A Teacher’s Guide to
Gilbert & Sullivan’s
The Pirates of Penzance
The Nashville Opera
Guidebook by TPAC Education
Allison Kieckhefer, Contributing Writer
Susan Sanders, General Editing and Compilation
Tennessee Performing Arts Center
gratefully acknowledges the generous
support of corporations, foundations,
government agencies and other groups
for TPAC Education in 2003-2004.
American Airlines
AmSouth Bank
Aspect Community Committee Fund
Bank of America
BellSouth Communications, Inc.
Bridgestone/Firestone Trust Fund
Caterpillar Financial Products
Central Parking System
The Community Foundation of Middle
Tennessee
The Danner Foundation
Davis-Kidd Booksellers, Inc.
Deloitte & Touche
Deutsche Bank
Earl Swensson Associates
The Frist Foundation
Gannett Foundation/The Tennessean
Gaylord Entertainment Company
General Motors Corporation
The HCA Foundation
HCA, Inc.
Helping Hands Foundation
The Hermitage Hotel
Ingram Arts Support Fund
Ingram Charitable Advised Fund
Ingram Industries Inc.
LifeWorks Foundation
The Memorial Foundation
Metropolitan Action Commission
Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission
Miller & Martin LLP
Neal & Harwell PLC
New England Foundation for the Arts
Mary C. Ragland Foundation
Southern Arts Federation
SunTrust Bank
Tennessee Arts Commission
Ticketmaster Corporation
US Bank
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Special Thanks to
The Mary C. Ragland
Foundation
The Pirates of Penzance is the third Opera for Young
People production for HOT sponsored by
The Mary C. Ragland Foundation.
Mrs. Ragland devoted her life’s energy and passion to
making opera a healthy participant in Nashville’s artistic
community. She was co-founder of the Nashville
Symphony in the 1940s, founder of Nashville Opera in
1987, and remained at the forefront of the arts in
Nashville throughout her life.
It has been said that Mary’s theme was “Everybody
loves opera but they don’t know it yet.” We thank her for
sparking the romance.
This project is funded under an
agreement with the Tennessee Arts
Commission, and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
Because of generous underwriting by AmSouth Bank and the AmSouth
Foundation, we are able to publish the guidebook materials and mail them
to teachers attending the HOT Season for Young People free of charge.
2
The Pirates of Penzance
By Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan's beloved The Pirates of Penzance is a perfectly
delightful Victorian confection with all the witty wordplay and wonderful
music Britain's dynamic duo is known for. Nashville Opera’s production
will feature members of the Mary Ragland Young Artist Program,
including Nashville's own Julie Cox as Mabel. Projected English
supertitles will help audiences keep up with the Major General's zippiest
patter!
The Pirates of Penzance, or “The Slave of Duty” was first produced in
1880, following the tremendous popular success of Gilbert & Sullivan’s
earlier HMS Pinafore. Audiences in both the United States and Britain
were delighted with the comic satire and charming melodies of this
circuitous story. One thing just leads absurdly to another when the
Pirates come ashore to free their young apprentice, Frederic, and
happen to encounter Major General Stanley and his daughters. Their
surprising revelations and actions poke fun at high manners, proper
behavior, duty, honor, and the general order of society.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance is an operetta. Operetta
(literally, "little opera") is a name for 19th Century light opera, a
European genre that jumped the Atlantic ocean and swept Broadway
also. A key difference between opera and operetta is the delivery of
dialogue. Operas follow the recitative/aria format, in which the dialogue
is sung (recitative), interspersed with more musically complex arias,
sung by the lead singers and revealing the inner feelings of the
character. Operettas employ spoken dialogue (rather than recitative)
between the musical numbers. The music is light, attractive, and
spirited, often with dances. Their plots are amusing, farfetched, and
frothy. Typically they are set in some mythical eastern European
country, where amorous, fun-loving aristocrats rub shoulders with
merry, contented peasants.
