Gilbert and Sullivan's | Broadway | medium 11

Herbert Appleman has re-worked H.M.S PINAFORE, Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta masterpiece, about two lovebirds from different backgrounds a lowly sailor and his upper-class lass who aren't aware that after their birth they were mistakenly delivered by their foster mother to the wrong parents. 2 Acts.

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DICK DEADEYE (Able Seaman): 35-45, a veteran sailor, loyal to the traditions of the Navy; an honest man who speaks the plain truth, and won't back down from a fight; has something to say about every word or act of hypocrisy.

LITTLE BUTTERCUP (a Bumboat Woman): 40-50, the "rosiest, roundest reddest beauty in all Spithead;" a warm-hearted, lively woman, but with a dark deed in her past; secretly in love with Captain Corcoran

BOATSWAIN (Bo'sun): 30-50, well-informed, precise in speech, punctilious in manner; if he weren't a boatswain, he'd be an Oxford don; the counterweight to Deadeye, he always defends Victorian conventions and proper behavior

RALPH RACKSTRAW (Able Seaman): 20-28, handsome, romantic, passionate, brave, a true-blue operetta hero; desperately in love with Josephine, his Captain's daughter, who, alas, is far above him in rank and social class.

JOSEPHINE (Captain Corcoran's daughter): 18-25, beautiful, romantic, passionate, brave, a true-blue operetta heroine; desperately in love with Ralph, a low-born sailor; but, alas, her father has arranged for her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty; as a dutiful daughter and a well-bred young woman who appreciates the good things in life, she's caught in a tug-of-war between her heart and her head.

CAPTAIN CORCORAN (Commander, H.M.S. Pinafore): 45-55, an officer with a commanding presence and a strong temper which sometimes gets the better of him; a loving father who, however reluctantly, is willing to compromise his daughter's happiness by marrying her off to Sir Joseph Porter in order to further his own ambitions; not in any way a bad man, just a conventional one; secretly fond of Buttercup.

THE RT. HON. SIR JOSEPH PORTER, K.C.B. (First Lord of the Admiralty): 50-60, a self-made millionaire with no qualifications to be First Lord of the Admiralty except that he made a generous contribution to the Party and was entitled to a reward; a nouveau riche who hopes to move up in society by marrying Josephine; a pretty young woman with the right pedigree; he styles himself "The Monarch Of The Sea," dangles a monocle, and always wears a gold braid and medals; in short everything about him shows that his defense of "equality" is hypocritical.

HEBE (Sir Joseph's Cousin): 35-50, wears glasses and has the manner of a bluestocking; intelligent, and cultivated; secretly in love with Sir Joseph and resolutely determined to marry him; uses her parasol as a weapon to keep other women away from him and, from her first entrance, gives the impression of already being his wife.

AGATHA (Another Cousin): 35-50, Hebe's confidante.

(For purposes of contrast, Agatha and Hebe should be quite different in height and weight.)

BOB BECKET (Sailor): 28-48, the biggest, toughest, and most pugnacious sailor in the crew.

BILL BOBSTAY (Sailor): 28-48, another big, tough sailor - Becket's pal and drinking buddy.

Director's script
Cast scripts
Vocal books
Piano-vocal score

(9 musicians)
Piano-Vocal
Keyboard 2 (Synth)
Reed 1 (Piccolo, Clarinet, Alto Sax)
Reed 2 (Clarinet, Baritone Sax)
Trumpet
Trombone
Bass
Drums
Percussion

Video Licence available