The Pirates of Penzance Comes to the Utah Shakespeare Festival
June 25, 2021
The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera’s official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879.
The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his “twenty-first birthday”, meaning that he must serve for another 63 years.[2] Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic’s only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully.
Five talented actors will be taking on the major roles in The Pirates of Penzance when it hits the stage June 25 at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. They will sing and dance their way into our hearts as the largely unsuccessful but kind-hearted pirate king, his duty-bound apprentice and his nursery maid, and a befuddled major-general and his lovely and high-spirited ward. They (and a chorus of sentimental pirates, bumbling policemen, and giggling maidens) will bring to colorful life this family-friendly comedic operetta by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.
Rhett Guter will be returning to the Festival this year as the Pirate King. Past Festival performances include Peter in Peter and the Starcather (2013), Tommy Djilas in The Music Man (2011), Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2011), Peter in The Diary of Anne Frank (2010), Lysimachus in Pericles (2010) and many others. He has appeared in regional theatre across the country and received BFA and BS degrees from Southern Utah University.
Richard R. Henry is making his debut at the Festival in the role of Major-General Stanley, a character famous for his full-speed rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.” He has appeared off-Broadway in Drift at New World Stage and Two Gentlemen of Verona the Musical at The Public. He has worked at numerous regional theatres as well as in the national tours of Urinetown, Sweet Charity, Man of La Mancha, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Cecilia Iole will also be debuting at the Festival, playing the role of Mabel, the Major-General’s youngest ward, and Frederic’s love interest. She has performed across the country in such roles as Rapunzel in Into the Woods at Writers Theatre (directed by Garry Griffin); Johanna in Sweeney Todd at Paramount Theatre; Cunegonde in Candide at Clarence Brown Theatre; Ariel in The Little Mermaid; and Cosette in Les Misérables.
Jalon Matthews will be appearing for his first time at the Festival as Frederic, the duty-bound apprentice pirate. He has performed as Sebastian in Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Musical Theatre West, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at PCPA, Bobby in Company at the University of California–Irvine, and more.
Marlene Montes is also new to the Festival and will be playing the role of Ruth, Frederic’s confused nursery maid and the pirates’ maid. She has performed at numerous theatre companies, including Arizona Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Moonlight Stage Productions, Performance Riverside, Cygnet Theatre, New Village Arts, Starlight Theatre Derby Dinner Playhouse, and others.
The Festival’s 2021 season is from June 21 to October 9. Plays will be Pericles, Richard III, The Comedy of Errors, The Pirates of Penzance, Ragtime, Cymbeline, Intimate Apparel, and The Comedy of Terrors. Tickets are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting www.bard.org.
