HMS Pinafore
by Gilbert & Sullivan Austin
Jun. 13 - Jun. 22
Thursdays-Sundays
“We sail the ocean blue,
and our saucy ship’s a beauty!”
HMS Pinafore sails into Austin with a crew of veterans and brilliantly talented new recruits this June. Love levels all ranks as gallant topman Ralph Rackstraw and First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Joseph Porter vie for the hand of lovely Josephine, daughter of the ship’s commander Captain Corcoran. But things are seldom what they seem, as Little Buttercup warns us. In this version Cousin Hebe’s dialogue is restored and she takes on a pivotal role in comic action. You’ve never had such a merry time! (What, never?) Well, hardly ever!
This production is the flagship of G&S Austin’s 49th year
Directed by G&S veteran Carol Brown and assistant directed by Jan Jones, both of whom appeared in our 2014 production, this HMS Pinafore offers traditional staging with some new twists, a “lost” duet rediscovered only in the 1990’s, a cast of 24 including Arthur DiBianca as the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy, and an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Music Director Dr. Jeffrey Jones-Ragona.
Ralph MacPhail, Jr., now our artistic director emeritus, wrote an article titled “That Ole Pinafore Magic” just before he directed our 2014 HMS Pinafore. He started by explaining his title: “My title is in quotation marks because that’s what my valued colleague and collaborator Jeffrey Jones-Ragona calls it: that mysterious something that comes over a bunch of people working on this most tuneful and merry of Victorian musicales—and then what happens when it is presented before an audience.” Ralph explained that magic in the titles of his subsequent paragraphs: It’s brilliantly constructed. It’s so tuneful. It’s so colorful. It’s so clever. It’s compact. And, not surprisingly, It’s a classic.
HMS Pinafore
by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan
Gilbert & Sullivan Austin
June 13 - June 22, 2025
June 13 - 22, 2025
Seven performances - Choose from evenings at 7:30 p.m. or matinees at 2:00 p.m.
At the 500-seat MacTheatre of McCallum Fine Arts Academy, 5600 Sunshine Drive, ATX 78731.
Tickets will be on sale fin April, 2025.