Table of
Contents
Plot Summary &
Listening CD
4
Getting to Know the Story
6
Vocabulary
7
Practice Your Patter
8
Libretto Excerpt:
“The Major General’s Song” 9
Humor in
The Pirates of Penzance
Satire
Exaggeration
Confusion
10
Libretto Excerpts
12
Gilbert & Sullivan
13
Web Resources
14
An operetta's cast will normally be classically trained opera singers;
indeed, there is essentially no difference between the scores for an
opera and an operetta, except for the operetta's lightness. Gilbert and
Sullivan are some of the most famous composers of operetta, which
became the precurser to modern musical theater.
It was around 1910 that the American popular musical theater picked up
its characteristic accent. It was a musical accent, and this came from
jazz. Although Broadway did not employ actual jazz, it swiftly
appropriated and assimilated jazz syncopation and swing.
Theatergoers had also begun to demand stories that were American
and up to date, and so writers of the song lyrics learned to make up
smart, catchy verses full of American locutions. To distinguish them
from operettas-with their Old World ambience, their waltzes, and their
students’ drinking songs-these new shows were called musical
comedies or musicals.
3
Copyright August 2003, Tennessee
Performing Arts Center. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the Tennessee
Performing Arts Center Education
Program, P. O. Box 190660,
Nashville, TN 37219.
Plot Summary
Characters
Act I -- A rocky sea-shore on the coast of Cornwall
A band of pirates are celebrating on the beach near
Cornwall. They toast young Frederic, the Pirate
Apprentice, who now has turned twenty-one, and therefore
is free from his indentured apprenticeship.
Ruth, his former nursemaid, has lived with and worked for
the pirates all these years, because she mistakenly put
him there in the first place. She misheard the boy’s father’s
instructions, which were to apprentice young Frederic to a pilot.
(Listen to track 1, read along with lyrics on p.12) Now freed,
Frederic believes he must leave the pirating life. Ruth believes that
she will go with him because she loves him.
Major General Stanley
The Pirate King
Samuel (His Lieutenant)
Frederic (The Pirate Apprentice)
Sergeant Of Police
General Stanley's Daughters
Mabel , Edith, Kate & Isabel
Ruth (A Pirate Maid Of All Work)
Chorus
On the Listening CD
1. When Frederic Was a Little Lad
2. Poor Wand’ring One
3. I am the Very Model of a Modern
Major General
4. With Cat Like Tread
5. Many Mumbling Mice
6. Tiny Timmy Took the Tater Tot
7. The Alphabet Warm-Up
Frederic tells the pirates that he likes them as individuals but
nevertheless, now that he is out of his indentures, he intends to
report them to the authorities and have them destroyed, purely out
of a sense of duty. But, he points out, this would be unnecessary if
they would give up piracy. He goes on to explain that they will
never be financially successful as pirates anyway because they
are too tender-hearted. Because they were orphans themselves,
they are sympathetic with any other orphans. So they never keep captive any orphan. This fact is
well known, and any who are captured always claim to be orphans and so are allowed to go free.
Ruth, the only woman Frederic has ever seen since he was eight years old, begs Frederic to take
her with him. Just at this moment, a bevy of beautiful maidens, the daughters of Major General
Stanley who has bought a near-by estate, come clambering over the rocks and into the pirates’ lair.
They are not aware of the pirates’ presence.
Upon seeing the maidens, Frederic realizes that Ruth, by comparison, is plain and old. She goes
off, and he approaches the girls. He begs any one of them to marry him, but they refuse, except
Mabel, who hearing his plea as she enters, takes pity on him and sings her beautiful waltz song,
"Poor wand'ring one!" (Listen to track 2, read along with lyrics on p.12)
Soon the pirates return and each seize a
girl to marry, honorably, of course,
because they know of a “doctor of divinity
who resides in this vicinity.” But their joy
is short-lived as the Major-General,
resplendent in military scarlet and gold,
suddenly appears and introduces himself
with his patter song, “I Am the Very Model
of a Modern Major General.” (Read and
listen along: Track 3 on CD, lyrics on p.9)
.
