Review: The Pirates of Penzance"Pirates"The Star-Ledger (Peter Filichia) Over the top of the proscenium arch at the Berlind Theatre in Princeton is a large, rectangular white board. To see a strip of wood for supertitles isn't surprising, given that New Jersey Opera is renting the Princeton playhouse. With one German and one French piece on its schedule, the troupe can use the board to serve those not versed in those languages. But would supertitles be used to display Sir William Gilbert's English words for The Pirates of Penzance? Truth to tell, when many operatic performers turn to operetta or musical comedy, they prefer to show what they can do with the music rather than the lyrics. Under those circumstances, a supertitles board could be helpful for audiences who wouldn't otherwise be able to make out what those divas and divos sing. Not to worry. The diction from all principals and chorus members make the supertitle board at The Pirates of Penzance a lovely luxury, but hardly a necessity. What's more, all have the requisite glorious voices to sing Sir Arthur Sullivan's music. That they're all unamplified adds to the joy. Brian Ballard is a robust Pirate King. Benjamin Bunsold has a marvelous tenor for Frederic, the indentured pirate apprentice who plans to take his leave of the gang. As Ruth, the middle-aged woman who loves him, Alissa Anderson shows a fine contralto. Alison Trainer, playing Mabel, the object of Frederic's affection, wows in her soprano work, with trilling that's no less than thrilling. As her father, David Ward is the model of an excellent major-general. They're all superbly served, too, by grand musicians in James Caraher's superb orchestra…. Return to the Reviews and Articles Archive.
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