The Ithaca College theater season continues on Tuesday, February 18, with a presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan's popular operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Coproduced with the School of Music, the production will be staged nightly through February 22 in the Hoerner Theatre, Dillingham Center for the Performing Arts. A matinee performance has been scheduled for February 22, as well.
Directed by Norm Johnson Jr., the operetta tells of a young man, Frederic, who is mistakenly apprenticed as a pirate instead of a pilot by his hard-of-hearing nursemaid. As his apprenticeship comes to a close upon his 21st birthday, Frederic struggles between bringing to justice the soft-hearted pirates who raised him and his newly found love for Mabel, the daughter of a "modern major general." The Pirates of Penzance is musically directed and conducted by music professor Beverly Patton, and choreographed by performer-in-residence Eugenia Wacker-Hoeflin.
The Pirates of Penzance was written by William S. Gilbert and composed by Arthur S. Sullivan in 1879, premiering in New York on December 31, 1879, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre.
The cast of The Pirates of Penzance includes Benjamin Berry '00 and Seth Goldstein '99 as Major General Stanley, Jason Lautzenheiser and Todd Kipnis '97 as the Pirate King, Robert Shutter '97 and Steve Wilson '97 as Frederic, Samantha Pasquale '97 and Valerie Yacono '97 as Mabel, Stacey Atwell-Keister '98 and Christina Pizzo '98 as Ruth, Matt Cavenaugh '00 as Samuel, William Murray '98 as Sergeant of Police, Abigail Southard '97 as Edith, Jessica Curtis '98 as Kate, and Michelle Lorenz '99 as Isabel. Completing this cast are Brian Bohrer '99, Bill DeMetsenaere '00, Dan Dominguez '99, Matt King '97, Antonio Serrano '99, Daniel Taylor '97, Rob Winans '99, Kevin Doherty '00, Eric Lawrence '99, Jennifer Caruana '99, Carla Cosentine '98, Jo Ann Elliot, graduate student, and Sarah Knauf '98, Adriana Lomysh '00, Paul Fowler '00, Sam Guberman '99, Billy Zavelson '00, Erica Grieshaber '99, Beth Faust '99, Sue McDermott '98, and Jennifer Pertgen '99.
The design team for The Pirates of Penzance includes Katya DeBear '97 as scenic designer and David O'Connor '98 as lighting designer. The team also includes faculty members Deborah Rosenberg as costume designer and John Bracewell as sound designer. Michael Wade '97 is the technical director for the production, and Ali Primus '97 is the stage manager.
Evening performances are slated for 8:00 p.m., while the Saturday matinee is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Tickets for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings and the Saturday matinee are $4.50 for Ithaca College staff, faculty, students, senior citizens, and Friends of Ithaca College and $5.00 for the general public. Friday and Saturday evening tickets are $5.00 and $6.00, respectively. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more.
Tickets go on sale February 10 at the Ithaca College Theatre Box Office, located in Dillingham Center at Ithaca College. For ticket reservations and information, call (607) 274-3224. The box office is open Monday through Friday from noon to 5:00 p.m.