Show Week – By Anna Trofimova

Well hello there!

My name is Petunia The Frail (aka Anna) and I am here to give you a little walk through the glory that was the show week of our wonderful production of Pirates Of Penzance!

This show has, by far, been the favourite of mine! Despite all the colourful bruises caused by the multiple fainting fits I had to ‘fall into’ throughout the show.  These could be caused by pretty much anything / anyone, but were mostly attributed to the appearance on the stage of either our fearsomely fabulous pirates or the main man, Fredric (honestly, you should see him without THE stage make up – terrifying…)

I wish I had the ability to convey even a fraction of the joy all of us got from this amazing production:  our sensational costumes (four layers of underskirts under the stage lights is not a fit for the light-hearted but still heart-broken we have to give them back); our absolutely fabulous set, props and lighting and all the talented people involved in those; our incredible production team – director Warren, choreographer and costume director Fay and our super MD Erica – who, through a lot of blood, sweat and tears (but mostly well-timed shouting and well-aimed threats) managed to get us all in line with a tremendous show as a result (we were more surprised than any one else); the crew themselves who are the most talented and wonderful (and ever so slightly unhinged) bunch of people and, of course, our amazing audience whose laughter truly made our experience complete.

A special mention should go to our great backstage crew whose, somewhat off-beat, sense of humour made being on stage even more unpredictable and exciting: the ever moving stage boulder in Act 1 that, in a ‘crouching tiger, hidden dragon’ fashion, with every show, ended up closer and closer to the edge of the stage so that a few of us nearly ended up in the orchestra pit with our wonderful musicians; the lovely faces and slightly rude impersonations performed by the crew in the wings while the rest of us tried our best to keep straight faces and act through it; and, during one of the Saturday’s shows, the ritual hanging of the beloved show teddy / pooch that Patty (aka Carla) left briefly unattended (there is photographic evidence)…  With so many of their talents directed at inventing ways of entertaining us, it is a real wonder the backstage crew still had the time to keep everything behind the scenes running so smoothly and without a glitch!

Show week also holds a lot of traditions for the cast members and the after-show activities: Thursday night, for example, is a karaoke night at a local pub/bar which some of the cast members use as a somewhat unusual vocal and dance warm up opportunity; Friday night is a curry night for the whole cast and, finally, Saturday night being the night of the infamous after-show party which includes the traditional cast nominations for things that have not gone quite according to plan during the performances; copious drinking and move-busting (some moves shown to us by our wonderful pianist, Alex, at the party were truly out of this world although her home made honey liquor might have had something to do with that…) and, this year, even a spot of Magic Mike style dancing routine we were treated to, quite unexpectedly, by a couple of the cast members. We all had a chance to recover and reflect  on the week at a bbq on Sunday.

All this has not even scratched the surface of all the one fun antics we get up to in the run up to and during our show. And now our crazy, maddening and fabulous show week is over, the post-show blues are looming over the corner so roll on September and the start of the rehearsals for our next terrific production – The Little Mermaid.  Come and join us and experience the joy of SMP and performing for yourself!!

The Blues – By Debbie Petrou

Hello me hearties, Hic! This is your drunken daughter Constance (Debbie) today is a sad day in our Pirates HQ as many of the cast have headed back to work and the sunken feeling that the show has set sail is setting in.

We have had the best time from start to finish, we have laughed together and sometimes even at each other!

We have been spoilt with beautiful costumes and fantastic set! Creative direction and endless guidance in singing.

This has been one of the most challenging shows for myself however I am so proud of what we have achieved and can honestly say it is my favourite show to date. Nothing has come close.

We now head into our summer break and will head back to SMP land for our pantomime Little Mermaid which I’m sure will be fantastic!!

Anchors aweigh me hearties I’m off to marry the Pirate King!!!

It’s been a pleasure. “sailors tell stories, Pirates make legends”

Woof!

I’m the pooch protecting my dear Patti (played by Carla Segel) and her presbyterian sisters from these pirate ruffians in SMP’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’.

The pirate scoundrels have hounded us all week and last night, our opening night was no exception!

There were a lot more pirates than usual yesterday, they were sitting in red seats banging their hands together and making loud cheering noises after each musical number!

