by Sopia Bracco
The Pirates of Penzance takes place in Penzance, a town in Cornwall, UK during the Victorian Era. Penzance is on the southwest tip of the UK.
The Pirates of Penzance was written by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan in 1879. Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated together on 14 operas. This was their 5th opera together. Gilbert and Sullivan mocked various aspects of Victorian Society throughout their 14 operas together. In The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan make fun of unqualified people in power, duty, education, and obligation to family.
It first opened at The Royal Bijou Theatre in Paignton, Devon, England on December 30th, 1879. The next day, it officially premiered on Broadway at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City. The Pirates of Penzance opened in the US to prevent people from pirating it (pirating, get it?). Producers in the US had been stealing shows by Gilbert and Sullivan without their permission so opening in the US was an attempt to solve this problem.
The Pirates of Penzance was most recently revived on Broadway at the Uris Theatre, now called the Gershwin Theatre, on January 8th, 1981. It ran for 787 performances and closed on November 28th, 1982. This production won a Tony Award for Best Revival.
There are a lot of unfamiliar terms in this operetta. Here are some of terms you will hear tonight:
Bumper - A bumper is a cup that is filled to the very top.
Scuttling a Cunader - This phrase means to sink a Cunard Line passenger ship. Cunard is a British company that makes passenger ships.
Cutting out a P. & O. - This phrase means to separate a Peninsular and Orient Line passenger ship from its fleet so that one could take it over. The Peninsular and Orient Line (P. & O.) is another type of passenger ship.
Handspike - A handspike is an old word for a lever; levers were put in a capstan (a vertical machine) which was used to pull up a heavy chain or an anchor.
Custom House - Custom House was another name for the Customs Bureau. The Custom House collected import and export taxes.
