Ahoy! Peninsula Youth Theatre proudly presents Gilbert & Sullivan’s vivacious musical classic, The Pirates of Penzance, playing at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts from May 11 to May 19. This hilarious comedy operetta features a slave to duty, a winsome maiden, bumbling police, a lying major-general, not-so-dutiful daughters and a pirate king who is too tenderhearted to make piracy pay.
Misunderstandings abound with humorous consequences in this farcical musical production that follows young Frederic, an orphan who is mistakenly apprenticed to a boisterous band of pirates until his 21st birthday. When he is finally free to pursue his own adventures, he disavows the pirates’ way of life, and instantly falls in love with Major-General Stanley’s beautiful daughter, Mabel. But will his pirate comrades let him leave so easily?
“Pirates is a rollicking good time, and to me, the really exciting thing about the way we’re doing it is that there is truly something for every viewer to enjoy,” said Gary Gerber, the show’s Director. “Fans of children’s theater will, of course, be pleased to see a stage full of enthusiastic and talented teens and youngsters. But just as important, diehard fans of Gilbert & Sullivan operas will be equally pleased because we’re seriously building this show to be every bit as beautiful, lyrical, funny and delightful as they’d expect from any high-quality community theater.”
“That said,” Gerber continues, “there will be one big difference from other interpretations: In many, the focus is almost exclusively on the music, and the dialog and action are considered not as important. But that’s not us — oh sure we’re going to celebrate beautiful music, but we’ll also happily be going for every single belly laugh we can get.”
Sibling trio Ella, Ori and Yonatan Brutman, who are Sunnyvale residents, are performing in the production. In the Gilbert Cast, Ella Brutman plays a pirate dancer and a police dancer, Ori Brutman plays Frederic and Yonatan Brutman plays Samuel.
The Pirates of Penzance opens on Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 2 p.m. with the Gilbert Cast, and Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. with the Sullivan Cast. The show runs through Sunday, May 19, 2019. All performances will take place at The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts at 500 Castro St, Mountain View, CA. Content is appropriate for children of all ages. Ticket prices are $24 for adults, $20 for seniors (62+), $20 for students 18 and under, and $12 for children 5 and under. Please note that the City of Mountain View adds a $2 per ticket facility use fee to all orders. The city assesses additional fees depending on method of purchase. Tickets are available online at http://pytnet.org/boxoffice/the-pirates-of-penzance/#tickets or through the box office at (650) 903-6000.