I will keep my eye on them tonight! I must admit, although I was a little bit scared of the audience pirates, they did help to create a rather fabulous energy for the performers and the production was wildly entertaining for everyone involved!

Last night I felt like howling with joy after the show. Patti thought I was just a bit overexcited (I chased my tail just once…) after being around all these people to bark at but it was more than that. I was a proud pup last night.

These humans have worked very hard to put on such a good show and to see them performing is a real joy. I’d love everyone to come along and support them so please do book your tickets (and also know that audience pirates will be monitored!).

Here’s what the audience thought of our show:

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Well shiver me timbers, it’s that time again!

Welcome back to another instalment of SMP’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ Blog!

I’m Michael and I play the peculiarly looking ‘Rowan the Misplaced’ now I say ‘peculiar’ because you’ll spot him in his wonderfully fabulous ‘Green crushed velvet cape, obscenely floppy hat and looking rather like an ‘artist/painter’ than Pirate. Nonetheless he has been accepted into the ‘rollicking band of Pirates’ which is lead by the outstandingly talented Graham Wall who plays our ‘Pirate King’

Monday night was our ‘Tech Run’ now usually Tech Runs can become a bit tedious, as often whilst running the show, we are asked to frequently stop to allow the crew to make some changes to the set, lights or sound. But this appeared to not be the case on Monday, everything went smoothly and from a cast member’s point this was a blessing, as this gave us almost an extra Full run of the show. But this was only due to highly professional standards of our ‘Crew, Sound and Lighting’ team. I would just like to say how grateful the entire cast are for all of your hard work guys! – Ian Smith (Stage Manager) Aaron Day (Assistant Stage manager/Stage ferret!) Adam Humphries (Stage Crew) John Castle (Lighting) Phil Stannard (Sound) Matt McManus (Set design extraordinaire)

Tuesday night was our ‘Dress Run’ the dress run is usually the last ‘full run’ of the show before the curtain opens. Last night we were also joined by our full orchestra and pit singers all being lead by the incomparable Erika Gundensen. Suffice to say, last night went without a hitch, minus the few times us cast were corpsing on stage!!

Previously I wasn’t a massive G&S fan, but seeing Warren McWilliams’ vision of this ‘old and outdated’ show being brought to life has completely changed my mind about this show! It is packed full of all kinds of hilarity, energetic dances and a somewhat charming undertone. You’d be a fool to miss it!! I think I’ve finally found my calling in life!! Yo ho ho, it’s a pirate life for me!

You can still book your tickets online at www.MillfieldTheatre.co.uk

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Well shiver me timbers, it’s that time again!

Welcome back to another instalment of SMP’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ Blog!

I’m Michael and I play the peculiarly looking ‘Rowan the Misplaced’ now I say ‘peculiar’ because you’ll spot him in his wonderfully fabulous ‘Green crushed velvet cape, obscenely floppy hat and looking rather like an ‘artist/painter’ than Pirate. Nonetheless he has been accepted into the ‘rollicking band of Pirates’ which is lead by the outstandingly talented Graham Wall who plays our ‘Pirate King’

Monday night was our ‘Tech Run’ now usually Tech Runs can become a bit tedious, as often whilst running the show, we are asked to frequently stop to allow the crew to make some changes to the set, lights or sound. But this appeared to not be the case on Monday, everything went smoothly and from a cast member’s point this was a blessing, as this gave us almost an extra Full run of the show. But this was only due to highly professional standards of our ‘Crew, Sound and Lighting’ team. I would just like to say how grateful the entire cast are for all of your hard work guys! – Ian Smith (Stage Manager) Aaron Day (Assistant Stage manager/Stage ferret!) Adam Humphries (Stage Crew) John Castle (Lighting) Phil Stannard (Sound) Matt McManus (Set design extraordinaire)

Tuesday night was our ‘Dress Run’ the dress run is usually the last ‘full run’ of the show before the curtain opens. Last night we were also joined by our full orchestra and pit singers all being lead by the incomparable Erika Gundensen. Suffice to say, last night went without a hitch, minus the few times us cast were corpsing on stage!!

