1997, The Pirate Bankers of Penzance
Rehearsals
During the final stages of Die Fledermaus, Robert Tuttleby, a very experienced singer, actor and director who was playing the role of the Lawyer, was called on to assist the committee in choosing a show for the following year. Part of that involved a questionnaire asking the membership for the choice. The winner was The Pirates of Penzance, from Orpheus in the Underworld.
At a previous committee meeting the director Ruth Richter had attended to present her original creative vision for the new updated stage production of The Pirates of Penzance. The pirates were to become bankers (corporate pirates), the police would become NCA figures, the daughters nurses whose hospital was under threat of privatization by the bank. The Major-General became the Matron-General. It was to be called The Pirates of Finance and the concept was enthusiastically embraced by the committee.
Auditions were held for Pirates and an abundance of talented people were selected. They soon discovered some challenges, as there were even more changes to the already radically altered story line. Michael Try had been offered full-time work with Opera Australia, so Raymond Khong (a local dentist who sang with the Victoria State Opera) was Frederick, while Darren Rosenfeld became a "lost Frederick" who stumbled on stage looking for Jon English from the professional production. This gave him the chance to interact and sing a solo. Another role, that of TV presenter, was created for Geoff Dawes, who got to sing the Matron-General's song, which did not suit Diane Morgan's voice. Gospel singer Colleen Arnott who had made her debut in Elijah the previous year, showed her inexperience at her audition, and was passed over for a soprano who'd returned from study in England, and had sung with the Victoria State Opera. However, the director changed her mind few days later and decided she was too tall, so Colleen was given the role of Mabel and grew into the role, delighting everyone with her beautiful singing. Graham Ford was the Pirate King and David Cox his offsider.
After a brainstorming session refining the concept for Pirates, Ian Lowe did most of the rewriting, but once rehearsals started, some of the principals rewrote their own stuff, and then appeared to have most difficulty remembering the words they'd written themselves! Diane was keen on including the phrase "trained incontinence counsellor" and Malcolm Wilton wrote a couple of extra verses for the NCA chief involving Skase and Bond.
The Pirate Bankers of Penzance - performances
Show Program
As always, we had to deal with complications! During the rehearsal period, Graham had operations on both big toes for arthritis and ended up with Golden Staph. He came to rehearsal on crutches and had difficulty in "With Catlike She Tread" during performances! At the first full run, Malcolm was missing, so Graham sang his part and found he knew it better than his own, including the extra verses! Diane Morgan got laryngitis for the charity performance And Merrill Hogan had to step in.
The policeman's choreography was very funny; the audiences loved it. The sound effects for the mobile phones were invariably late, all adding to the fun of a live show. "Hail Poetry" went so well on opening night it received no applause! Unfortunately Raymond lost his voice on the last day, and Darren had to step up to Frederick; he'd previously played the role. Between the two trios, Darren, as Frederick had an interesting sequence:
Frederick: "Oh! Horror"
King: "What's the matter?"
Frederick: "I'll tell you as soon as I find my place".
The audience were very indulgent; in fact they found it hilarious. That same evening, Darren stepped in and stole one of Raymond's lines!
The show was quite innovative and also very popular, with only the original Pirates selling better.
At the end of the show the Diamond Valley Singers' follow-spot was donated to Warrandyte High School as a second spot. We only used it for stage shows, so had no other use for it, and it was given in goodwill. A video evening was held at Diane Morgan's, with much laughter and interest as the cast saw themselves for the first time.
These history notes have been kindly provided by our long-term artistic director and co-founder, Graham Ford.
Matron-General's Song
words by Ian Lowe
She is the very model of a modern Matron-General,
She's information anatomical and not ephemeral,
She knows all common symptoms and can give the facts historical,
From common colds to warts and all in order categorical.
She's very well acquainted too with rosters mathematical
She also runs the training school when colleague's on sabbatical.
About modern genetics she is teeming with a lot o' news,
When they closed the Queen Vic hospital, Victoria was not amused.
She's very good at medicines and setting up a drip in place,
She runs a ward so neat it's like an aircraft or a ship in space.
In short in matters anatomical and not ephemeral
She is the very model of a modern Matron-General.
