{"id":98855,"date":"2026-01-13T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/98855\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T16:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:50:09","slug":"opera-review-gilbert-sullivans-h-m-s-pinafore-from-nygasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/98855\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Review: Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ from NYGASP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Resurrecting Gilbert & Sullivan rarities is a worthy custom with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP)<\/a>. Back in 2010, for example, they staged a single performance of Utopia, Limited<\/a>, certainly one of the pair\u2019s less-often-seen comic operas. They\u2019re returning to that show for a fuller production this spring. But it\u2019s always a blast to see the company\u2019s boisterous productions of the old classics. And right now NYGASP is staging their latest rollicking rendition of the beloved H.M.S. Pinafore, as clever and funny and silly and as full of memorable music as ever.<\/p>\n

H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor has a wafer-thin plot revolving around the class divisions that defined so much of British (and American) society in the Victorian era. Common sailor Ralph Rackstraw (tenor Cameron Smith, sailing the seas of a big vocal range with ease) and Captain Corcoran\u2019s (David Auxier) elegant daughter Josephine (soprano Michelle Seipel) can\u2019t nurse any real hopes for their love for one another, as her social status is too great a step above his.<\/p>\n

\"NYGASP\"NYGASPPhoto credit: Danny Bristoll<\/p>\n

Still higher on the ladder staggers Sir Joseph Porter (James Mills), First Lord of the Admiralty, to whom the Captain has pledged Josephine\u2019s hand. The show portrays Sir Joseph as a foppish figure of fun, and Mills plays this up for maximum risibility. It\u2019s worth pausing to note, though, that the character also exemplifies Gilbert & Sullivan\u2019s penchant for using their creations to skewer the societal and political hypocrisies of their time. Sir Joseph acquired command of the Queen\u2019s Navy not through any merit or experience but, as he happily admits, through an extreme case of failing upward and being in the right place at the right time. It\u2019s hard not to see a parallel with the empty talking head at the helm of today\u2019s most powerful military.<\/p>\n

But the sheer fun of Pinafore overwhelms any seriousness. That includes an inserted scene \u2013 NYGASP is well known for these \u2013 that has the Admiral and the Captain in an imagined phone conversation between Britain and the \u201ccolonies.\u201d It\u2019s a swirl of contextual drollery worthy of a Mel Brooks-Carl Reiner routine. (\u201cI\u2019m in New York.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s a new one?\u201d)<\/p>\n

That kind of material works so well partly because the cast\u2019s many company veterans play off of one another with frankness and ease. They include the always-delightful Angela Christine Smith as Buttercup, the \u201cbumboat woman\u201d who reveals a fateful and ridiculous secret leading to a happy ending for all; Matthew Wages as Dick Deadeye, the sailor who almost causes a true disaster out of spite; and Auxier, who is also responsible for the colorful, carbonated choreography.<\/p>\n

\"NYGASP\"NYGASPPhoto credit: Danny Bristoll<\/p>\n

Amid all the hijinks, the production\u2019s high points also include its tender moments, like Seipel\u2019s touching rendition of the lovely \u201cSorry Her Lot\u201d and Buttercup and the Captain\u2019s \u201cThings Are Seldom What They Seem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players will dip back into the rarities for a fuller production of Utopia, Limited than their last. For now, you can\u2019t go wrong with H.M.S. Pinafore, now at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College through January 18, 2026. Visit the website<\/a> for tickets and information on their current season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Resurrecting Gilbert & Sullivan rarities is a worthy custom with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players (NYGASP).…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-98855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}