Previously I wasn’t a massive G&S fan, but seeing Warren McWilliams’ vision of this ‘old and outdated’ show being brought to life has completely changed my mind about this show! It is packed full of all kinds of hilarity, energetic dances and a somewhat charming undertone. You’d be a fool to miss it!! I think I’ve finally found my calling in life!! Yo ho ho, it’s a pirate life for me!

You can still book your tickets online at www.MillfieldTheatre.co.uk

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Ahoy there, me hearties, and welcome to this week’s piratey blog! My name’s Ellie and I play one of General Stanley’s beautiful, Presbyterian daughters named Kate the – ahem – ‘Eager’. She knows that pirates are no match for upstanding young ladies but can’t strictly be said to discourage their advances.

It’s hard to believe that next is week is actually here, the best week of the year (apart from Panto Week) – it’s Show Week! So this week has been our final week of rehearsals and it’s my honourable duty to bring you up to date with all that’s been going on!

This week we have been running our show in it’s entirety to triple check that everything is ship shape for opening night. Running the show on Monday I felt such a sense of pride – it’s on a night like that that you realise just how many talented people make up our motley crew! I know you probably think I just have to say, otherwise I’ll be forced to walk the plank, but the show really is fantastic. Forget everything you thought you knew about Gilbert & Sullivan – I too was a slave to the misguided preconception that it’s old, stuffy and dull, but our SMP version of it, dreamt up by our incredible production team, is hilarious, colourful and exciting. It was such a delight on Monday to see all of our hard work coming together and to be able to watch other parts of the show, which had me howling with laughter. There were a couple of minor mishaps: for example, our lovely choreographer Miss Fay had to delicately remind the girls to actually move during one of our numbers, aptly named the ‘Wafty Duet’, because we were all too taken by our pretty flowery hoops to remember to do anything. Our superb Musical Director Erika, aided by the very talented Alex on piano, also tweaked a few of the highly complex harmonies, although she mostly seemed relieved that we’ve finally learnt the words to the show – sorting out the ‘magnanimities’ from the ‘lace and dimities’ has been no mean feat! I missed our run through on Wednesday – a sin for which I must atone for providing our pitiless Director Warren McWilliams with meat based snacks – but I am told by my fellow thespians that it was just as excellent as Monday’s.

With that I must leave you to go and pack up all my costumes ready for our get-in to the theatre on Sunday, but before I do I have something to ask of you – please part with a little of your hard-earned treasure and book your tickets now! You really will have a fantastic evening filled with exciting music, beautiful costumes and side splitting comedy. So come along – you will not be disappointed!

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Ahoy mateys, Jack here to take you through this weeks on goings aboard the SMP pirate ship.

We had three rehearsals this week. Monday saw us using the intimate theatre to run through act 1 in all its glory. It allowed us the time and space necessary to really tweak and fix certain bits, both vocally and dance wise.

Wednesday we were at trusty old canon house where we ran, surprise surprise, act 2. Although the space is much smaller we were still able to get through the whole act with plenty of stoppages within. Most of the time, or should I say more time than than should have been, was spent on Erika trying to teach me a harmony, which just wasn’t happening that day for some reason.

The highlight of the week however came on Sunday…….Band Call! For those that don’t know, Band Call, is when the amazing musicians, who shall be playingfor us show week, come to a rehearsal and play through the music. I must say even though a few instruments were missing, it sounded amazing. Erika has and continues to do a fantastic job with this show, we have some seriously talented people both on stage and off stage in this production.

Not long now for you to book tickets, make sure you do as this isn’t one to be missed.

Signing off, Captain Jack

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Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Percy the Wuss here, aka Andrew Jordan giving you the next installment of the Pirates of Penzance blog.

As the show week is fast approaching we’ve now entered our busy rehearsal schedule with Monday, Wednesday AND now Sunday rehearsals.

It’s all about the tidy up now; we have gone through everything and now it’s time to tighten up the dance routines and harmonies. Monday was a run through and Wednesday was singing.

Sunday came and it was time to put it all together with the excitement of doing a costume run. There was the also the added #piratejoy (and danger ) of weapons for the boys and the dresses for the girls.

