. First off, concerning the daughters stripping down to their undergarments, this is totally out-of-sync with Victorian sensibilities! Young ladies from that era would never have done that, and G&S would never have allowed that in one of their shows. That is why the original production is so funny--the girls only plan to take of their shoes and stockings, and Frederic blushes because of this, because it is so shocking to him. And the ballet at the end, added merely so that some dancers (one added character named "Blue Stocking" and the role of Frederic) could have something to do. Musical director Bertold Carriere rearranged a lot of Sullivan's music to add this ten to fifteen minute thing that serves no purpose. And the police finding daughters in liaisons with the pirates makes no sense, because when the finale commences, the daughters do not wish to be married to the pirates. However, these trifles were so well staged and performed, that even as I realized that they were pointless, they amused me.

Jeff Hyslop as Frederic has a nasally, slightly comic, mostly irritating sound, and is not a singer by any means, which Frederic should be. Hyslop is quite obviously a dancer (as you can see from all of that unnecessary *ADDED* dancing), because he's really not an actor, nor a singer by any means. So one wonders why he was cast in the role of Frederic to begin with. Did director Brian MacDonald just envision the role of Frederic to be a huge dancing one from the get-go, or were he and Hyslop merely dating?

Caralyn Tomlin is a beautiful, vocally delightful Mabel, and she is quite charming thoughout. However, during the final reprise of "Poor, wand'ring one," the sound produced in her obligato section is rather weak. Douglas Chamberlain is a funny and charming Major-General Stanley. Karen Woods makes a lot out of what would be a throw-away role in Edith, being just a cute and charming as she was with Pitti-Sing in Stratford's MIKADO. The entire policeman's chorus is HILARIOUS!! The staging for the Policeman's Entrance number was sheer brilliance, "When the Foeman Bares His Steel" had me laughing histerically at the most unexpected moments, and it was still amusing to me minutes after the song was over. (Thank God, because that was Hyslop trying to hit high tenor notes in "Now for the Pirates' Liar!") Ruth was very good. Samuel has a stupid, Pipi Longstocking wig that one finds very distracting and a constant source of frustration. Brent Carver is funny as the Pirate King, if mugging a bit too much at times. But he, Frederic, and Samuel have some great dancing moments at different points in the show (you'd expect it from Hyslop, as we've already figured that dancing is his strong-point, but the gentleman playing Samuel is surprising spry on his feet).

The show was impeccably designed and staged, and it comes across very well. So, as I do reccomend this DVD to anyone wanting to see a good production of PIRATES, I would also warn them that there are a lot of well-planned-out additions to the show that add nothing in retrospective.

Description of Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Hyslop, Tomlin, Carver, Stratford Festival

The most satisfying turns come from the Major-General and the policemen, those characters with the deepest innate humanity. Douglas Chamberlain lets the arcane content of "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General" whiz by in a manic blur (except when he shows off a witty new verse). He treats the song as a tour de force from a man who knows how preposterous his knowledge is and nevertheless takes huge delight in it. It's a charming performance. --David Olivenbaum

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