Customer Reviews

The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Okay. Here goes:

Ruth is pretty much perfect for her role, because--next to being old and ugly--she's funny and her voice shows her age. Major General Stanley is ideal, good timing and a nice delivery of his song.

Mabel is not young enough, and-curiously--at the end of both finales she never sings the top part above every one else. Other than that, she sings nicely. Frederick! My Gawd, he's like 45! And not attracive at all! And tubby! So with all of the female chorus singing of his beauty all of the time, you'll be in disbelief. And his singing is only okay at that.

Peter Allen as the Pirate King is--well--let's say "effeminate and unattractive" to put it nicely. The Police Sergeant and his men are unfunny and unmemorable--except for the (*gasp*) midget police officer.

The sets are amateurish and disappointing. The choreography is a tad on the ridiculous side. And moments such as the "Paradox" number are just bland, because they want it to be funny, but are not even trying. The whole moment with the guns pointed at him and the nods--not funny! The jaunty steps on the refrain make it mildly entertaining.

But there is one small moment that makes this video worth owning:"Climbing Over Rocky Mountain," the female chorus entrance number, is absolutely CHARMING! The staging and the singing and everything all come together and make it a perfect moment.

Yeah, so basically avoid this, unless you want to see an adequate Ruth and Major-General and a charming ladies chorus' entrance all bunched up against a lowsey production on the whole.

I know that even though a lot of the Amazon.com community complain about this video, I still find it enjoyable from first to last. Peter Allen is really a swashbuckling Pirate King, though not a really good singer, acting the part extremely well. Keith Michell finds every nuance in his portrayal of Major-General Stanley. Though his famous patter song seems difficult to sing, he sings it well and effortlessly. Janis Kelly and Alexander Oliver make an excellent pair of lovers, singing sweetly, and with romanticism. Gillian Knight makes a perfect Ruth, appealing and with a crisp performance. The choruses of pirates, policemen and daughters of Major-General Stanley are bright, crisp, supportive and clear. Though the Sergeant may need polishing, he still sings as well as Owen Brannigan. Overall, this is an excellent traditional performance, and I find this better than the Broadway-Hollywood version. It seems to me that nobody but the Brits does Gilbert and Sullivan in the way I expect it to be done, and it is not becuase of a "Rule Britannia" attitude. It seems that they present more logical versions of Gilbert and Sullivan, and this video really proves it. I would suggest that you think carefully before buying either this or the Broadway-Hollywood version.

I love the Pirates of Penzance and have seen other productions that were great but though not horrible this is far from perfect! Peter Allen wasn't the best Pirate King and not the greatest singer but his acting was good and was kind of enjoyable, I think what really bothered me about this production was that Frederic is 21 years old and the man playing him looked more like he was 51 years old and way to old to be playing a 21 year old, the woman playing Mabel looked kind of too old to be playing Mabel but at least she didn't look as old as the man playing Frederic and was somewhat more believable! There were some good performances from the people playing Ruth and Major Stanley and some good musical numbers with Mabel's sisters but I just could not get past the fact that the man playing Frederic was too old for the part and was badly miscast!

I'm researching various productions of PIRATES, and you reallydon't want to see this one unless, like me, you have to. It has allthe signs of a bad BBC job--lip sych sound with the wrong audio ambience, over-the-hill juveniles without charm, and performers giving about 45% effort. END

Good choreography, especially funny for I am a Pirate King.
Good recording and video quality.
One has to really wonder who chose the cast.
Mabel, Janis Kelly, was great in the middle registers, but did not sing up into the stratosphere.
Frederic, Alexander Oliver, could sing, but did not quite look the part of a dashing young lad of 21.
General Stanley and Ruth were both fine.
The Pirage King was not the strong singer that you would expect, but was clearly enjoying himself.

Includes a libretto with almost all of the lyrics.
It would have been nice if they had also included subtitles for those of us who can not resist the urge to sing along.

I find this version to very sloppy. The sound is horrible. I truly recommend the Stratford Version or the Papp Version with Kevin Kline.

There are three versions of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE of DVD. I own all three. There is the 1980 Papp Production, the 1982 BBC version, and the 1985 Stratford Festival version. All three version have actors if combined would make the perfect cast of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Here are what characteristics I think would make the perfect cast from each version:

Mable: The look of Linda Ronstadt(Papp), the voice of Janis Kelly(BBC), and the stage presence of Caralyn Tomlin(Stratford)

Frederic: The Look of Rex Smith (Papp), the voice of Alexander Oliver, and the stage presence of Jeff Hyslop(Stratford)

Pirate King: Kevin Kline(Papp)Although Brent Craver was very funny Kevin Kline has more of the voice.

Ruth: Patricia Routledge(Papp) Although Gillian Knight(BBC) was very good.

The Major General: Douglas Chamberlain(Stratford) Although the George Rose(Papp) comes in a very close second. Keith Michell(BBC) was very good too.

Sergeant of Police: Stephen Beamish(Stratford)

Overall I like the Strartford Version the best. With the Papp Version coming in a very close second.

I Love the Pirates of Penzance so I watched this Peter Allen version and believe me when I say that it is as bad as they say it is and I am speaking from personal experience after the torture of watching this crummy thing, Peter Allen is too flamboyant to be enjoyable as my favorite character The Pirate King and they had some old dude playing Fredric and he looked like he was at least in his mid to late 40s so why was he playing a 21 year old young man when he was too old for the part? Okay so I know that the other versions of Penzance had actors who were older then 21 playing Fredric but they looked like they were at least in their 30s so it didn't seem that bad. I don't recommend this version, try both the video of the stage play and the movie of the Kevin Cline, Rex Smith, Linda Ronstadt version and/or the Brent Carver version, I know some people didn't like those versions either but I enjoyed them and think they are both so much better then this mess! I think that someone should do a film a production of The Pirates Of Penzance that has young people playing the parts of Mable and Fredric. There has to be some talanted young singers out there who could play them just as long as it's not Britney Spears, Christina Agulera or Charlotte Church playing Mable or any member of The Back Street Boys or Nsync playing Fredric!

I was tempted to throw tomatoes at my own television screen during this awful production of a great opera! The singing is mediocre, the acting is horrid, and the sets remind one of a bad high school production. My friends and I -- all of us long time fans of Gilbert and Sullivan's humor and style -- couldn't even finish watching this dreadful production. We also tried to watch this series's production of Ruddigore, but we found that to be just as bad. Run, don't walk, from this truly abyssmal series!

I find it difficult to believe the poor ratings this version has received! The perfomance is GREAT, compared to the ones with Linda Ronstadt and Angela Lansberry.

Although there are limitations (it is not a live performance on stage, for example) it is SO MUCH better than the version with the "The Fabulous Singlettes" on the 2006 DVD with Jon English, Simon Gallaher, Helen Donaldson, Toni Lamond.

I just had to write a review with 5 stars to provide a better rating, I hope. This version is not to be snubbed at all!

I have to say the girls paddling in the tide pools entrances but Keith Michell as the Major General (like the Sorcer Clive Revell) is so perfect! I really love the sets and feel brought in, in a dream like way like the whole series. This is a Comedy! folks. Gibert DID want to do great Opera, but this is still a comedy and I love the self mocking. It may be that my fellow Americans (Ustado Unidenseheads) who like Opera wish not to laugh at ancestry and position, but the Brits had had quite enough of that when these operas were written. Be campy and be fun. Get up on the stage and laugh. Let me have a close up of that mock sneer. Paddle those dainty feet Maidens!! Oh! And I am in heaven.