This show has pretty much something for everyone: romance, comedy, singing, innuendos, fighting, chasing, partial nudity, mutilation the list goes on …

Our ‘Pirates of Penzance’ is only a couple of weeks away. Please head over to the Millfield website where you can book your tickets. www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Dearest and loveliest followers of the SMP Pirates of Penzance Show blog, welcome to our humble yet impeccable account of the labour of piecing together this most wonderful of Gilbert & Sullivan Shows, our show, The Pirates of Penzance! I must say I am surprised by the choice of name for this marvellous show.

I strongly feel that this show would have been more aptly named “Frederic and Mabel, The Slave of Duty and His Fair Maiden, Confront the Most Wicked Pirates of Penzance”, but I was sadly not consulted on this matter which I feel is an oversight. But I willingly forgive this smallest of slights and focus my undivided attention on the exceedingly lovely part I am required to play.

My name is Mabel, and I play one of the fair maidens in this show. In it I find true love at the side of Frederic, a most beautiful and thoughtful young man who chooses me out of all my sisters, imagine that, as the one that he shall wed. We met on the Coast of Penzance, and it truly was love at first sight. His melodious tones could not fail to stir in me a sense of duty to marry him at once, since he was quite desperate to win me. I must say it was a small sacrifice to make, as Frederic has since revealed himself to be a most worthy suitor.

But enough about Frederic and I, though I am sure you would love nothing more than for me to go on endlessly about his many achievements and dashing good looks. To say nothing of his excellent hip swaying abilities.

This past week, in our rehearsals, we have had a highly joyous time and I was able to observe my darling sisters practice singing along with me to the wonderful tune of “Poor Wandering One” where I give a most rousing rendition of the highest of high notes as they sway beautifully in the background! Frederic truly was the most poor wandering one, but I have helped him return to the path he strayed from and offered him my heart to take for his own.

All of us ladies were incredibly delighted to receive and try on our most beautiful garments for the show this week, they are absolutely superb and will be a most wonderful surprise to everyone on opening night. I dare say we shall spend the entire show twirling in them in fits of giggles. I do believe it is the loveliest dress I have ever had the pleasure to wear. It perfectly complements my delicate complexion.

We also sang alongside our darling Papa who was quite sad and we did our best to cheer him up. Those most awful of Pirates also rehearsed this week and stomped about in their loud and boisterous manner as is their custom. It was rather upsetting but also quite rousing. It must be quite the life of adventure…or so I hear.

I wonder do Pirate ladies exist? I myself have never met one. With all our hard work, I am most satisfied to share with you that we have arrived at a moment where all of the show has been rehearsed and we will begin doing runs of the entire play! It is truly exciting, you must agree!

Please do remember to share this inspiring show with those you love so that we may have a suitably packed audience in June. Ah leave us not to pine alone…When you purchase your tickets, tell them Mabel sent you, for I have no doubt that if you do this, you will be very well taken care of. As you may imagine, I am very loved by one and all.

I hope to see you at the Millfield Theatre between June 7th and 10th! Signing off with all my love and warm wishes, Fa la la la, Fa la…Mabel Stanley. xoxo

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Hello, this is Rupert the partial, in the real world Carl.

Well last week’s rehearsals were full of ballet and chasing. When I heard about the ballet scene, I thought, being one of the male cast, I’d have the night off. I was wrong! This is the Pirate’s and Police ballet part of the Act II finale.

Well, the amazing Fay Kemal’s choreography is en pointe as always. She certainly kept us on our toes the whole time. We were Pirou-wet with sweat by the end of Monday’s rehearsal. With a little more practice it won’t be Tu Tu hard to master.

I’ve run out of ballet puns, so swiftly moving on to the hilarious chase scene, masterfully choreographed by our director. Not just running around, that’s not good enough for our Warren; this chase is filled with leap frogs, slapping and, naturally, sneezing.

On Wednesday, we went through the chase scene, but excitingly, we tried on our costumes. No photos but they are awesome, thanks to Fay, Ellie and Debbie. Debbie has done us proud on the Police costumes. The pirate’s costumes are an eclectic mix of scurvy buccaneers that have to be seen to be believed.

