Over the past few decades, offerings of opera in central Arkansas have waxed and waned.
The Wildwood Park for the Arts, a performance center nestled in the woods of west Little Rock, used to be a reliable venue for opera, particularly the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. So it can only be a good omen for opera lovers that a young arts organization, Praeclara, is staging a delightfully fizzy and funny Pirates of Penzance at Wildwood.
Judging by the opening-night audience's reaction and standing ovation, it could be a sign of smooth sailing for opera in these parts in the foreseeable future.
While Gilbert and Sullivan's show (debuting in 1879) has for all these years confused people who expect opera to be a dull and high-minded exercise, Praeclara's production dares to add more high art fiber with an opening dance by the Arkansas Festival Ballet. It was a sweet beginning that nicely balanced the comedy to come.
The inclination for local artists interested in staging operas is often to turn them into little more than glorified concerts. This Pirates is the opposite. Director Bevan Keating, also the artistic director at Wildwood, puts the stage to great use. After the dance opening, the stage comes alive with growling pirates and quickly converts into a eye-catching pirate ship.
From there we are taken on Gilbert and Sullivan's earnestly silly journey with the Pirate King (Matthew Tatus), pirate apprentice Frederic (Luke Angelo), Frederic's love Mabel (Kelly Singer) and, of course, Major-General Stanley (Daniel Foltz-Morrison), who has to navigate that famous tongue-twister of a tune, "I am the very model of a modern major-general."
Powered by a spunky seven-piece orchestra, Keating never lets the energy of his large cast dip. Delightful scenes are plentiful. The Stanley daughters' entrance in cupcake-colored dresses and parasols is dazzling. Singer's voice is the strongest of the lot, and her late second-act duet with Angelo is lovely.
There were a few spots where it was hard to hear the dialogue and there was a blocking problem or two. But those issues hardly created a ripple in a Pirates that truly sings and soars.
The Pirates of Penzance will be performed again Sunday at Wildwood's Lucy Lockett Cabe Festival Theatre at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 -- student tickets are $15 -- and may be purchased at wildwoodpark.org or by calling (501) 821-7275.
Metro on 04/01/2017