The Pirates Of Penzance And Other Plays

Pirates of Penzance: The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic finds out, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year. His apprenticeship indentures state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Oho! You lowly toilers of the waves, She spurns you all—I told you so! RALPH. My friends, my leave of life I'm taking, For oh, my heart, my heart is breaking. When I am gone, oh, prithee tell The maid that, as I died, I loved her well! ALL (turning away, weeping). Of life, alas! his leave he's taking, For ah! his faithful heart is breaking; When he is gone we'll surely tell The maid that, as he died, he loved her well. [During Chorus BOATSWAIN has loaded pistol, which he hands to RALPH. RALPH. Be warned, my messmates all Who love in rank above you— For Josephine I fall! [Puts pistol to his head. All the sailors stop their ears. Enter JOSEPHINE on deck JOS. Ah! stay your hand—I love you! ALL. Ah! stay your hand—she loves you! RALPH. (incredulously). Loves me? JOS. Loves you! ALL. Yes, yes—ah, yes,—she loves you! ENSEMBLE SAILORS and RELATIVES and JOSEPHINE Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen, For now the sky is all serene; The god of day—the orb of love— Has hung his ensign high above, The sky is all ablaze. With wooing words and loving song, We'll chase the lagging hours along, And if {I find } the maiden coy, we find I'll } murmur forth decorous joy

While "The Mikado" remains a problematic piece for its colonial/racist stereotypes, it is hard to deny the lyrical inventiveness and sheer exuberant wordplay of Gilbert & Sullivan's light operas for the theater:

"Man will swear and Man will storm-
Man is not at all good form-
Man is of no kind of use-
M

Love these but it really helps if you can sing along. If you don't know the music, doubt these would be enjoyed as much.

Often uproarious, this book is a gem. I suggest you read it while listening to recordings of the plays to get the full measure of the talent involved in creating these treasures. If you like the parodies of Monty Python, you will love Gilbert and Sullivan. Such wit! I only wish that the public had a

Was searching for penguin classics to get my hands on as I have always been a fan of them and own several of the orange spine ones and have been trying to get more black spine ones. This popped up as a suggestion. I also am a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan being the young age of 32. I was first introdu

The Gilbert and Sullivan canon is, at its best, unimpeachable as a work of literature and musical theatre (I won't get into the argument over whether or not it is opera, or whether or not it is musical theatre- even Gilbert and Sullivan seemed unsure by the end of their career). The Gilbert and Sull

This is a collection of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas performed at the Savoy Theatre with the original D'Oyly Carte company. It is perhaps lacking an introduction and some biographical information, but nevertheless reading Gilbert's lyrics provided several highly amusing evenings next to my re

William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

The Pirates of Penzance and Other Plays

William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

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