4
In order to dissuade the pirates from marrying his daughters and leaving him alone, he
tricks the pirates into believing that he, too, is an orphan, and thereby frees himself and the
girls.
The Act ends with Ruth imploring Frederic not to leave her, but he scorns her and casts her
from him.
Act II - A ruined chapel by moonlight
In the chapel, General Stanley is surrounded by his daughters. He points out that, having
falsely described himself as an orphan to escape the pirates' clutches, he comes to the
chapel, night after night, to humble himself before the tombs of his ancestors by purchase.
Meantime Frederic has gathered the local police to march with him against the pirates—an
expedition that appears to fill them with dread; however after a great deal of delay they
eventually head out.
Frederic is about to follow them when the Pirate King
and Ruth appear at the window, armed, and cover him
with their pistols. But they soon put away their firearms
and tell him, in a most friendly manner, of a startling
paradox. They remind him that he was born in leap
year—on 29 February—which occurs every fourth year,
and therefore reckoning his age by birthdays he is "a
little boy of five", despite the fact that he has actually
lived for twenty-one years.
Frederic is therefore a pirate still and owing to his sense of duty he feels compelled to tell
the Pirate King and Ruth that General Stanley is not, and never was, an orphan. The Pirate
King is furious at the deception played on him and storms off to collect his men who will
attack Tremorden Castle that very night.
The police reappear and Mabel explains to them that as Frederic has rejoined the pirates he
cannot now lead the attack on their lair. The police, who have a great deal of fun poked at
them in this scene, are much perturbed at the thought of having no leader. After much
delay, they eventually depart for the confrontation.
The police hide as the pirates noisily approach (listen to CD track # 4 “With Cat Like Tread.”
Lyrics on p.12.). The Major General appears, in dressing-gown and carrying a candle, but
decides that he was wrong when he thought he heard a noise and assumes that it was only
"the sighing of the breeze".
Suddenly the pirates attack and seize the General; but he calls upon the police who spring
up from their concealment. A short fight takes place in which they are vanquished. However
the Police Sergeant calls upon the victorious pirates to "Yield, in Queen Victoria's name!"
They obligingly do so and kneel at the feet of the police. At this critical moment Ruth,
announces that the pirates in reality "are all noblemen, who have gone wrong!" The General
thereupon gives his daughters to marry the gentlemen-pirates, and all ends happily.
5
Getting to Know the Story
…some ancestors and an
escutcheon…
To fully appreciate the humor in The Pirates of Penzance, it will be
helpful for your students to know the story before attending the
performance. The humor and dialogue are so fast-moving that
Gilbert always insisted the entire libretto be printed in each
program so the audience could dutifully follow along!
Source: Gilbert & Sullivan Opera, A
History and a Comment by H. M.
Walbrook
CHAPTER VI - SOME ANCESTORS
AND AN ESCUTCHEON
Gilbert and Sullivan Archive
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/books/w
albrook/chap6.html
You may view and print the complete libretto from this website:
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/html/pirates_home.html. Older students may read the libretto
themselves, or you may wish to assign scenes for small groups to summarize, and then story board the
entire plot as a class project. It will also be helpful to use the plot summary with the listening CD.
Provide students with copies of the lyric excerpts (p. 9 and 12) and have them follow along listening to
the selections on the CD. The placement of the listening selections is noted in the plot summary.
When students are familiar with the story and characters, discuss the following:
• What social rules and manners are important to these characters?
• Why does Frederic call himself “a slave of duty”?
• Who is most deserving of respect?
• Who is the victim and who is the hero?
• What does “putting on airs” mean?
• What is the meaning of The Pirate King’s statement that he doesn't think very highly of
his "profession," but adds that, "contrasted with respectability it is comparatively
honest."
