You know you love Gilbert and Sullivan. Go on. Admit it. Or you’re at least mildly curious, given all the Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired dialogue in early seasons of The West Wing. Luckily for you, Lamplighter’s Theatre proffers what LA Weekly calls the “best Gilbert and Sullivan in the country.” It also, in this particular instance, proffers singing pirates.
Cavorting in one of the most popular operas ever written is pirate intern Frederic, along with sensitive buccaneers, clumsy cops, and gold-digging maidens. Pirates of Penzance is one of Gilbert’s wittiest scripts and some of Sullivan’s most memorable music. Plus, it's the show that saved Julia Roberts' cultural skin in Pretty Woman when she happily informed a silver-haired octogenarian that she liked the opera so much she "almost peed her pants." Quick thinking, Mr. Gere.
August 19-22. Novellus Theatre at Yerba Buena Center. Tickets are $14-47 at (415) 978-2787 or ybca.org.
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