Gilbert & Sullivan's
The Pirates of Penzance
or, The Slave of Duty

June 15, 16, 21, 22 & 23, 1990 at 8pm
June 17, 1990 at 3pm
June 23, 1990 at 2pm

Directed by Peter & Syril L. Kline

Cast

Major-General Stanley - Peter Kline (June 15, 16, 17), John Perine (June 22, 23 [mat. & eve.])
The Pirate King - Gordon Brigham
Samuel, his lieutenant - Kent Woods
Frederic, the Pirate Apprentice - Daryl Landis
Sergeant of Police - Barry Grinnell
Major-General Stanley's Wards
    Mabel - Linda Kirk
    Edith - Sheryl Ruppert
    Kate - Shirley A. Friedman
    Isabel - Barbara Veronica Naleszkiewicz
Ruth, Pirate Maid-of-all-work - Linda Lynch (June 15, 16, 23), Rosalie Santilhano (June 17, 22,23)
Pirate Butler - Victor Hugo Porras
Particularly Abused Pirate - Tito Lord
Major-General Stanley's Helpers - Merridith & Nancy Suter
Pirate "Go-fer" - Seth Adam Lessans
A Shark - Jonathan Lessans

Major-General Stanley's Wards - Stephanie Brigham, Valerie Epstein, Fran Fleming, Michael Hogrefe, Janet Horwitz, Jane Kasoff, Edith Livingstone, Bridget MacKillop, Gina Nowacki, Rusty Suter, Lou Wiot, Kristina Zimmerman

Pirates and Policemen - John Austen, Peter Beach, Tim Briceland-Betts, Paul Danaceau, Alex Greenshields, Barry Grinnell, Bob Jacobson, Charlie Johnson, Erik Kreil, Toby Odenheim, Greg Tapscott, Ed Wiot, Jamie Zavitz

Orchestra

Violin - Bonnie Barrows*, Carolyn Larson, Mark Deuser, Maurine Beasley
Viola - Lynn Allen, Amanda Laudwein
Cello - Andy Rice, Liz Luck, Liz Ryan, Sol Feldman
Bass - Dave Ross, Paul Hettich
Oboe - Carl Gardner
Flute - Louise Hill, Beth Sperling
Clarinet - Gene Sober, Kirt Vener
Bassoon - Donald Vogler, Bobbi Jo Holtz, Larry Washington
French Horn - Don Hunter
Trombone - Earl Zastrow, Don Allen
Trumpet -  Bernie Rappaport, Tom Gleason
Percussion - Tom Christy, Bonny Hilditch

*Concertmistress

Production Staff

Producer - Lyle Jaffe
Stage Manager - Pam Hodges
Set Design - Tim Briceland-Betts, Ed Wiot
Set Construction - Sean Doherty, Barry Grinnell, Pam Hodges, Bob Jacobson, Jared Jacobson, Randy Jacobson, Donna Jaffe, Lyle Jaffe, William Kolodrubetz, Erik Kreil, Gina Nowcki, Ed Wiot,         Kent Woods, Jamie Zavitz; Fossilized Fuel Softball Team: Deb Briceland-Betts, Tim Briceland-Betts, Barb Cheney, Missy McBride, Mark Schipper, Joanne Wambake
Technical Director (Rockville Civic Center) - Lew Dronenburg
Lighting Design - Jonathan Lawniczak
Lighting Execution - Debbie Abeshouse, Joy Adler, Sean Doherty, Lori Whited
Costumes - Ann Beer, Edith Livingstone, Bridget MacKillop
Make-up - Pat Sexton, Angie Shorta
Properties - Jim Parker
Assistants to the Directors - Gordon Brigham, Jamie Zavitz
Assistants to the Stage Manager - William Kolodrubetz, Gilly Powers
Rehearsal Pianist - Judy Gardner
Tickets - Caroline Hummel
House Manager - Mary Sue Merritt
Publicity - Richard Beer, Pam Hodges, Jim Parker, Marion Scodari
Program - Pam Hodges
Videotaping - Deb Briceland-Betts
Refreshments - Donna Jaffe, Lyle Jaffe, Gary Pricer
Entertainment Committe Chairperson - Ann Beer
Assisted by - Laura Cline, Susan Frampton, Claudia Hanlon, Helen Jacobson, Kate Surman
Costume Storage - Donna & Lyle Jaffe
Set Storage - Harry Leet

Special Acknowledgements
  • House Crew aprons courtesy of Mary Sue Merritt.
  • Illustrations from Victorian Pictorial Borders., Carole Belanger Grafton, ed.; Dover Publications, Inc., NY.
  • Music stands and lights courtesy of Rockville Musical Theatre and Christ Congregational Church.
  • Rocks courtesy of Rockville City Ballet.
  • Tympani courtesy of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Did Gilbert Goof? Leap Year and The Pirates of Penzance

Here's one for Gilbert and Sullivan trivia fans.

In The Pirates of Penzance, one of librettist William S. Gilbert's principal comic conventions revolves around the fact that protagonist Frederic was born on a Leap Year Day -- in this instance, apparently February 29, 1856. When he was indentured as a lad to a band of pirates, the terms of his servitude were that he was bound to the buccaneers until he reached his 21st birthday.

As the show opens on his 21st birthday, which would be February 28, 1877, he is celebrating his imminent release. Or so he thinks, until his colleagues tell him the terms of his indenture are just as they say-- he must stay on until the 21st anniversary of his actual birthdate: February 29th. This sends Frederic and his betrothed Mabel reeling, as the Pirate King delightedly informs Frederic that he is really "only five and a little bit over." The lovers quickly multiply the years times four and lament that they cannot be united in marriage until 1940.

In fact, the bad news was probably even worse. In counting ahead to when Frederic would reach the 21st Leap Year after his birth, they (and their librettist) apparently did not realize a peculiar quirk of the calendar, even though it has been in existence since 1582. That was when Pope Gregory XIII ordered the abolition of the Julian calendar and its replacement with the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted gradually in the Western world, belatedly in Protestant countries such as England, which finally accepted it in 1752. The Gregorian calendar designates one year in every four as a leap year by adding a 29th day to February, except in century years, unless the year is divisible by 400. Gilbert, writing The Pirates of Penzance in the late 1870s, apparently did not realize what was coming or, more accurately, not coming in a little over 20 years. Although the year 1900 fell into the "every fourth year" pattern for leap year, the number 1900 is not divisible by 400 and, therefore, 1900 was not a leap year.

So Frederic would have had an 8-year wait between his 1Oth and 11th birthdays: from 1896 to 1904. The 21st birthday he and Mabel yearned for, when he would be free and they could wed, would not have been in 1940, after all. It would have been in 1944!

One hopes that if the devoted lovers managed to wait until1940, when by normal reckoning Frederic would have been 84, they could have held on until 1944, when he reached the ripe old age of 88.