Gilbert And Sullivan
Oh, if I had just known
To tell them I'm an orphan too.
Sigh,
A Pirate's life it is,
And merciless this side of midnight.
DolphinWords
Notes: According to Gilbert's and Sullivan's Pirate lore, the Pirates of Penzance are all orphans, and in sympathy with other orphans, who, if they capture any in a fight, they release...this curio having gotten around the Seven Seas, once in the clutches of the Penzance Pirates, captives immediately claim to be an orphan, and so spared, and can run away free....and too, apparently, Penzance Pirates indenture youths until the passing of 21 birthdays...about to turn 21 years old, Fredric, an indentured Penzance Pirate, is joyous, thinking to be free at the strike of midnight, his birthday, but to his dismay, finds that years don't count to Penzance Pirates, only birthdays, and having been born in a leap year, on Feb. 29, he's only had five birthdays...and being dutiful, sets aside his hope for freedom until 1940, and his marriage plans to his new found sweetheart, Mabel (in all his time with the all male Penzance Pirate crew, Frederic had only seen one girl, the scullery maid aboard ship, prior to seeing Mabel and her siblings on a beach raid)...Mabel, like minded dutiful as Fredric, agrees to wait, and postpone their marriage...and, Fredric discards his plans for turning on the Penzance Pirates when he turned 21, after midnight...a concealed scheme, as he's not fond of Pirate life...he would show them mercy, he says...so the notion of before midnight, 'merciless', afterwards, 'merciful'...with his indentured status clarified, he remains with the merciless lot, who are gleeful to keep him!
Oh, I was sitting in a very odd circumstance, watching all this, thinking on all this...it's the scheme of an old Greek tragedy...up to that point...afterward, deux machine Queen Victoria rescues a happy ending...I mean, only the old Greek playwrights' Olympian gods could come up with something so devious as being waylaid by being born on Feb. 29!...hmmph...I went and saw the Pirates Of Penzance performance at the outdoor theater in Town's old Main Street district...where I saw Hamlet...and the seating was nuts...close to the stage was seating for 150 on folding chairs positioned on a temporary wooden bleachers sort of scaffold...very close to the players by design, as the players interact with the audience now and then...I saw a heads up on facebook to buy tickets, and went to site on web, but all sold out, except last night...tried to buy on line, but click on 'tickets' didn't work, so rolled over just before show time, thinking maybe still seating available...and I got a seat easy, and once inside, realized why...the regular amphitheater seats were all empty except the last three rows...these were high enough up to see over the bleachers close to the stage...and maybe twenty of us took seats thereabout...I could see and hear fine from there, but with all the empty seats in front that had no view, and, well, we felt left out...one fellow complained, I think..a back and forth with usher had that look...anyway, I really liked the play, the girl lead playing Mable was great, and Fredric looked the part, had a good voice, but couldn't project it over the recorded music...no pit orchestra...lot of the other singers had the same problem...sound mixers nowadays seem to have no notion of what accompany means!...I have a couple tickets for next Sunday, hopefully up close, tonight's was just ten dollars...the two are full price...oh, I'm going to have to check back to see where 'general admission' seats one...thought to give them as gifts...but it's no good to sit in the back at this performance...my stay awake one beer dulled my annoyance...that, and the nostalgia for when I was stage hand at Melodyland's Pirates of Penzance with Mary Ann Mobley, 1966 or '67...Illustration...I made a little book of basketball things, using the simple art programs back then...I'll have to put the whole thing online sometime...I'm fond of them!...fondness seems to be my criteria for most things!...even from others for me...my most hoped for response!...it was a fond worthy performance of Pirates of Penzance!...my Black Ship crew was paying heed!...Dulcinea: "Pirate 'King' indeed..."
quote
Oh, better far to live and die
Under the brave black flag I fly,
Than play a sanctimonious part,
With a pirate head and a pirate heart.
Away to the cheating world go you,
Where pirates all are well-to-do;
But I'll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.
For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!
http://www.gilbertandsullivanarchive.org/pirates/pirates_lib.txt
unquote
:)
DavidDavid
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