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Pinafore-Mania ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ Has Been Pleasing Audiences Everywhere For 117 Years

By Jim Kershner jimkershner@comcast.net

“H.M.S. Pinafore” Thursday, July 20, 8 p.m., at the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre at North Idaho College

When Gilbert and Sullivan’s “H.M.S Pinafore” opened in London in 1878, the audiences were so sparse the company had to take pay cuts to keep it open.

It’s not that people didn’t like it. This comic opera got five encores on opening night. The problem was it was running during a London heat wave, and people simply weren’t showing up.

Then, composer Sir Arthur Sullivan decided to include a medley of tunes from “H.M.S. Pinafore” in a Promenade Concert at Covent Garden. The audience went nuts, and suddenly, everyone in London wanted to see “H.M.S. Pinafore.”

The London run went 700 performances, by far the most ever at the time for a musical play.

Then, it came to America, and at one point in 1879, New York had eight productions of it and Philadelphia had six, none of which were authorized by the authors. There was an all-black production in Harlem, and one in which Ralph Rackstraw was played by a woman. When the authorized version finally opened in New York later that year, W.S. Gilbert himself donned a false beard and played a sailor in the chorus.

It was Pinafore-mania.

“The songs and dialogue were so familiar that it was difficult for an American to escape a reference to ‘Pinafore’ in the course of a single day - especially in the press,” said Richard Traubner in “Operetta: A Theatrical History.” “The songs were sung, whistled and hummed universally, and the temptation to break into snatches was very great.”

Now, The Carrousel Players of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre are hoping to get some Pinafore-mania going in these parts. This show, one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular, has been knockin’ ‘em dead for 117 years.

Gilbert’s major inspiration was to set all of the action on a British man-of-war. It allowed him to write some rousing patriotic songs (“A British Tar”), but it also gave the whole show a fine sense of absurdity. The setting is an oak-hearted symbol of strength and power, and the action is almost unrelentingly silly.

It was this kind of contrast that Gilbert was always looking for.

“He made his actors perform with the utmost seriousness, so that the often ridiculous dialogue and lyrics seemed all the more amusing,” said Traubner. “It is this combination of absurdity and sincerity that is the hallmark of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.”

The Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre is the region’s professional summer-stock theater, and this production will employ many of the talented voices from its ensemble cast.

It will feature Ken Van Dine as Sir Joseph (the naval commander who knows nothing about ships), John Cooper as Capt. Corcoran, Michael Muzatko as Ralph Rackstraw, Julie Powell as Josephine, Jeffery Siri as Dick Deadeye, Scarlett Hepworth as Hebe, and Laura Dickinson as Buttercup.

The director is Roger Welch.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: “H.M.S Pinafore,” staged by The Carrousel Players of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre at North Idaho College, continues through July 29. All performances are at 8 p.m. except a matinee on July 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18, $12 for adolescents; $16 and $11 for matinees; for reservations, call (208) 769-7780 or (800) 4-CDA-TIX.

“H.M.S Pinafore,” staged by The Carrousel Players of the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre at North Idaho College, continues through July 29. All performances are at 8 p.m. except a matinee on July 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18, $12 for adolescents; $16 and $11 for matinees; for reservations, call (208) 769-7780 or (800) 4-CDA-TIX.