Saturday, June 17, 2006

H.M.S. Pinafore

Mock’s Crest Productions
June 16, 2006; closes June 25, 2006

Joy, yes; rapture, no. Lovely tradition musically keen; theatrically average. G&S is unique genre, but staging could be richer than simply stepping forward for solos. Thomas Prislac commanded simultaneous smooth vocal delivery, comic stage presence; but others sailed on one or the other. Loved center-stage orchestra, rightfully leveling music/book, musician/actor.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great show. My first time to a Mock's Crest production. The place was packed. Unique and moving format, somewhere between opera and musical. Delightful, warm and cheery. Very well done.

"Give three cheers, and one cheer more, for the former Captain of the Pinafore..."

Anonymous said...

I've been going to Mock's Crest productions since its second year, although I've missed maybe a third of them. This one is very solid, and well deserves the extra shows as well as a rumored trip to Willamette U and revival later in the year. But transcendant, not quite. Followspot is right about the division between acting and clarity among most of the leads, though I thought the Captain did a good job with both aspects. The redoubtable John Vergin seemed a bit squelched and wasted as Dick Deadeye (a surprise), and I imagine there must be a few out there who find Ernie Casciato's hamminess a bit much (I'm as big a sucker for it as most, though). Something that struck me: the actor who plays Ralph Rackstraw looks a bit like George W., and there's a member of the sailor's chorus who looks a lot like a young John Lithgow, which resemblances are initially pleasing but become a distraction. For good measure, the Josephine bears a passing resemblance to Linda Ronstadt. . . .-- Quixel