• What is a “paradox?” What examples of paradox are found in The Pirates of Penzance?
Some examples of paradox in the characters’ behavior:
• Frederic does not approve of the pirates’ dishonorable activities, but is “honor-bound”
to complete his required service to them—even when he learns he was apprenticed to
them by mistake, and later when he must return to them because his term is not up due
to his birthday falling in a leap year.
•
The Major-General has bought Tremorden Castle and its estate, containing a ruined
chapel. He wants everyone to believe that he is a nobleman, so he claims that, by
purchasing the estate, he inherits the ranking of the noble “ancestors” who were the
previous owners. His daughter Mabel happily shares her father’s illusion, and thinks of
herself as "a lady of position."
•
Ruth, the Pirates' maid-of-all-work, behaves at forty-seven like a girl of seventeen.
•
The Pirates are sentimental and generous to orphans. Rather than just
taking the girls off to sea, they first intend to marry them in front of a
minister. In the end, they all are revealed to be noblemen who have
gone wrong.
•
The Police, on being called upon to exterminate the Pirates, are
revealed to be rather cowardly, and when the moment of conflict
comes, surrender without striking a blow.
6
Vocabulary
Apprentice – one bound by indenture to serve another for a prescribed period with a
view toward learning an art or trade.
Indenture – a contract binding one person to work for another for a given period of time
Leap Year – a year in the Gregorian calendar with 366 days with February 29 as the
extra day
Victorian – of, relating to, or characteristic of the reign of Queen Victoria of England
(1837-1901), or the art, letters and taste of her time; typical of the moral standards,
attitude, or conduct of the age of Victoria especially when considered stuffy or
hypocritical.
Patter – To say or speak in a rapid or mechanical manner…..to speak or sing rapid-fire
words in a theatrical performance
Penzance, Cornwall – Penzance is a coastal town in the South Eastern region of
Cornwall, England
Constable – a public officer, usually of a town or township, responsible for keeping the
peace and for minor judicial duties
Escutcheon ( es-kuch’un) - a defined area on which armorial bearings are
displayed and which usually consist of a shield
Paradox – a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common
sense and yet is perhaps true; something or someone with seemingly
contradictory qualities or phases
Satire – a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
Farce – a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and
improbable plot
Libretto – the text of an opera or musical
7
Practice Your Patter!
Performing many of the songs in The Pirates of Penzance requires rigorous vocal practice in
enunciation, breathing, and rhythmic speed. This lesson is designed to show you what a singer’s
process is in learning a patter song. Patter songs are usually wordy, very fast, and are half spoken,
half sung. The singer’s main focus is making sure they use perfect diction, allowing their audience to
understand the text.
Before singers begin to work on patter songs, they first need to warm-up their mouth and lips.
Ask your students to try saying the tongue twisters below. Start out saying them slowly with perfect
English diction (you can even try an English accent). Then speed them up. Can they still maintain their diction
enough for another person to understand what they are saying?
•
Toy Boat
•
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
•
The big black bug, bit a big black bear, and the big black bear bled blood-ugh!
•
Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran. (try rolling your R’s!)
•
Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot, we'll be together whatever the weather,
whether we like it or not!
•
Red leather, yellow leather
•
The sixth sheik’s sixth sheep was sick.
•
The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
Now that your students lips are warmed up it’s time to work on their voices. Listen to the vocal warm-ups on
the CD and ask your students to follow along. Try to enunciate each one as if you were in a large theater and
your audience is in the last balcony. Each warm-up will start out slow and will get faster. How easily can your
students understand each other?
1. Many Mumbling Mice are making midnight music in the moonlight, mighty nice! (#5 on CD)
2. Tiny Timmy Took the Tater Tot (# 6 on CD)
3. The alphabet warm-up (BDFL MNPT V VVVV) (#7 on CD)
Now have your students listen to “I Am a Very Model of a Modern Major-General” (listening track #3) as they
follow along with the lyrics on the next page. Can your students understand the singer? Ask your students to
speak a portion of the song slowly making sure their diction is accurate. Next, ask them to speed up! Can
their fellow students understand them?
