There is no doubt about it: those ECHO Players make very poor pirates.
But then again, that’s exactly what they’re meant to be. We’re talking about The Pirates of Penzance, after all.
The Gilbert and Sullivan satirical operetta was performed with colour and passion by the ECHO Players during their dress rehearsal at the Village Theatre on Tuesday.
The story focuses on a band of not-so-degenerate pirates whose indentured charge is about to leave them.
But, after swearing upon his honour to wipe the pirates from the Earth, he meets a group of maidens, and only semi-sensical hijinks ensue, as per a Gilbert and Sullivan show.
The cast of 21 had several standout performers, including that of Frederic, the no-longer indentured young man, played by Taylor Fawcett.
A tenor from Victoria, Fawcett’s singing was very strong, and his chemistry with both his character’s love interests — his much older nursery maid, Ruth, played by Susan Warner, and Mabel, played by Belle Warner — was palpable.
Susan, Belle’s real-life mother, was another standout. Though a fair amount of the operetta’s opening is a joke on her character’s behalf, Ruth’s pining for Frederic, ardent and doomed to failure, was delightful.
One couldn’t help but feel for Ruth when Frederic, who had never seen any woman but Ruth before, spots a gaggle of beautiful young maidens.
One of those maidens is Mabel, and Belle delivers a strong, exuberant performance.
Her voice towers and soars, hinting at even more potential. But her physical performance was just as animated as her voice, with Mabel bouncing about the stage to tease Frederic, or brazenly ordering policemen to capture him.
She even stood up to the Pirate King, played by Brian Lecky.
Lecky added a tender voice to the ensemble, which lent itself well to his character.
After all, how many pirates instruct one to always act according to one’s conscience, as he tells Frederic?
Perhaps one of the most difficult roles was given to longtime performer Alan Clift. He plays the Major General.
So it fell to him to perform the operetta’s patter song, I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.
Known even to those who have never seen the operetta, the song has very many words that are meant to be sung at a quick pace, and with strong enunciation, or the words are lost.
Clift performs the song with aplomb and joviality, and his experience does him credit the rest of the performance as well.
The play is the last in the ECHO Players’ 2016/2017 season, and the first directed by Mari Lyn Kelly for the players.
The ECHO Players’ production of The Pirates of Penzance runs from April 27 to May 14.
For tickets and other information about the show and the players, call 250-752-3522 or email info@echoplayers.ca.
