I caught Joseph Papp’s hip, self-aware revival of “The Pirates of Penzance” when it moved to Broadway in the 1980s. In common with his Broadway Shakespeare revivals, Papp’s “Pirates” had its origins elsewhere (for Shakespeare it was the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park; for “Pirates” it was the Public Theater’s headquarters in the former Astor Library on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan). While rapturously received, the ‘80s “Pirates,” was certainly not for Gilbert & Sullivan purists – the reduction of Sullivan’s orchestration is a horror, and the voices were not exactly D’Oyly Carte – but my, was it a lot of fun!
By the time I was able to see it, Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, and Linda Ronstadt were off making the movie – which, I’m sorry to say, turned out stagy, corny, and disappointing. (What worked in the theater did not transfer well to film.) However, George Rose, as the very model of a modern Major General, and Tony Azito, as the Sergeant of Police, somehow continued their Broadway run, even as they too appeared in the movie.
How amazing Azito was in this show. It’s regrettable that the editing choices for the video linked below allow only glimpses of his incredible dexterity. (Azito did all his own choreography.) The police are reimagined somewhat in the style of the Keystone Kops. Azito himself is a human rubber band, who can replicate and even surpass the most improbable contortions of the great physical comedians of yore. (He does a wonderful Groucho dance.) Sadly, Azito died of AIDS in 1995. He was so talented. Justifiably, he was nominated for a Tony for his performance (as was Rose, who didn’t end well either, murdered in Haiti only a few years later, in 1988). I was very fortunate also to be able to catch Azito in “Amphigorey,” a musical revue based on the macabre comic creations of Edward Gorey, during a tryout run at Philadelphia’s Plays and Players Theater in the 1992.
Papp’s “Pirates” moved to Broadway in 1981 and ran for 787 performances. It was recognized with a Tony Award for Best Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.
By the time I caught it, James Belushi had slipped on the seven-league boots of the Pirate King. You wouldn’t think he would be on a level with Kline, who transformed the character into a post-Errol Flynn matinee idol, with puffy shirt and plunging neckline, as apt to tumble off the stage as swing on a rope. Delightfully, Belushi was every bit as nimble as his famous brother, doing flips off trampolines and carousing most energetically.
You can watch the Kline incarnation, captured prior to its Broadway transfer, here:
By coincidence, I see “Pirates” is back in Midtown, now at the Todd Haimes Theater on West 42nd Street, as “Pirates! A Penzance Musical,” with David Hyde Pierce as the Major General. From what I understand, the new production takes a quasi-meta approach, with the historical Gilbert & Sullivan passing through New Orleans, where a local production of their comic operetta is being staged. I have my doubts about “this jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic, in an outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair.” But who knows, it might also be fun. Not sure I’ll be stumbling over myself to see it, but I’d go if somebody offered me a cheap ticket.
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