Jendi Tarde and Max Miller star in 'H.M.S. Pinafore.'
A Vortex Theater Company presentation of a musical in one act with music by Arthur Sullivan, libretto by W.S. Gilbert. Directed and adapted by Dave Dalton. Choreography, Carrie Cimma. Musical direction and arrangements, Edward Barnes.
Deadeye - Billy Ernst
The Girl - Sarah Hartley
Captain Corcoran - Nich Kauffman
Buttercup, Sir Joseph - David Macaluso
Ralph Rackstraw - Max Miller
Josephine - Jendi Tarde
Boatswain - Paul Sigrist
A part of the roots of American musical comedy is firmly planted in Gilbert & Sullivan's 1878 light opera "H.M.S. Pinafore." In an attempt to find a fresh way of staging the venerable classic, the Vortex Theater Company more or less removes the opera and presents the story as an intimate, American-style musical with British pantomime overtones. The results are less "sober men and true" and more "Dames at Sea," which makes for an unexpectedly light-hearted lark.
Thirty years after writing "Pinafore," Gilbert published a children's book about his most popular work. The 1908 "Pinafore Picture Book" retells the story, with new information not evident in the operetta. Most startling is his portrait of Buttercup: She is not the sweet old lady we've come to know but a tiresome biddy who annoys and embarrasses the sailors, who "only tolerated her because they were gallant British Tars who couldn't be rude to a lady even if they tried, for they had tried on several occasions to no avail."
This from Gilbert, who -- as author-director of "Pinafore" -- presumably either knew his intentions or chose to change the interpretation.
Director-adaptor Dave Dalton cannily decided to tell the "Pinafore" story as in Gilbert's "Picture Book," with a child-friendly narrator filling in details and motivations between the songs. This frees Dalton from the necessity of doing the whole operetta and allows him to add jokes and jabs.
If it's a stage full of accomplished singers and a pit full of musicians you're looking for, however, go uptown to the City Opera's current "Pirates of Penzance." Down at the Meisner you have young singers concentrating on their comedy, accompanied by two forlorn keyboards and a few assorted percussion instruments.
The score has been amusingly reduced and arranged by Edward Barnes, who sometimes makes it sound like Charlie Brown's pal Schroeder is at the spinet.
Doubling is inevitable in a small-cast "Pinafore"; as it turns out, it's part of the fun. Here, the third Tar in the line (David Macaluso, a youngish, skinny fellow with eyes that pop out) dons not only the wig of Sir Joseph but the hoop skirt of poor Buttercup as well. While Captain Corcoran is the skipper and Ralph Rackstraw the ablest seaman, it's Macaluso who makes this saucy ship a beauty (in the words of Sir William).
Max Miller plays Rackstraw, the lad who loves above his station. Jendi Tarde is his girl, somewhat dourly conceived and outfitted in what seems to be a Victorian funeral dress, and Nich Kauffman is her dad. Sarah Hartley, who like most of the cast seems to be fresh out of conservatory, charmingly narrates the affair with wide-eyed wonder. ("Wow!" she says, after the sailors' opening chorus.)
Miranda Hardy's storybook-style sets are spare and inventive, filling the tiny stage. Jessica Wegener's costumes, which seem to have come in on a budget of $79.99, add to the fun. Are those sailor hats made out of wrapping paper colored with blue magic marker? The boys wear brightly white Hi-Top sneakers and are also made up with discs of rouge on their cheeks, like painted-doll soldiers.
Buttercup's hoops are of flimsy Halloween costume variety, allowing Macaluso, when someone rushes by him, to flatten himself like a pancake against the wall of the narrow theater. And Hartley, the narrator, is dressed in -- you guessed it -- a pinafore.
Sets and lighting, Miranda Hardy; costumes, Jessica Wegener; production stage manager, Allison Glenzer. Opened March 5, 2007. Reviewed March 8; runs through March 31. Running time: 1 HOUR, 20 MIN.
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Date in print: Mon., Mar. 12, 2007