She's known by those that matter, she has met with aristocracy,
She runs a tidy office, she's a whiz in a bureaucracy.
She's excellent at bookkeeping, her records are accountable,
She's good at solving financial problems insurmountable.
When it comes to motivation, she's as good as a Barassi-o
But if the need is discipline she is a tough old lassie-o.
Her hobby, it is singing, she is treated with a cool regard;
She even can recall a song from Webber's Sunset Boulevard!
Now she can use a spreadsheet, her computer's not a lax machine,
She uses it for email, for the Internet and fax machine.
In short in matters anatomical and not ephemeral
She is the very model of a modern Matron-General.
She wears a pretty uniform -it's comfortable and Iycra-soft,
She knows about computers, and the Internet and Microsoft.
She's been on warm and fuzzy weekend courses aimed at team building
And played the games for bonding and for personal esteem building.
Now she can manage people's lives without a trace of hesitance,
For she knows more of tactics than the nurses in the residence!
She's loved by the professors in the nursing academia
She's even known to pollies, and to our beloved premier.
Yes, her academic knowledge is supremely above par to all,
Her personality is almost godlike, she's a star to all.
In short in matters anatomical and not ephemeral.
She is the very model of a modern Matron-General.
Interview with Pirate King
by Geoff Dawes
Anchor: Excuse me, excuse me: you a Penzance Banking Group?
King: Yes.
Anchor: Are you aware that your consortium is being investigated by the National Crime Authority?
King: I am aware of that, yes.
Anchor: Any comment?
King: Certainly: the Penzance Banking Group has nothing to hide - unlike a certain Inspector Lector
Anchor: Hector Lector? What do you mean?
King: Just this: that Inspector Lector is himself guilty of breaking the law. I understand that he knocked to the ground a man of the cloth - a rector.
Anchor: Inspector Hector Lector decked a rector? Are you sure?
King: He certainly hit someone involved in the church - or maybe he was a one-man religious sect or something.
Anchor: Ah, so Inspector Hector Lector decked a sect or rector. Why would he do such a thing?
King: For the same reason he is conducting this investigation - out of guilt!
Anchor: Guilt?
King: Indeed -the Inspector had formed a romantic attachment with one of the staff at the Penzance Hospital, but, sadly, he broke her heart.
Anchor: With one of the staff? Who?
King: Oh, I believe the hospital orderly responsible for collecting used syringes.
Anchor: Go on.
King: Well, the Inspector apparently affected her deeply - heaven knows why - and when he left, the poor girl went completely to pieces: an absolute emotional wreck.
Anchor: So you're saying that Inspector Hector Lector decked a sect or rector, rejected the affected injector collector and wrecked her?
King: (Confused by question) Er ...I think so. What was the question again?
Anchor: How come my interviews always turn out this way?
Show Program
As always, we had to deal with complications! During the rehearsal period, Graham had operations on both big toes for arthritis and ended up with Golden Staph. He came to rehearsal on crutches and had difficulty in "With Catlike She Tread" during performances! At the first full run, Malcolm was missing, so Graham sang his part and found he knew it better than his own, including the extra verses! Diane Morgan got laryngitis for the charity performance And Merrill Hogan had to step in.
The policeman's choreography was very funny; the audiences loved it. The sound effects for the mobile phones were invariably late, all adding to the fun of a live show. "Hail Poetry" went so well on opening night it received no applause! Unfortunately Raymond lost his voice on the last day, and Darren had to step up to Frederick; he'd previously played the role. Between the two trios, Darren, as Frederick had an interesting sequence:
Frederick: "Oh! Horror"
King: "What's the matter?"
Frederick: "I'll tell you as soon as I find my place".
The audience were very indulgent; in fact they found it hilarious. That same evening, Darren stepped in and stole one of Raymond's lines!
The show was quite innovative and also very popular, with only the original Pirates selling better.
At the end of the show the Diamond Valley Singers' follow-spot was donated to Warrandyte High School as a second spot. We only used it for stage shows, so had no other use for it, and it was given in goodwill. A video evening was held at Diane Morgan's, with much laughter and interest as the cast saw themselves for the first time.
These history notes have been kindly provided by our long-term artistic director and co-founder, Graham Ford.
