The Conical Glass: Scenes from the class struggle aboard the Pinafore

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Scenes from the class struggle aboard the Pinafore

One of the many things I've always felt I should get around to doing someday is seeing a Gilbert & Sullivan production by the Lamplighters, a local theatrical troupe that has been acclaimed as one of the best G&S companies in the world -- they've even won big-time competitions in England. To be honest, all I know about the G&S canon is that there's the one with "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General," the one with "I'm Called Little Buttercup," and the Japanese one. Pretty lame.

With Joe out of town for the weekend, I decided to head into the city and catch the Lamplighters' performance of the "H.M.S. Pinafore," which, as it turns out, is the "Little Buttercup" one. ("Major General" is from "The Pirates of Penzance," and the Japanese one is "The Mikado.") It turns out there's good reason the Lamplighters have been doing this for 55 years -- "Pinafore" was a first-class production, with splendid actors and singers. I would never call myself a fan of opera, but I found this one to be extremely accessible -- very funny, with a simple plot and lots of clever wordplay in the lyrics. I particularly love the way they use a call and response style in many of the musical numbers:

Captain: Though related to a peer,
I can hand, reef, and steer,
And ship a selvagee;
I am never known to quail
At the fury of a gale,
And I'm never, never sick at sea!
His crew: What, never?
Captain: No, never!
His crew: What, never?
Captain: Hardly ever!
His crew: He's hardly ever sick at sea!
Then give three cheers, and one cheer more,
For the hardy Captain of the Pinafore!

(You can listen to a bit of this song, recorded in 1930, here.)

The storyline involves the aforementioned Captain and his daughter, the lovely Josephine, who is secretly in love with Ralph Rackstraw, a simple tar (sailor) onboard the Pinafore. The Captain has promised his daughter's hand to Sir Joseph Porter, the Ruler of the Queen's Navy, who reached his position by being a savvy political player. Unfortunately for Josephine, her intended is a supercilious drip.

Also onboard the Pinafore is Buttercup, and my ears perked up when she was described as "a poor bumboat woman." Mary Worth fans know the Bum Boat as the hip & happening Santa Royale eatery where Mary and her beau Jeff often go on their chaste "dates." Turns out a "bumboat" is "a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore," and a "bumboat woman" is a vendor who comes onboard the ship to sell "snuff and tobacky" and other small items to the crew. Buttercup is nurturing her own secret love, for the Captain himself -- equally doomed due to the rigid class system, as he's "related to a peer."

So this is where I have to post a SPOILER ALERT, if it is indeed necessary to do so for a 130-year-old play. When the Captain learns of Ralph's love for Josephine, he has the tar thrown in the brig. Then Buttercup reveals her secret: she was once a wet nurse and mixed up two babies, one "a regular patrician" and the other "of low condition," who were none other than the Captain and Ralph. In other words, Ralph is truly upper crust! The two men immediately accept this tale and switch uniforms, and are now free to pair up with Buttercup and Josephine.

My problem with this ending is primarily that it's icky: Buttercup has been (literally) nursing a crush on the man who used to suckle at her breast! And if Ralph and the Captain were babies at the same time, shouldn't they appear to be closer in age? (Ralph looks like he's a good 30 years younger; granted, this could have been the actor they cast, but who would have believed Josephine falling for a lowly sailor her father's age? Plus, he's described in song as "a youth" and "a lad.") And if she knew about the baby switch, why didn't she do something about it back then? But mainly... ew! The whole nursing thing!!

Despite what has to be one of the worst twist endings in history -- even worse than "The Village" -- it's really an enjoyable show and now that I'm hooked, I shall certainly check out future Lamplighters productions.

posted by 125records @ 6:41 PM

2 Comments:

At 12:24 PM, yellojkt said…

I have never seen a live G&S show but the songs are necessary geek cultural learning. Like Monty Python routines.
At 5:56 PM, Janet ID said…

My parents loved G&S and would drag Susy and me to the LOOM all the time when we were kids. Well, it seemed like all the time. I mostly remember the intermissions. I so wanted to be home spinning my Shaun Cassidy records instead.