The girls also tried on their costumes but these are shrouded in mystery from the rest of the cast!

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Greetings, Dear Reader,

Welcome to The Pirates of Penzance! My name is Bernadett and I am delighted to be guiding you through this week’s blog.

The Pirates of Penzance – or The Slave of Duty – is a show of brilliant humour and amazing music. I first saw the show about a year ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very funny and heart-warming. I especially enjoy the creative choices our director and production team make with the show. They are all extremely talented people who will bring out the best in this production.

This is my second show with SMP and my very first operetta. I’m playing Susanna, the Preened, who is one of the daughters of the Major-General. I will get to wear a beautiful dress and meet real pirates (of a good kind, mind you) which makes two of my childhood dreams come true at once. It is very exciting indeed!

The plot of the show is engaging and funny and I feel blessed to be part of such a friendly and talented group. The music is brilliant although I do find it very complex at places and the lyrics can be real tongue-twisters at times. Nonetheless, everybody in the team is working hard towards perfection with the help of the amazing MD Erika and her assistant, Alex.

On Monday, our men did some recaps of the dances learned so far and learned the choreography for ‘Cat like tread’. Even though I was not present, – as the ladies of the cast were given a well-deserved night off – I enjoyed watching the recordings of the evening’s hard work. Our male cast members are big and strong (as is to be expected from the pirates) but very funny and sentimental when needed and they sound amazing. It is going to be a real treat for all who will come to see the show.

On Wednesday, the whole cast had a vocal call and we learned the harmonies of the Act Two Finale. It sounds great when all vocal parts come together. We have not yet done the setting for this but I am very much looking forward to it!

We would be delighted to welcome you in the audience. We can promise you a show full of laughter and excitement!!!! Don’t miss it! 🙂

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Hello and welcome to my second installment of the Pirate blog.

We’re roughly half way through the rehearsal schedule and I have to say I’m really pleased with how everything is going. Thanks to the hard work of the cast and the team we’re still on schedule and although we’ve been moving at a rapid pace, the cast are doing their homework and whats been set has been retained and is looking great. This week saw us set the ‘Policeman’s Lot’ and ‘Climbing Over Rocky Mountains’ numbers, whilst moving onto singing through Cat Like Tread and the adjoining music with the men.

We only have a few bits left to learn and the whole show will have been blocked and sung through. It was always my aim to try and get everything set and learnt early and everyone has risen to the challenge. This means we’ll have lots of rehearsal time to run the show, polishing and adding extra little bits all the while.

On a personal note this show is proving an enjoyable challenge for me, the nature of the show means that I’ve had to do rather more choreography than I would normally, resulting in me locking myself in a room and fighting or dancing with myself. Thankfully when it all gets too much for me Fay’s on hand to make up some proper dancing.

Our version will be unlike many other ‘Pirates’ before it. Myself, Fay and Erika decided from the onset that we didn’t want this show to have a stuffy or concert feel to it. So often you see productions of the show where all the emphasis is on the singing and little consideration given to anything else. In our eyes this leaves a rather boring show. We want ours to be a real triple threat.

As the show is out of copyright it’s rather liberating as it means we can really put our spin on things. We’ve taken a much more MT approach to our version, we’ll let you be the judge, but we believe what we have is a much funnier, more entertaining version of the show with a modern feel. The show has so much scope for humour and we’re doing all we can to pack our version full of it, we’ve come up with some great characters and it’s great to see the cast develop these each week in rehearsals.

The next few weeks see us set ‘cat like tread’ and learn the finale section of act 2 then tie up the loose ends and duets which will mean we can start running the show.

I do hope you come to see the show, forget any preconceptions you may have of it, what we’re offering is a fresh fun take on a classic.

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Greetings dear readers of the Pirates Blog!

My name is David Bowman and there are those that call me the Very Model of a Modern Major General!

Usually at rehearsals, and when the script dictates, for that is the part I am to portray, and dare I say, to embody in our little show.

Admittedly there are not many occasions for them to do this.

But when they do, they do so in unison, in song and in some rather lovely harmonies!

This week has seen two more rehearsals full to the brim with that authentic SMP blend of studious attention to detail, and glorious hilarity!

