Now at the Olney Theatre Center
When H.M.S. Pinafore ended
last Saturday night at the Olney Theatre Center, a nine-year-old
exclaimed: "It's the best play I've ever seen!" and being from a theater family, he has lots of play experience.
The shows come from Chicago and the Hypocrites to mingle successfully anew with the Olney.
The cast of The Hypocrites and The House Theatre of Chicago's H.M.S.
Pinafore at Olney Theatre Center/Photo, Teresa Castracane
In Pinafore the audience anchors a starring role, invited to
play center stage, at stage sides, in top bunks and on the deck of the
ship, too, throwing small stuffed animals and pillows at each other, at
nonparticipating audience members, and at the moving cast who sometime scoot new actors off their ringside benches, if they get in the way.
(Had the script allowed, a warning could have been sounded to those on deck: "Broomsticks, ahead, mates!" before stick handlers pushed the crew into the "water.")
Actors (included the newly recruited) "swim" and "float" in the "pool" of multi-colored pillows where they engage in a nonstop pillow fight, having a right jolly good time, skidding down the sliding board and dancing and singing.
Those in the audience who are not cast members sit in a clever L-shaped configuration with a live bar on one side and "the promenade," everywhere.
It's all about love, natch, with the serious question vexing most everyone now and then on the paths through life's seas: Do you follow the money or do you follow your heart?
Beleaguered Joseph (Mario Aivazian) wails: "No one told me when I grew up that I would have to make my own decisions."
He is a real mama's boy whose mama (Tina Munoz Pandya) is on watch duty, the captain of the ship, searching the seascape for the best in dollars, security, and stability a mate can bring!
Her choice is Dame JoAnne (Lauren Vogel) whose delivery and appearance suggest the Evil Witch of the Icebergs, obviously the wrong one for Joseph.
Roles are switched from the original 1878 (!) show, male to female and back again and are sometimes a bit overboard, like right at the launch when Matt Kahler, a "manly man," says he is "Buttercup."
Buttercup? Did I hear that right? Mr. Kahler, I've seen many buttercups, and you, sir, are no "buttercup"!
Another of Joseph's paramours is Ralphina (formerly Ralph and here acted by Dana Saleh Omar), the one Joseph (and we) want for a match.
Costumes (by Alison Siple) fit what you might envision for a pajama party. The men wear furry slippers, shorts, mixed pajamas (ditto, the females), just what you'd find at the Goodwill in today's styles when millennials dress to impress no one and everyone. ("Look, ma! I've got holes and clothes that don't match!")
And just like at a giant coed slumber party, everyone screams, talks, and sings at the same time, and the audience can sing along, too, accompanied by banjos, guitars, violins, a toy piano, an accordion, cymbals, ukuleles, and an oboe (or was that a flute?).
For all on board the Pinafore or watching, when the ship docks and reaches its end, the forecast is one of bright and happy.
According to Wikipedia, H.M.S. Pinafore premiered in 1878 in London and played 571 performances, becoming "an international success" with "great influence on the development of musical theatre in Britain and America."
Seth Graney, the director, adapted this Pinafore version with help from Mr. Kahler and Andra Velis Simon, also the music director.
More cast members are Eduardo Xavier Curley-Carrillo, Steven Romero Schaeffer, Leslie Ann Sheppard, Shawn Pfautsch, and Aja Wiltshire.
Other creative team members are Tom Burch, scenics; Heather Gilbert, lighting; Kevin O'Donnell, sound; Miranda Anderson, stage manager; and Dennis A. Blackledge, director of production.
What: The H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan
Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.
When: Now through August 19, 2018, Wednesday through Saturday at 7:45 p.m., Sunday, 5:30 p.m., one Tuesday evening performance, August 14, at 7:45 p.m. Matinees, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 1:45 p.m.
Post show discussions: After matinees, July 21 and August 18
Tickets: Begin at $34 with discounts for groups, seniors, military, and students
Ages: Recommended for all. Rated "G" ("No swear words")
Duration: 70 minutes with one quick (one minute) intermission
Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats
Parking: Free and plentiful on-site
For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485
patricialesli@gmail.com
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