NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University Theatre and Dance will present Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” April 19-23 in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium. Performance time is 7:30 p.m. on April 19-22 and 2 p.m. on April 23.
Tickets are $15 and $12 for senior citizens and children under 12. Northwestern State, BPCC@NSU and Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts students are admitted free with a current student I.D. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pirates-of-penzance-tickets-526026638837?aff=ebdsoporgprofile. For ticket information, call (318) 357-4483.
Marcy McKee is the director. Daniel Ley is the musical director. Brett Alan Garfinkel is the choreographer.
“The Pirates of Penzance” tells the story of a young pirate apprentice named Frederic who has come to the end of his indentured period. As it turns out, Frederic was indentured by mistake. His hearing-impaired nurse had been instructed to apprentice him to a “pilot” but got it a little wrong. At any rate, Frederic has decided to leave the pirate life forever and, though he loves his comrades dearly, devote his life to the extermination of their kind. However, since he is until the stroke of midnight still one of them, he feels obliged to point out the pirates’ weakness–they are too softhearted. Apparently, all a captive must do is plead to being an orphan and he is immediately released.
Once upon the shore, Frederic, who has never seen any woman other than his old nurse, stumbles upon a group of beautiful maidens. He immediately falls in love with the most beautiful of the bunch, Mabel, who graciously offers to reclaim the “Poor Wandering One.” What Frederic has forgotten, however, is that there are pirates about. Suddenly his old comrades are upon them. The lonely pirates are delighted by the beauty of their captives and recognize the situation as a “first rate opportunity of getting married with impunity.” But the girls’ father, Major General Stanley, arrives just in time and claims untruthfully to be an orphan, thus winning a brief reprieve for his daughters. The General is terrified that the pirates will uncover his lie, but Frederic eases his fears, promising to apprehend the band of pirates and put an end to their plundering. However, when Frederic learns that, due to a technicality, he is still indentured to the pirates, the complications abound.
“We welcome the public to come enjoy ‘The Pirates of Penzance,’ an operetta that has truly stood the tests of time and takes the audience on a musical journey of comedic genius by Gilbert and Sullivan,” said McKee. “We have had such a good time putting this absurdly funny show together. I am delighted at how the students have taken to such silly antics and embraced their characters.”
The cast is Jackson Holoubek of Shreveport as Major General Stanley, Jeremiah Mitchell of Alexandria as the Pirate King, Damari Padilla of Lafayette as Samuel, Douglas Flores of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as Frederic, Derek Walle of Prairieville as the Sergeant of Police, Rebekah Hall of Stonewall as Ruth, Victoria Hickman of Slidell as Mabel, Emma B. Leighton of Gretna as Edith, Jaeli Williams of Alexandria as Kate and Isabel Khuyen Tran of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as Isabel.
General Stanley’s wards are played by Abigail Aldridge of Mandeville, Malaina Aultman of Ball, Elizabeth Cook of Alexandria, and Phoenix Wood of Lafayette.
Playing the pirates are Leslie Israel of Sulphur, Brooke Jones of St. Rose, William Kielwasser of Monroe, Tyler Sibley of Alexandria and Walle. The cops are portrayed by Caleb Barton of Marksville, Kwincy Pierre of Lafayette, Preston Rasco of Baton Rouge, Tyler Sibley of Alexandria, and Trevor VanEaton of Shreveport,
The costume designer is Jessica Parr with scenic design by Drew Davis, lighting design by Abigail Reeves and sound design by Eden Wyandon. Christopher Louque is stage manager and Madisen Martin and Savannah Mathews are assistant stage managers. Destyne Castilla-Carter is the house manager and C.J. Brunston is assistant house manager.
Max Hebert is wardrobe head. Oli Harrison, Mia Rodriguez and Mallory Speir are dressers. The hair and makeup crew are Julia Kuchler and Camryn Orr. Maudiel Aguilar is the sound mixer. Cady Brown and McKenzi Davis are the A2. Quinton Coleman is assistant lighting designer, Logan Dupuy is light board operator and Cortelina Encalada is spot operator.
Robert Richoux is technical director and Piper Dearing is assistant technical director. The scenic charge artist is Naiomy Perez Del Valle. Josie Oliva is deck crew head and Peter Cannata, Joyous Celestine, Miranda Harrison, Faith Hinds, Jairus Killings and Josie Randle are the deck crew.
