Penzance.png

Life in Penzance, Here-and-Now

Janos Gereben on July 29, 2014
Deborah Rosengaus as Ruth, Samuel Faustine as Frederic, and Ben Brady as the Pirate King in <em>The Pirates of Penzance</em> Photo by David Allen
Deborah Rosengaus as Ruth, Samuel Faustine as Frederic, and Ben Brady as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance
Photo by David Allen

San Francisco's venerable and evergreen Lamplighters are about to revive their acclaimed production of The Pirates of Penzance, but off-stage, alas, life is not all "Oh, joy! Oh, rapture!," but rather more along the lines of:

I find my duty hard to do today
My heart is filled with anguish dire,
It strikes me to the core.
Away, away !

In a startlingly candid and straightforward statement, the Lamplighters have announced:

The board and staff of Lamplighters Music Theatre have spent a lot of time over the last few months discussing business models and the long-term sustainability of a company that is dedicated, mostly, to the works of Gilbert & Sullivan.

Having recently celebrated their 60th anniversary, they are are looking forward to planning a 70th anniversary and beyond, but continue to run into the problems of an aging audience, lack of education in the schools, reduced G&S awareness amongst the younger generations, increasing production costs, etc. etc.

Whoa! And then, instead of going on with a fund-raising appeal (completely understandable and in order), the Lamplighters initiated action by inviting other G&S companies from around the country to a "Gilbert & Sullivan Summit" with the goal of building a closer community, "encourage brainstorming and idea-sharing, and possibly even future collaborations."

The summit is now a reality, and during the Pirates of Penzance run at the Yerba Buena Center, Aug. 15-17, at least 15 such companies will participate.

(Linda Ronstadt, an unforgettable Mabel on stage and screen, received the National Medal of Arts and Humanities from President Obama in a White House ceremony Monday afternoon.)