Try composing limericks in which students introduce themselves. Remind the class about literary devices such
as rhyming, alliteration, onomatopoeia to give the limericks a light-hearted tone. Ask individuals to read their
limericks to the rest of the class. Note that the rhyming and rhythmic bounce suggest a sing-song quality to
each student’s recitation. Ask willing volunteers to “patter” their limericks in a “Gilbert and Sullivan” style. Work
on enunciation and expressing the meaning in their performance.
8
Libretto excerpt
F
I Am The Very Model of a Modern
Major-General (Act I)
GENERAL:
I am the very model of a modern MajorGeneral,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the
fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order
categorical;
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters
mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and
quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot
o' news,
With many cheerful facts about the square of
the hypotenuse.
ALL:
And whistle all the airs from that infernal
nonsense Pinafore.
And whistle all the airs from that infernal
nonsense Pinafore.
And whistle all the airs from that infernal
nonsense Pinafore.
GENERAL:
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic
cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and
mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
ALL:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and
ALL:
With many cheerful facts about the square of
the hypotenuse.
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.
ALL:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.
GENERAL:
In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin,"
When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin,
When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at,
And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat,"
When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern
gunnery,
When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery-In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy,
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
GENERAL:
I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
ALL:
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.
GENERAL:
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
GENERAL:
For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury,
Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century;
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and
Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din
afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.
ALL:
But still, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
He is the very model of a modern Major-General.
9
Humor in
The Pirates of Penzance
Satire
A literary technique used both in prose and poetry that combines a critical
attitude with wit and humor for the purpose of improving society. Short stories, poems, novels,
essays, and plays may be vehicles for satire.
Discuss satire. What are some contemporary examples of satire in entertainment?
1. Dilbert, The Simpsons. What do these shows and cartoons parody?
2. What are some common features of satire? (exaggerated characters and situations,
familiar topics.) Assign the class to find and bring in examples.
3. Note that some satire is not as a comical as The Pirates of Penzance.
Review the time period in which The Pirates of Penzance was first performed.
THE VICTORIAN ERA (1839-1901) Gilbert and Sullivan were to Victorian audiences what
some popular entertainers are today. An audience in 1880 would likely “get” all the jokes
that we may not understand in the same way now. It is helpful to have some context for the
humor. The Pirates of Penzance was first performed in London in 1880, near the end of the
Victorian Era.
The Victorian era corresponds with the reign of Queen Victoria in England from 1839
to 1901. The period is beloved for its attention to high morals, modesty and proper
decorum, as inspired by the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert. The Victorian
era was also an optimistic time in which scientific and industrial invention thrived.
Developments in printing produced a proliferation of Victorian scrap art, cards, and
magazines. The importance placed on civic conscience and social responsibility
engendered notable developments toward gender and racial equality, such as the
legal abolishment of slavery in America. In addition, humanitarian and religious
organizations such as the Salvation Army reflected the Victorian concern for the poor
and needy of the period.
•
Read the plot summary and the character descriptions. What are the exaggerated traits
in Frederic, the Pirate King, and the Major General? (Extreme sense of honor,
intellectualism, manners, sense of duty)
•
Would it make a difference if the characters were not a General and a King? How?
•
Why would this be funny to audiences in Victorian England?
•
What current social habits might make the satire more relevant to contemporary
audiences? Look at some political cartoons for ideas. (suggestions—cell phones; family
life; office work; business ethics, election processes ).
10
Exaggeration
Exaggeration is a key element of satire, and of humor in general. It can be expressed verbally,
visually and physically. Look for examples at the performance! The following scene is a good
example of Frederic’s exaggerated sense of duty. Frederic was born in a leap year, and The
Pirate King discovers this loophole in Frederic’s term of apprenticeship.
