Pirates of Penzance Adjudicator Notes - Jon Young, Assistant Professor of Theatre, University of Oklahoma April 2011 Overall Notes:

-Great consistent physicality, except for a dip in Act 2, think about projection being effected, connect physicality to character without sacrificing the song, words, lyrics, or dialogue. -Really good moments. Embodied physical characteristics of the characters. -Great choreography getting us in sync. -Nice use of the space. -Great job breaking the 4th wall. Diving In: -Fun beginning, responsive audience, they loved the fun ride, and the way we got out to the audiences, they had great intermission chatter. -Loved the color palate of the pirates costumes, in contrast to the set, then echoed in the sisters look. -Enhanced staging with the boat established the convention of what this musical was going to be. Great use of that old theatre trick with the rope pulling the boat. -We staged for the audience, as we connected and spoke to them. -Great milking of the moments, as in the Pirate King. - Good establishing emotions such as the question of Ruth's beauty, or not. -Nice use of throwing the girls from the vom, great anticipation for seeing really beautiful girls, versus off upstage. -Bright women, great dancing. -Every character makes you want to be a part of the show, he wanted to be a pirate for most of it. -Look at the transitions between singing and speaking when it comes to accents. -Great contrast between fear and lust for Frederick, ladies. -Great Elvis moment, all of the nice ladies sitting around him really grabbed on to that moment. -Mic issues for Mabel? Consistent problems between orchestration. -Awesome dress for Mabel. Fantastic way to stand out, first white contrast, then sheen of fabric from the other cotton-clothed girls, versus plain white matte fabric. -Nice Wandering. -Nice weather ensemble work girls, even though it took focus from the development of Frederick and Mabel's relationship. -The Pirates absconding with the women was very fun, even with costume malfunction (Caroline's petticoat). - Liked the direction of presentation for the moments of the song, staggered toward the different planes of the audience. -Great choreography and staging. -Great encore, even though it took a bit of prodding for the audience to get involved. -Good work with one of the hardest songs in the show

-Good work with the new music program, very effective. -Good work not being effected by Laura being so far up right. -It really helped, didn't take away, good solution for the space, kudos for finding it. -Nice acapella work in dark and dismal fate for the Pirates. -Really nice choreography with changing sides for the large group at the end of act one. -Build the moment for the opera boxes by lighting them last, holding, then going down. -We kept the audience entertained, enjoying the story, and coming back for more. -Very beautiful moment at the top of act 2, underscored by the lamentable lighting. -Elements worked great together, chapel, windows, lanterns, girls. -Policemen, microphone issues? -Great subtle touch on the buttons for the sergeant. -Really enjoyed the choreography. -Question about the timeline for music and choreography, positive notes about the approach. -Hates numbers on the floor, because it isn't part of the set design. A pet peeve of his. So kudos to us for not needing them, and using the set for spacing. -Nice relationships and work between Ruth, Frederick and the pirate king, in the next few songs that convince Frederick to return. Nice way to convey the message and story to us of why he can't go fall in love with Mabel so simply. -Sometimes he doesn't have notes for songs, because he gets swept into the story. Good job bringing him in. He enjoyed what was going on onstage and didn't always have notes. -Very touching moments when Frederick convinces Mabel to wait for him, a long time, and she will. -It is a love story, and Frederick and Mabel are the point of it. It's nice to know that she really is waiting. -Frederick is very noble from the start, devoted wholeheartedly to everything. -Mic issues pulled him out of the moment, but good choreography for the policeman. -Great acapella moment for Mabel with them. -Funny bit with losing the breath of the policemen. -Another good use of off stage voices through the vom. Because we know what'll happen when the pirates and Police meet. Unless the police are orphans. -Good surprise entrances. -Great milking the scene for the pirates, and lunging forward. -Great sliding around of the trees and limbs with the songs. -Nice moment not seeing the pirates or policemen for the general. -Good arc with Frederick and the pirate king -Questions about the origin of our Queen Victoria. Positive notes. -Brilliant solution, fitting within the spectrum of the convention that we have established.

-Ruth lost in light when she enters and sings the song. But fixed when she meets up with her partner the king -Great the way it all works out at the end. -Really enjoyed the show and his time here coming out -Be sure the physicality doesn't hinder the accent, diction, projection, or energy. -Q: Jace- the lull in act 2? -A: Getting right into when the sergeant approaches at the end of Mabel and Frederick's songs. There was a dip in the energy. The beauty of live performance. It returned when the pirates came on for "Catlike THREAD". -Question about how long we've been working. (End of feb during ACTF) -Q: Caleb: Did we honor the piece with improv and such? -A: This is the type of show that allows for the lenience of milking in bits. It wasn't over the top, but a fun ride. Pirates who aren't good pirates, love story about a boy who's never seen women, then marries the first one he sees, noble pirates. A funny set-up with convention. Thanks for having him, he had a great time coming out!