Written by Samantha Parkison ‘12

Everyone loves musicals. And everyone loves pirates. So naturally, co-producers Don Meyer, chair of the music department, and Richard Pettengill, chair of theater department, knew it was a good time to collaborate on the fun and entertaining musical production of The Pirates of Penzance.

The Pirates of Penzance originally premiered in 1879 in New York and London and is still one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most beloved operettas. The show is a charming masterpiece of parody and satire,following the young Frederic, who was mistakenly apprenticed to the Pirate King, but as of his 21st birthday is released from these duties and vows to destroy the pirates.

Don’t forget the bevy of beautiful maidens, as of course this pirate’s tale is also a love story.

With no lack of humor, high-energy, and gangs of swashbuckling yet softhearted pirates, this production needed the space to accommodate such a booming performance.

“President Schutt contacted us soon after we’d decided to do the show and asked if we wanted to consider using the Gorton Center, since it’s nearby and offers a nice proscenium space that we don’t currently have on campus,” said Pettengill. The Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest was decidedly perfect for the show, also benefiting the attraction of a larger audience, drawing not only the Lake Forest College community but also the City of Lake Forest and surrounding towns.

Director Shifra Werch is no stranger to directing musical theater. Involved with theater at the professional level since the age of ten, Werch started as an actor/dancer and later went on to major in acting and directing.

“Shifra has a strong and lively reputation in Chicago as a director of musical theater,” Pettengill said. “She blew everyone away when she came in to interview, so it was not a hard choice. We love the ideas and energy she has brought to the production.”

Werch has taught courses in the Lake Forest College Department of Theater numerous times, and still performs onstage from time to time, but her heart and ambition always lead her back to directing.

“I specialize in women’s theatre, new scripts, and huge musicals and opera,” she said. “I have done this show a couple of times before, but looked for a fresh approach that suited a cast of young performers and where we are doing it.”

“My concept for this production is drawn from English music hall of the late 19th century,” Werch said. “This greatly influenced how the set and costume were done. However, it will also be seen in the style of performance and atmosphere of the actors.”

Technical Director and Set and Lighting Designer, Dennis Mae, took Werch’s vision and created scenic design ideas and technical engineering plans that reflected not only how Penzance, a town and port in Cornwall, England, looked as a location, but also how this musical in particular would have been originally produced on the stage.

Based on the previous spectacular work of scenic design that Mae has done at LakeForest College, be prepared for a total transformation of the Gorton Community Center into a 19th century English music hall.

David Miller, tech consultant for this production, has been Mae’s main source of discussion in terms of constructing, planning, and designing for the space of the Gorton Center.

“Dennis is an excellent designer, so it is great to work with his designs,” Miller said. “Gorton’s theatre presents its own challenges to design, so it should be good to work through those together.”

Miller’s involvement with CenterStage in Lake Forest, a separate not-for-profit organization of Community Theater, has been extensive. “CenterStage is, essentially, a resident tenant at Gorton,” he said.

Miller has been the technical director and also director with CenterStage for a majority of their productions, so he is very familiar with the technical workings of the Gorton Center.

“I am able to save the production team a great deal of time as to how things work. CenterStage owns the lighting instruments and most of the staging equipment, so we can save a lot of time and money by having Lake Forest College incorporate what we already have into the design.”

As the collaboration between Lake Forest College and the Gorton Community Center has been seemingly seamless, the cast and the crew have been working endlessly rehearsing lines, practicing choreography, arranging musical numbers, and of course assembling the set.

“There has been a lot of teamwork and cooperation from the production staff, actors, and everyone behind the scenes as well,” said Chelsea Jordan ’13, an assistant stage manager. “Everyone has positive attitudes.”

Members of the production are excited to be working and performing in a different space this semester, and the reception to the Gorton Center has been very optimistic.

“Students and Lake Forest residents alike love coming to the Gorton Center simply because it’s a wonderful space to work, perform, and experience a show,” said sophomore Mariana Green, who plays Ruth, the “flamboyant, middle-aged, nursery maid/pirate-wench.”

But to put on a large-scale musical production like The Pirates of Penzance requires an admirable amount of commitment and devotion, and everyone working on the project is remarkably dedicated.

“We work diligently at the rehearsals, but everyone involved is naturally disciplined and prepared to work so the rehearsals themselves are productive and stress-free,” said sophomore Elizabeth Hyzy, who plays Jane, one of the Major General’s daughters.

“Rehearsals are demanding in the sense that they push us, and they should push. And musicals are intrinsically challenging,” said junior Billy Vaughan, who plays the Pirate King. “I lead our merry band of pirates. We’re an ineffectual but flamboyant lot, more closely resembling the swashbuckling stereotype than any real pirates.”

Music Director, Nicholas Wallin, and Vocal Coach, Kathleen Van De Graaff, have been essential additions to the production, guiding the cast members through theenergetic musical numbers of the operetta.

“Vocal rehearsals with Kathleen are incredibly helpful. She knows so much about vocal ability and how to achieve a certain sound with your voice,” said Green. “Staging rehearsals are a combination of singing, dancing, acting, and reciting lines. The hardest part so far has been singing and dancing simultaneously.”

Freshman Megan Lambert, who plays Kate, one of the Major General’s daughters, embraced the time commitment with the fun that the cast and crew has together. “The cast is amazing and Shifra and Kathleen are fabulous at what they do. This is a show that anyone can enjoy; it’s the perfect mix of comedy, romance, and dancingpirates. What more can you ask for in a show?”

The Pirates of Penzance took place November 10 through 13.