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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle, Friday, February 21, 19S6 Page Three EXTRA f'l wK I - - -- I 1 V I : .1 r sf :''vr . - a-t- v jqi w f : - . - -- Behind V J - 7r-v- i f 1 RoneeRS n'Rofes Shakespeare Festival production in Central Park. The traditional staging vanished in favOf of Errol by John Flynn Staff writer FlynnKeystone KopsBroadway mayhem, and in It certainly seems like business as usual in Pioneer Memorial Theatre Room 217. . .The theatre staff is gearing up for another musical in the drab rehearsal hall. The dancers and choreographers are polishing a tap number in the mirror while the musical director is expounding on what Sir Arthur had in mind for a particular score. The director paces, squints and ponders, and the stage manager and his cronies pore over prompt books, cue a daring, and yet inevitable, move, the rock elements of the score were exploited. Synthesizers appeared in the orchestra pit and rock stars Linda Rondstadt and Rex Smith were cast as the romantic leads. Wilford Leach, the director of the Broadway production said, "We wanted to do the play rather than people's idea of it. We decided to scrap the encrustations of tradition, but remain faithful to the script." sheets and schedules. The script itself is absolute craziness and immense The cast is alternating between "hurry up" and "wait" fun but what else could it be? "Pirates" is at once the grand-dadd- y modes because, as someone once said, being in a large of the American musical and the forerunner musical is a little bit like being in a war long periods of of modern English comedy which has given us troupes like Monty Python. waiting peppered with brief snatches of intense excitement. Larry Carpenter, the director of the PMT production All is as it should be, except for the fact that the project sees the new traditions as putting wine in an old bottle. "The idea is to create a similar viewing experience for the company is assailing is a new kind of animal altogether. of Pirates The musical is Gilbert and Sullivan's "The the modern audience. You have to understand that of at a is new the but looking way Penzance," ; Gilbert and Sullivan were innovators because, they took a production these past masters of the Victorian stage. popular entertainment in this case vaudeville and For most people, the team of Gilbert and Sullivan hung it on a story. This was a great novelty; they were and literally the toast of the world." conjures images of staid musty performances where, In order to bring this production alive, Carpenter says it although the music and wit is lively, the actual action of is necessary to infuse it with the energy of the American the show is pretty close to nil. musical. "It is a very American musical and it needs that Small wonder, since the performance tradition has remained unchanged since the "Pirates'" inception pure, unedited feeling in order to work." This is probably the first thing which strikes you when during the late 1900s at the D'Oyle Carte Theatre. However, in 1980, the history of "Pirates" changed visiting the rehearsal hall, since the music does have a big, radically when Joseph Papp opened his New York legitimate sound. It tends to grab you, hoist you aloft and - carry you through the show. The comedy in the modern production (and there is a lot of it) is handled very carefully. Carpenter said the trick is to handle it gently. It is at times very broad, but it can never be allowed to run roughshod over the characters. The characters themselves are direct, honest and sympathetic. The pirates of the play are a bunch of nice guys at the bottom. Their idea of rape is to carry a bevy of maidens directly to the. nearest parson in order to get "conjugally matrimonified." The hero is a handsome lad who will do anything to fulfill his duty. The pirates' nemesis is a band of cops who flop about the stage like puppets. The most famous character by virtue of one of his songs is the Major General, father to the aforementioned bevy of maidens and master of alliteration, since he "is the very model of a modern Major General." The cast which Carpenter has assembled is formidable. Half of the principals Mary Stout, Sal Viviano and Caroline Peyton have appeared in other productions of "Pirates" in the parts they have' now. Max Robinson and Robert Peterson are both acclaimed local professionals. Haskell Gordon and Richard Matthews carry hefty reputations as well. The musical director for "Pirates" is veteran James Prigmore, and Jane, Luke is handling the substantial chore of choreography. One of this campus' best kept entertainment secrets is the immense discount which Pioneer Memorial Theatre, a professional theatre, gives to students because of its association with the University of Utah. There is a student rush, and if you buy your tickets at 7:30 p.m. any night of the performance, they're only S2. |
