Libretto: William S. Gilbert;
Score: Arthur Sullivan
Light Opera Works at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson, Evanston
Phone: ( 847 ) 869-6300; $27-$61
Runs through: Jan. 2
H.M.S. Pinafore is known as the major mega-hit that forever linked Gilbert with Sullivan. The 1878 comic operetta also has the dubious distinction of being part of the 'Big Three' ( along with The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado ) of Gilbert and Sullivan works that are over-produced.
So why should we care about another Light Opera Works H.M.S. Pinafore when Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, Patience and Princess Ida are languishing in semi-neglect? The answer is to bask in the radiant glow of Rudy Hogenmiller's direction and choreography.
As Light Opera Works' new artistic director, Hogenmiller steers this warhorse away from the stodgy staging and half-hearted musical work of many a community theater Pinafore production. Instead of going all out to parody the Victorian melodrama and its mathematically challenged conclusion, Hogenmiller opts to play things out with a welcome sincerity ( with only a satirical wink and nudge ) .
Atop designers Richard and Jacqueline Penrod's handsome nautical set, Hogenmiller's choreographically shuffles the deck with an enthusiastic and youthful cast who all sing their hearts out ( just how well the cast would do without amplification is a matter that opera purists might call into dispute ) .
Colm Fitzmaurice brings a boyish and honey tenor to the love-struck Ralph Rackstraw, the lowly sailor in love with a lass above his station. As the class-conscious Josephine, Sharon Quattrin trills delightfully with a sturdy soprano.
Jamie Axtell dazzles and gets the best laughs as the haughty Sir Joseph Porter, especially while speeding through his comic patter song. Anyone who caught Axtell in the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre's 2003 gay-spoof Pinafore will miss his take on the Captain Corcoran character, especially when compared to Robert Heitzinger's capable but wooden rendition here. A.J. Wester does a nice job with Little Buttercup, though her British accent wanders astray now and then.
With a full orchestra under conductor Peter Lipari's keen direction, Light Opera Works' H.M.S. Pinafore moves along at a blissfully breezy pace. If you're a Gilbert and Sullivan Anglophile, pass on this production at your peril. It probably will be some time before you see another H.M.S. Pinafore so well performed.