King
Frederic
King
Frederic
King
Ruth
Frederic
Ruth
King
Frederic
I’m afraid you don’t appreciate the delicacy of your position. You were apprenticed to us--Until I reached my twenty-first year.
No, until you reached your twenty-first birthday, and going by birthdays, you are as yet only fiveand-a-quarter.
You don’t mean to say you are going to hold me to that?
No, we merely remind you of the fact, and leave the rest to your sense of duty.
Your sense of duty!
Don’t put it on that footing! As I was merciful to you just now, be merciful to me! I implore you not to
insist on the letter of your bond just as the cup of happiness is at my lips!
We insist on nothing; we content ourselves with pointing out to you your sense of duty.
Your duty!
Well, you have appealed to my sense of duty, and my duty is only too clear. I abhor your infamous
calling; I shudder at the thought that I have ever been mixed up with it; but duty is before all—at
any price I will do my duty.
Comic Confusion
There are some very famous examples of confusion in comedy, from Shakespeare to Seinfeld.
Frederic’s predicament is brought upon him by Ruth’s confusion of the words “pilot” and “pirate.”
The following is another example. Have students rehearse and perform this short scene in
which the General begins his plea for freedom from the Pirates who have captured him.
(Imagine the General’s British accent!)
General
Pirates
King
General
King
General
King
All
General
King
General
King
General
King
General
King
General
King
Tell me, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan?
(disgusted) Oh, dash it all!
Here we are again!
I ask you, have you ever known what it is to be an orphan?
Often!
Yes, orphan. Have you ever known what it is to be one?
I say, often.
(disgusted) Often, often, often. (Turning away)
I don't think we quite understand one another. I ask you, have you ever known what it is to
be an orphan, and you say "orphan." As I understand you, you are merely repeating the
word "orphan" to show that you understand me.
I didn't repeat the word often.
Pardon me, you did indeed.
I only repeated it once.
True, but you repeated it.
But not often.
Stop! I think I see where we are getting confused. When you said "orphan," did you mean
"orphan," a person who has lost his parents, or "often," frequently?
Ah! I beg pardon- I see what you mean -- frequently.
Ah! you said "often," frequently.
No, only once.
11
Libretto Excerpts on the listening CD
D
F
RUTH:
When Frederic was a little lad he proved so brave and daring,
His father thought he'd 'prentice him to some career seafaring.
I am the Very Model of a
I was, alas! his nurs'rymaid, and so it fell to my lot
Modern Major General…
(page # 9)
To take and bind the promising boy apprentice to a pilot -A life not bad for a hardy lad, though surely not a high lot,
Though I'm a nurse, you might do worse than make your boy a pilot.
I was a stupid nurs'rymaid, on breakers always steering,
And I did not catch the word aright, through being hard of hearing;
Mistaking my instructions, which within my brain did gyrate,
I took and bound this promising boy apprentice to a pirate.
A sad mistake it was to make and doom him to a vile lot.
I bound him to a pirate -- you! -- instead of to a pilot.
(Police conceal themselves in aisle. As they do
I soon found out, beyond all doubt, the scope of this disaster,
But I hadn't the face to return to my place, and break it to my
so, the Pirates, with RUTH and FREDERIC, are
master.
seen appearing at ruined window. They enter
A nurs'rymaid is not afraid of what you people call work,
cautiously, and come down stage on tiptoe.
So I made up my mind to go as a kind of piratical maid-of-allwork.
And that is how you find me now, a member of your shy lot,
PIRATES (very loud)
Which you wouldn't have found, had he been bound
With cat-like tread,
apprentice to a pilot.
G
Upon our prey we steal;
E
In silence dread,
Our cautious way we feel.
MABEL:
Poor wand'ring one!
Though thou hast surely strayed,
Take heart of grace,
Thy steps retrace,
Poor wand'ring one!
