Pirates of Penzance

De Equitibus staff members who also were in the cast and crew of Pirates of Penzance write about their experience.

Chris Moffitt (Frederic)

Delicate and yet cruel, romantic and yet desperate, innocent but forever a slave to duty — these fun characteristics are what I got to adopt as I played the role of Frederic in TPA’s 2014 production of the Pirates of Penzance. It was an amazing experience. I loved the opportunity of stepping into Frederic’s shoes and making them my own.

The music was also a highlight. I loved the songs I got to sing, and loved them even more when I was able to hit the high notes! Looking back, that weekend is one that I will always remember. It was a weekend in which I had the privilege of performing in this incredible play during the evenings, and where I also had the privilege of performing with the magnificent All State Choir during the days.

I crawled from rehearsal to rehearsal and performance to performance, screeched out some high A’s, and hoped others were as entertained as I was. Fortunately, I lost count of the number of times my voice cracked during rehearsals (I apologize to the cast for any damaged eardrums). However, with the energy, enthusiasm, and talent of a superb cast, I was able to pull through the performances.

I would most definitely not have been able to get through it were it not for the help and support of so many, not to mention a healthy dose of herbal tea and cough drops to ease my throat. Overall, this was definitely one of the best experiences of my sophomore year.

 

PJ Carmody (Pirate)

As my first experience in a musical, I would say Pirates of Penzance went pretty well for me. We began by spending time around the piano and learning the music. It was a bit challenging at times, but it was manageable. I really enjoyed the music and it grew on me even more as we began the stage work. Although time spent learning our parts on the stage felt lengthy, it was fun to learn stage actions for parts of the musical such as Cat-Like Tread.

My favorite part of being in the musical has to be when it all came together in the end. Seeing how the musical fit together and how all of our rehearsals paid off definitely had an effect on me. Being able to perform all of this together during four performances with all of my friends was awesome. I can’t wait to discover what musical we decide to do next year!

 

Claire Newfeld (Isabel)

Performing a musical is one of the most difficult endeavors a group of people can undertake. It does not just require talent and passion, but also endurance, patience, perseverance, teamwork, and a supreme level of trust in your fellow actors. Each person must be able to put the show before himself, and every single member of the ensemble is equally important to the success of a performance.

As an actor in Pirates of Penzance, the most fulfilling part for me was coming together with other students to tell a hilarious story with difficult music. The cast of a musical is one of the closest groups of people, because everyone shares something completely unique with every other member of the cast.

I’ve done quite a bit of community and summer theatre, and I think that the cast of “Pirates” was one of the most closely knit casts I’ve ever gotten the pleasure to work with. We all understood that this was not about making a spectacle of ourselves, but about something much greater than that.

As a chorus leader, I was given the opportunity to help the other girls in the cast be their absolute best. It was amazing to work with such a dedicated and talented group of young ladies. The best part about participating in “Pirates” is that I now have connections with so many more people in the TPA community that I never would have known had I not gotten up the nerve to audition.

 

Sarah Faulkner (Stage Manager)

The most enjoyable part of the process was the performance nights. The pirates were sassy, and the performers added in little comments and actions that were just perfect. When some of them had difficulty reaching their notes or saying lines, they acted as if nothing happened and covered it well. They covered it in such a way that the audience thought it was scripted. My favorite songs were One Maiden Breast and With Cat Like Tread. One Maiden Breast was sung so beautifully and well, and it was also funny in the beginning. And right after that, Poor Wandering One was fantastic on Sunday. I loved it when Tiffanie winked at Chris. With Cat Like Tread is just ironic, and hilarious. I loved the pirates’ expressions as they sang, and the kick line was just amazing.

Saturday was an adventure. There was difficulty with the lights, but we were finally able to figure out what the problem was – a certain button wasn’t pressed. I felt incredibly smart after that. Sunday night was definitely the best performance, and the 20 minutes before the showing was downright hilarious. The boys were all dancing to music and I took quite a few great photos.

The hour before the show was always stressful, trying to make sure everyone had everything they needed and that everything was where it was supposed to be. It was frustrating when props would go missing, like one of the batons or a sword, because we didn’t have very many extras, and figuring out where the lights should go and how they worked was also difficult.

Listening to the music every day was fun (not really), but the music was good. The performers sang them well, and I found myself enjoying the music even though we would sometime run through the same two songs for the entirety of the rehearsal.

For the finale, learning how to waltz was chaotic. Everyone was bumping into each other as they tried to figure out the steps and it took a while to finally figure it out. Tech Week was when my being Stage Manager really kicked in. I didn’t do a whole lot before then, marking down stage directions, but during Tech Week I was all over the place. I told people exactly where to be, and everyone’s favorite part of the day was when I passed out line corrections. They received them with such jubilance as they groaned with the amount of corrections there were. It was a lot of fun, and I’m definitely doing something with the play next year.