Dramatic Collaborations

It's good to work with other adults, sometimes necessary. Just make sure you get a dress rehearsal.

I didn't want to exert pressure on the new drama teacher to help us stage our Spring show the year we performed "The Pirates of Penzance" as our Eighth grade musical. After all, he was a drama teacher and had to know more about stagecraft than I would. Right?

As those familiar with this work know, the opening scene is a rousing chorus of the pirates singing "Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry". For reasons of time constraints and an expectation that it couldn't go wrong I had a myriad sense of shocked sensations at the opening of the curtain to start Act 1. 

There was no pirate chorus to be seen. I heard some singing, but couldn't see a chorus. Soon I realized they were all lying down on the deck of the ship in a stupor. Life occasionally presents mysterious curveballs...now and then. This was a now. All I could think later was "Dude, it's a musical!" The audience will appreciate SEEING the chorus. Maybe, just maybe, it was a prank on me for an unknown reason. I forgive him. Barely.

Two other moments stand out from that show. One was being brought to tears by the first aria our leading lady sang. That's when I learned that tearing up really doesn't help the accompanist read the score.

The other was in our dress rehearsal. The one that neglected to scrutinize the opening chorus. We had our ship captain standing on the all purpose large black box. He had a great costume on, complete with a tricornered captain's hat and a swashbuckling sword. At the key dramatic moment in his number, he pulled the sword from it's sheath and voila! His pants fell to his ankles. Slightly hilarious I must say. Unplanned. A great moment in light opera history.