With catlike tread, Orlando company brings 'Pirates'

The Gilbert and Sullivan favorite appears in Tampa with a modern sensibility and a live orchestra.

By Marty Clear, Times Correspondent
Published January 17, 2008

The Pirates of Penzance
At the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center’s Ferguson Hall. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $29.50-$59.50 plus service charge. (813) 229-7827 or tbpac.org.

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TAMPA - Just because the Orlando Ballet happens to be the company bringing choreographer Daryl Gray's The Pirates of Penzance to Tampa, you shouldn't assume it's a ballet.

And just because it includes all of Gilbert and Sullivan's music and most of their lyrics, don't assume it's an operetta.

"It's a ballet, but it's not a ballet, and it's not really just an operetta," said Gray. "It's a show, that's what it is, a show."

Gray, who moved from New York to Tampa a few years ago, created his take on The Pirates of Penzance in 1991. It premiered in Australia and eight years later toured the United States to rave reviews.

When Gray moved to Tampa, he heard about Gasparilla and thought his show would be a perfect fit for a town that goes pirate-crazy for a couple of weeks a year.

His show is very much the familiar Pirates of Penzance, the story of Frederick, his love for the fair Mabel and his apprenticeship to a group of relatively benign pirates. Audiences are treated to all the "hits," including I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General and A Policeman's Lot Is Not a Happy One.

But Gray has taken some modern liberties with the 19th century material.

"The fourth wall isn't always there," he said. "At times it's hard to tell who's in the cast and who's in the audience."

He got lucky with Orlando Ballet, he said. The dancers were excellent, and enough of them had singing and acting chops strong enough to conquer the material.

A secondary problem was budgetary. Even though the Orlando Ballet is trying to make Tampa its second home, the company - like most companies on tour - dances to recorded music for its show here.

Gray insisted on a live orchestra.

"They wanted to use a recording, but this show has to have live music," Gray said. "There is laughter and there's applause and the orchestra needs to be able to hold. There's no way you could do this show with recorded music."

Marty Clear is a Tampa freelance writer. He can be reached at mclear@tampabay.rr.com.

[Last modified January 16, 2008, 13:11:56]