On Monday the gentlemen of the cast, along with the irrepressible Jo Cooper who plays our Ruth, where put through their paces.

Our esteemed Director, Mr Warren McWilliams, guided us through a review of all the scenes so far covered.

I’m pleased to say he certainly bought that particular genius of his to bear cranking up the levels of police buffoonery and piratical hijinks!

The evening concluded in marvellous fashion with Jack McGinn, our dashing Frederick, and Jo Cooper delivering a truly rousing rendition of ‘Oh False One’.

Special mention here should go to our pianist Alex Cobavie, for altheticism, vigor and enthusiasm her playing brings to all of our rehearsals, and this accompaniment in particular!

Wednesday we repaired to Cannon House, where there’s always costume lurking in the attic, song wafting through the lounge and tea brewing in the kitchen!

A recap of the songs was led by our Musical Director – the incomparable Erika Gundesen.  In once more guiding us through the trickiest of Sullivan’s harmonic wrangling with tenacity, perseverance and consummate musicianship, but also with irrepressible good humour!

Indeed a splendid evening was had by all and we all left looking forward to the day that all this can be unveiled before you, our esteemed audience!

In conclusion, get your tickets, see this show, it’s going to be absolutely jolly marvellous!

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr me hearties!

Greetings and welcome to the blog.  I’m Luke and I’m delighted to be bringing this week’s edition to you.  I’m so pleased we are doing this show, it’s always been one of my favourites as it was pretty much the very first musical I was ever part of waaaay back when I was but a young whipper-snapper.  Well the years have rolled by, but I still love Pirates of Penzance as much, if not more, than I ever did.

The music is fantastic – real proper singing that tests us to our limits and pushes us to be better which is always great.  These days, I like the show even more because you get just how silly and funny it is.  So – great show, great music, lots of funny stuff – and that’s before you factor in Mr Warren McWilliams adding his considerable talents to add more mayhem and hilarity, the fabulous Fay Kemal bringing out our best with some brilliant routines and the wondrous patience of Erika Gundesen who is slowly but surely getting us through the fabulously complex music.

So on Monday we were a rollicking band of Pirates as we set the opening to the show, much laughter and energy was brought to proceedings as we cavorted about, swilling from flagons of sherry and launching Jack McGinn (who plays Frederick) around.  By the end, we’d all worked up a good sweat and it looks like we should be opening the show with a bang and starting like we mean to go on!

Wednesday was a singing day, Erika (along with our fabulous pianist Alex) worked with us on ‘When the Foeman Bares His Steel’ which is in Act 2 and where I’ll be playing the Sergeant which is a really fun part.  This was one of 2 songs I sort of take the lead in, so a great rehearsal for me in getting this under my belt.  We also did some more work on some of the other numbers and we really started to crack the end of the Act 1 finale.  This is a massive 10 minute piece of music in multiple harmonies and is a bit of a nightmare when you first look at it.  However, once we crack it – it will sound A. MAZ. ING!  So very excitingly at the end of Wednesday we ran through the Act 1 finale from beginning to end, up to speed and you could really hear that the chaps were 95% there (no disrespect to the ladies, they were downstairs setting some dancing with Miss Fay – so this was a singing rehearsal just for the gents!).

We’ve been ploughing through the show at a good pace, and I think we’re due to go back for a few recap rehearsals which will be great.  Once we get everything together, bring the humour out, start belting out those harmonies and adding in all the fab bits and pieces being added on top – I’m confident this is going to be one of our best ever shows!

So what are you waiting for, shiver those timbers, splice the mainbrace and get booking your tickets now! Else we shall have to confine ye to Davy Jones’ locker!

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Aye, me hearties, and welcome to this week’s blog, by me, Archie (or “Roger the Cabin Boy” if you must)! And this week was a really big one too!

On Wednesday, we (Me, Jo and the rest) did Pour, oh pour and (I live or die a) Pirate King, which were two very easy songs and I loved them, as I’m sure everyone else did too.

Meanwhile, the other girls (the lovely daughters) were very busy trying to snatch a hoop off someone’s wrist whilst the other person was spinning it (I hope they were up to more than just that)!

