The Broadway Theatre Review: Pirates!
By Ross
Ushered in by two delightful charmers; Arthur Sullivan, portrayed lovingly by Preston Truman Boyd (Broadway’s She Loves Me), and William S. Gilbert, beautifully embodied by the very funny David Hyde Pierce (Broadway’s Hello, Dolly!), Roundabout Theatre’s madcap joyride, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, now playing glorious havoc in the Broadway high seas at the Todd Haimes Theatre, finds spicy Caribbean flavors of the French Quarter variety inside and within their beloved 1830 operetta. To be honest, this is a musical that I have never seen before, and had no idea what to expect, except for some quick witty lyrics and dialogue, and a grand entrance by swashbuckling star, Ramin Karimloo (Broadway’s Funny Girl) as the sexy, handsome Pirate King, who’s too empathetic for his own financial good.
It’s a pretty silly but sassy sing-song sailing, this Roundabout recreation, conceived with a wink by director Scott Ellis (2ST Broadway’s Take Me Out), alongside adaptor and composer Rupert Holmes (Broadway’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood), choreographer Warren Carlyle (Broadway’s Kiss Me Kate), and musical director and orchestrator Joseph Joubert (RT’s Caroline or Change), who, I’m told, stuck pretty close to the Gilbert & Sullivan story, while playing with the edge of a Louisiana blade and cooked like a musical jambalaya. Played in high comedy cabaret style, it swings in and disembarks in a delightfully loving and lustful manner, as a young man, played handsomely by Nicholas Barasch (Encores’ Big River), bids farewell to his pirate brothers, before assuring them all that he will turn on them as soon as the next day’s sun rises. Their high-spirited shenanigans elevate the plank-walking with saucy sexiness, thanks to both Barasch’s delightful turn as the young Frederic, and the dashing Karimloo and his wide-open shirt, courtesy of costume designer Linda Cho (Broadway’s The Great Gatsby), giving us all our money’s worth within that first swinging Pirate King parade.
And then there is Jinkx Monsoon (Off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors), as Ruth, playing it big and wide with her name and her role as the (far-too) devoted nurse nanny to the young and delicious Frederic. And no wonder, he’s quite the handsome young man, and she has been watching over him on that pirate ship since the day they first set sail with them, thanks to Ruth’s deafness and complete misunderstanding. And with almost too much of a loving eye and a deeply felt desire, she has filled him with deceptions enough to make him believe he needs to marry her now that he is on the cusp of turning twenty-one. But all that flies out the window when Frederic hears the call of the wild women of New Orleans, singing songs of such cleverness as they sashay their way through the Old French Quarter.
This parade of maidens, glorious embodied by a cast of lovelies, are the daughters of the Major General Stanley, who is the very model of a fast talking modern major general, who can’t help himself to tell a fib or two to get out of a prickly position with the Pirate King and his crew of equally glorious pirates. Also played to the highest of levels by David Hyde Pierce, the show finds its speed dating dilemma in his delivery, in a dual framing device that adds layers of playfulness on top of some pretty solid performing already. But it is Barasch in this moment who takes the steering wheel away from everyone as the apprentice swashbuckler as he struggles both with his personal pledges that he wants to hold tight, and to the instantaneous love he feels for the late-to-the-party maiden Mabel, played gorgeously by Samantha Williams (NYCC’s Titanic). “Dang that Mabel works fast“, cries the other young women who are being threatened with marriage to this band of merry pirates, but alas, the orphan story always seems to get in the way, cries the exasperated Pirate King as he crumbles most ridiculously to his knees before the lying Major-General.
Frolicking out in joyful abandonment, Pirates! finds all the flavour one could hope for on a clever construction and cut-about set designed delightfully by David Rockwell (Broadway’s A Beautiful Noise), lit warmly by Donald Holder (LCT’s McNeal), and enhanced with a solid sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman (Broadway’s An Enemy of the People). It’s such a simple pleasure, this operetta, reformulated for the ship docks of 1830 New Orleans in such a delightfully silly manner. And who would have guessed this pack of nimble, roughneck swashbucklers would make such good company, even as they try to force themselves on these wise women.
Pirates! doesn’t sail too far away from the Gilbert & Sullivan plot line, while letting Pierce’s Gilbert and Boyd’s Sullivan step into some other pivotal roles for our pure enjoyment and pleasure. Both are wonderfully excellent, especially the pro Pierce, who nails it over and over again, and is pirate-penzance-proud of his joyful accomplishment when the word play song is done with. With silly high-seas high-Jinkx kicking it up and delivering up a delightful storm, all is saved by some antics around a leap year birthday and some youthful math. It’s all fun and frivolous, played for big laughs and good times. The cast, which includes Kelly Belarmino, Maria Briggs, Cicily Daniels, Ninako Donville, Alex Dorf, Rick Faugno, Niani Feelings, Tommy Gedrich, Alex Gibson, Afra Hines, Dan Hoy, Ryo Kamibayashi, Tatiana Lofton, Nathan Lucrezio, Shina Ann Morris, Tyrone L. Robinson, Cooper Stanton, and Bronwyn Tarboton, gives off a vibrant energy, looking like they are having the best of all possible times. Especially Karimloo, who can swing and fly around the stage while holding true to his vocal power, smiling broadly with love at his fellow cast members after another delightfully broad use of jokes and joyous play.
Pirate stealing a wee bit from Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore for the finale, Pirates! The Penzance Musical tries its best to pull it all together with a rousing “We’re All From Someplace Else” that feels somewhat out of place, but we can’t help but take it in with a strong, warm heart. That generous plea for tolerance and love is what we need these days, and who would have expected it from a roomful of killer swashbucklers and their gorgeously kind Pirate King?
