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CU Opera to perform 'The Pirates of Penzance' Oct. 24-26

CU Opera's 'Pirates of Penzance' opens Oct. 24 at CU-Boulder

Gilbert & Sullivans comic light opera a crowd favorite泭

CU Opera will open its 2014-15 season with Gilbert and Sullivans beloved comic operetta, The Pirates of Penzance, at Macky Auditorium Oct. 24-26.

This is a delightful piece and audiences just go crazy for it, says Leigh Holman, director of CU Opera. Its a comedy, the tunes are very accessible and hey its pirates! Theres sword fighting, dancing pirates, hapless British Bobbies and lots of beautiful girls.

This is the first time the piece has been performed in Macky Auditorium for nearly a quarter of a century.泭

The hero is the young buccaneer Frederic, raised on the high seas by the eponymous pirates. Now 21, he wants to escape that life, but due to a quirk of his birth he remains indentured. Hes known only one woman in his life and falls immediately in love when he sees Mabel, daughter of Major-General Stanley. But in order to marry her, he must find a way to defeat the swashbucklers and friends hes known all his life.泭

Gilbert and Sullivan made a point of including political commentary and satire when writing in the late 19th-century and its traditional to work in contemporary references.泭

We are embracing the full tradition of this piece, but there are lots of fun little surprises. In a crazy comedy like this there is always room for little inventions and flourishes, says Holman, who has adapted the work with Music Director Nicholas Carthy.

The College of Music hosted a summer musical festival for many years, including one or more works by Gilbert and Sullivan, but Pirates was last performed at Macky in 1990.

There is a real legacy of Gilbert and Sullivan here at CU and we think this is the perfect opportunity to revisit that tradition, says Holman, who recalls singing along to an 8-track recording of the original 1981 Tony Award-winning Broadway cast recording, starring Linda Ronstadt, Kevin Kline and Rex Smith.

Gilbert and Sullivans The Pirates of Penzance

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24-25; 2 p.m. Oct. 26

WHERE: Macky Auditorium, 做厙輦⑹ campus

TICKETS: $14 and up

INFO: 泭or 303-492-8008

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