We also had a visit from two talented people Ewan and Esub who are putting our flyer together for us, I can’t wait to see the finished thing.

Anyway, that was Wednesday, and (here comes the embarrassing bit) I… wasn’t there on Monday. But… Warren told me that I could go through other rehearsals, so here comes one from last Wed (the one before the one I was just talking about)… Act 1 finale!

Now, I have to say, as a professional, that the song was extremely difficult and complicated to learn, with… a many good different topics in it. But, my amateur dramatics (and true self, if you ask me!) self-screams out loud that that song was simply “a mess, like Gilbert and Sullivan had made this song for comic relief, deciding that the good thing to do would be to get all different genres of music, and mix them together like a lumpy cake mixture- the lumps in the cake mixture being all the places where the genres clashed-and just stick it into the otherwise magnificent play.”

I mean, come ON, one minute the pirates (me included) are getting all emotional, sobbing our hearts out over David Bowman’s being an orphan, and the next minute, we’re “hailing poetry”? In my experience, there is NO SUCH THING as “Hail Poetry!”

But we got through that sticky mess, and I’m sure we’ll be all the wiser for other songs like this (if there are more abominations like this) because of all the coaching that our amazing Erika Gundesen and magical Alex Cobavie (she is BOUND to become like Tchaikovsky-her skills are beyond bounds) have given us so far, and will all the way to the end of the play.

Also, I would like to say that Jamie Somerville, you are an OUTSTANDING actor and a brilliant singer-any play that you are in is instantly something I would want to watch, because the moment you start performing, regardless of whether you are standing centre stage hands-on-hips or backstage right sweeping dust out of a corner (though I doubt that if anyone sees your talent they would give you a role like the latter), everyone’s attention would be focused on you, because of the way you play a role in a comedic and amazing way, whilst still doing what the director wants you to do.

Please don’t be sad if I haven’t mentioned all of you in this; that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re just as good as everyone else in our merry little group, it’s just I haven’t been working directly alongside you and it would be unfair to you for me to judge you.

Anyway, I hope you’ve managed to get through this blog without falling asleep (or yawning either-I know I’m not the most exciting person in the universe), and if you have, congratulations!

Here’s to many more Mondays and Wednesdays to come, Archie is out!

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Pirates of Penzance runs from 7th-10th June and tickets are available to buy through the Millfield box office here:

Hi all

My name is Jo and I will be playing Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. This will be my second performance with SMP, my first show being Beauty and the Beast in 2013, although I have helped out behind the scenes in Our House in 2013 and Urinetown in 2016. I can’t wait to get my teeth into this show as Gilbert & Sullivan operettas are something I love and have been dying to perform in one. I was super surprised and elated to get the role of Ruth.

Last Monday saw us staging some of the classic songs from Act 1 (with some of the best directing known to man according to our Director, Warren McWilliams), such as Modern Major General in which Dave Bowman (playing the General) has to really get his face in gear for those super fast lyrics! Staging is always done at the Intimate theatre which has been in existence now since 1937 and reportedly has its own ghost of a hooded monk which walks the aisle between the stalls, according to the theatre manager. I also love all things ghostly and have done since I was a kid- did I mention that? I did my first show at the Intimate when I was 7 years old and have long loved the traditional and authentic feel of the place.

We have been going great guns with Erika learning all the songs and the harmonies are coming together beautifully, helped greatly by Alex who plays the keyboard for us at rehearsal. I love this show as its got lots going on and musically is very hard to sing, but the resulting sound is worth all our effort. Its unusual to have so many men in our cast for this show and they have outnumbered the girls at rehearsals which is strange, but lovely. Its also great to have two very talented young men in our cast for this show, Jamie and Archie. Hopefully they will enjoy working hard on a fun show with our lively, friendly cast.

I have two little girls aged almost 7 and 3 and a half and they are helping me learn my songs. They follow me around the house singing and I am pleased to get them interested in Gilbert & Sullivan. My husband Richard helps me learn my lines so its a complete family affair. I’m grateful and lucky they support me and always come to my shows. Why not bring your family to see our show too? I’ll be handing over to Chris O’Shea next week when we will be staging our Act 1 finale and learning more wonderful harmonies.