THEATER:Rough waters for ‘Pinafore’

The musical satire of Gilbert and Sullivan is rarely produced these days, and one need only catch a glimpse of the Huntington Beach Playhouse’s production of “HMS Pinafore” to understand why.

Simplistic in story line and repetitive in its lyrics, “Pinafore” stands mired in 1878, the year it was first produced. Yet strong ensemble work and sharp comic acting can elevate such a show, though the playhouse is prolific in neither.

There are a few appreciable individual flashes in director Holly Ahlborn’s production which tend to emphasize the show’s overall weakness.

One such highlight is Amanda Lammert’s superb soprano voice as she sings the role of the captain’s daughter, Josephine, who’s in love with a common sailor out of her class in 19th century England.

Another is Michael J. Keeney’s frenzied work as the shifty, eye-patched tar Dick Deadeye. Keeney overplays, to be sure, but hardly much more than the role is written. Such antics are sorely needed to ward off audience ennui.

Then there is the “monarch of the sea,” the lord of the admiralty Sir Joseph Porter, ably enacted by the veteran Kent Johnson, who’s directed a score of G&S; operettas. Though Johnson, now in his mid-70s, may lack his former mobility, his character interpretation is quite sharp.

Mark Ciarrocchi as the captain — ostensibly much too young to have a grown daughter and also fixated on an older “bumboat” vendor, Little Buttercup (Betsy Weisman) — never really enforces his authority, comical or otherwise.

The sailor who loves Josephine, Ralph (pronounced “Rafe” as in Feinnes) Rackstraw, is given a lukewarm portrayal by Ata Scanlan, who has a pleasant voice but lacks the necessary charisma.

The admiral’s “sisters and cousins and aunts” are a nameless lot, save for Cousin Hebe (Cathryn Starr), who steps out of nowhere toward the end.

“HMS Pinafore” may be a musical theater classic on the other side of the pond, but it takes yeomanlike effort to make the show effective over here. Such is scarcely in evidence at the Playhouse.