Poor wand'ring one!
If such poor love as mine
Can help thee find
True peace of mindWhy, take it, it is thine!
No sound at all!
We never speak a word;
A fly's foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard-POLICE: (softly)
Tarantara, tarantara!
PIRATES: So stealthily the pirate creeps,
While all the household soundly sleeps.
Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
GIRLS: Take heart, no danger low'rs;
Take any heart but ours!
MABEL: Take heart, fair days will shine;
Take any heart--take mine!
GIRLS: Take heart; no danger low'rs;
Take any heart-but ours!
MABEL: Take heart, fair days will shine;
Take any heart--take mine!
Poor wand'ring one!, etc.
Take another station;
Let's vary piracee
With a little burglaree!
POLICE: (softly)
Tarantara, tarantara!
SAMUEL: (distributing implements to various
members of the gang)
Here's your crowbar and your centrebit,
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Your life-preserver--you may want to hit!
About Gilbert and Sullivan
In the world of musical theater the names of Gilbert and Sullivan are so closely linked in the mind and ear
of the public as to be one, a unit perhaps even more readily recognized than the more recent writercomposer teams of Rogers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Loewe. Over a period of twenty-five years
these two very different Englishmen produced a total of fourteen entertainment pieces for the musical
stage, most of them still performed more than 100 years after their introduction.
William S. Gilbert
The most notable trait of William Schenk Gilbert (1836-1911) was a demeanor which has been described
as irascible, contentious, egotistic, and cruel or, depending on one’s own experience of this man, brilliant,
witty, benevolent, and generous. The former qualities, being more colorful, have prevailed in most
accounts of his life.
Gilbert wrote plays and acted in them while still an adolescent in school; his enthusiasm was such
that he reportedly knocked to the ground any boy actor who failed to meet his wishes in stage matters. His
first play was produced in 1866. With its modest success, it seems his childhood interests found fulfillment,
and Gilbert described himself as a dramatist from this point forward. Many of his early theatrical works
were thinly veiled burlesques of the librettos of successful operas by Donizetti, Meyerbeer, and Bellini, and
some of the stage techniques developed here appear in his later comic opera plots.
After achieving some stature in the comic theater, Gilbert turned to more substantial plays written
in blank verse, an activity which during the 1860’s occupied much of his creative energy. Most important, it
brought him into contact with a composer for the musical theater whose innate talent for comic opera at
least matched his own: Arthur Sullivan.
Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900) was the son of a professional military bandsman and, perhaps
because of this early musical exposure, exhibited unusual musical talent from an early age. He was
admitted to the Chapel Royal at age ten, where he quickly advanced with honors. When he returned to
England at age nineteen, he produced an impressive list of works for orchestra and voices in various forms,
all of which met with high praise from the critics. But his principle means of support, beyond some short
lived teaching appointments, was the composition of simple ballads for voice and piano intended for the
home. “The Lost Chord” remains to this day the most popular of about 100 works in this style. From 1861
Sullivan had been writing music for various stage works – incidental music for Shakespearean plays as well
as scores for a miscellany of light stage entertainments. These did not
represent his main musical interest, but with revenue from his ballads they
provided a livelihood while he pursued his more ambitious compositions.
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Website Resources
Libretto
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/libretto.txt
Glossary notes and definitions to vocabulary in Pirates of Penzance
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/html/notes.html
The Pirates of Penzance home page
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pirates/html/pirates_home.html
Contemporary Political Satire in Music
Contemporary political satire set to music, presented by the performing group The Capital Steps at this
website: http://www.capsteps.com/
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For more information about TPAC’s arts-in-education activities for students, teachers and
artists, and the HOT Season for Young People, please visit our website:
www.TPAC.org/education.
Please contact Susan Sanders, [email protected] for questions or comments about the
season guidebooks.
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Tennessee Performing Arts Center
P.O. Box 190660
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
www.TPAC.org
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