“Pirates” sets sail at Golden West

Tom Titus

Musical theater returns to Golden West College this weekend as the

Gilbert and Sullivan operetta “The Pirates of Penzance” takes up

residence in the college’s Mainstage Theater Friday. The time warp, while

not quite as severe as the last Golden West show, “Oedipus Rex,” still

will be quite significant.

One of director Grant Rosen’s most formidable tasks will be to imbue a

cast of 21st century young people with the style and manners of the late

19th century -- and then spoof it through the eyes of the two leading

satirists of the time.

“It’s a motivational thing you have to input in younger performers,”

said Rosen, 38, a man of many hats who’s staging his first production at

the college. “You have to get them to buy into the concept of the satire

not only over a century old but a continent away.”

Rosen, who has performed, directed and choreographed professionally

for two decades, nevertheless is taking his first crack at a Gilbert and

Sullivan musical. The closest he’s been to the Gilbert and Sullivan style

was the Roaring 20s musical “The Boy Friend.”

To prepare, Rosen obtained three different versions of the script,

gleaned the better parts of each and is presenting what he terms the

“streamlined version.”

He and musical director Bruce Bales are attempting to strike abalance

between traditional and modern approaches to musical theater.

Bales, like Rosen, believes in paying a certain degree of homage to

that bygone era.

“Reckless disregard for 19th century sensibilities puts one in danger

of creating a rather convoluted parody of what was already meant to be a

parody,” the musical director explains. “On the other hand, if one is too

careful, one runs the risk of mounting a dusty museum piece rather than

what its creators intended, a lively and provocative evening’s

entertainment.”

Rosen, who was born in Los Angeles and now lives in Long Beach, has

worked all over the country with some of the greats of the musical

theater, including the legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins. He’s

proficient not only at acting and directing, but the art of fight

choreography, which he’s employed in productions of “West Side Story,”

“Man of La Mancha” and “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” He was the fight captain

on the national Broadway tour of “Beauty and the Beast.”

He’s using all three of his offstage skills in “Pirates,” which he

says will feature “a lot of talented kids.” He predicts that “the

audience will have a lot of fun with this one. They should be able to

relate to a sense of spirit of the piece, which doesn’t take itself too

seriously.”

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.

FYI

WHAT: “The Pirates of Penzance”

WHERE: Golden West College Mainstage Theater

WHEN: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. through May

19

COST: $16.50-$18.50

PHONE: (714) 895-8150