PASAB (Penzance Around Scilly and Back) is an annual yacht race held off the western coast of Cornwall in South West England , held in the last week of July each year.
156-539: The race is held over the course of three days, and is divided into three legs, each starting on consecutive days. In the first leg competitors sail from Penzance to St Mary's , the largest of the Isles of Scilly , then the following day they race in a circuit around the islands. The third and final day sees the fleet return to Penzance. The overall winner of the race is presented with the Manzi Trophy , named after Mike Manzi,
312-536: A Mozart string quartet." Another well-known parody number from the work is the song for coloratura , "Poor wand'ring one", which is generally thought to burlesque Gounod 's waltz-songs, though the music critic of The Times called it "mock- Donizetti ". In a scene in Act ;II, Mabel addresses the police, who chant their response in the manner of an Anglican church service. Sullivan even managed to parody two composers at once. The critic Rodney Milnes describes
468-673: A chapel of ease ) was granted parish status by church authorities though it had been registered since the new church was built in 1832. On 1 November 1755 the Lisbon earthquake caused seiching , a form of standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water, along the Cornish coast, and particularly in Mount's Bay, which is prone to seiching. At around 2:00 pm, the sea rose eight feet (2.4 m) in Penzance, came in at great speed, and fell at
624-435: A fifth-order Fresnel lens ) was built by Sandys & co. of Hayle and displayed a fixed red or green light, depending on the height of the tide. It remains operational, displaying a flashing sector light , which is visible up to 17 nmi (31 km; 20 mi) out to sea. The Scilly Isles Steam Navigation Company was founded in 1858 and placed in service the first steam ship on the route, SS Little Western . In 1870
780-697: A boat house built on Jennings Street near the Promenade in 1884 to promote their activities. Penzance, with its dry dock and engineering facilities, was chosen as the western depot for Trinity House that serviced all the lighthouses and lightships from Start Point to Trevose Head . It was opened in October 1866 adjacent to the harbour and the Buoy Store became the Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum until 2005 when Trinity House closed
936-418: A civil court with jurisdiction over cases not exceeding £50; and providing a prison. The Charter also confirmed the harbour rights given earlier in 1512 and granted two weekly markets to be held on Tuesdays and Thursday; which replaced a single market previously held on Wednesdays. Seven fairs were granted (or confirmed): The Crown was paid a perpetual rent of five marks (£3 6s 8d / £3.33) in acknowledgment of
1092-524: A comic opera, The Contrabandista , in 1867, about a hapless British tourist who is captured by bandits and forced to become their chief. Gilbert had written several comic works that involved pirates or bandits. In Gilbert's 1876 opera Princess Toto , the title character is eager to be captured by a brigand chief. Gilbert had translated Jacques Offenbach 's operetta Les brigands , in 1871. As in Les brigands , The Pirates of Penzance absurdly treats stealing as
1248-894: A company of singing actors, to play both Pinafore and the new opera, including J. H. Ryley as Sir Joseph, Blanche Roosevelt as Josephine, Alice Barnett as Little Buttercup, Furneaux Cook as Dick Deadeye, Hugh Talbot as Ralph Rackstraw and Jessie Bond as Cousin Hebe, some of whom had been in the Pinafore cast in London. To these, he added some American singers, including Signor Brocolini as Captain Corcoran. Alfred Cellier came to assist Sullivan, while his brother François Cellier remained in London to conduct Pinafore there. Gilbert and Sullivan cast talented actors who were not well-known stars and did not command high fees. They then tailored their operas to
1404-731: A country that had been subject to Gilbert's copyright (other than Williamsons' authorised productions) was in Stratford, Ontario , Canada, in September 1961, as the copyright expired. In 1979, the Torbay branch of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society presented a centenary tribute to the world premiere performance of Pirates in Paignton, with a production at the Palace Avenue Theatre (situated a few metres from
1560-451: A fair, lasting seven days at the Feast of St Peter ad Vincula on 1 August; and another fair of seven days on 24 August at Mousehole for the feast of St Bartholomew – later to be held in Penzance. The settlement was growing in importance as the weekly Wednesday market was confirmed by King Henry IV and three further fairs, each of two days, were granted on 8 April 1404. These were at the Feast of
1716-507: A felon's not engaged in his employment", adding, "There could never be any doubt as to who wrote that , and it is as English as our wonderful police themselves." Because the work was premiered in three different places (the Paignton performance and the full productions in New York and London), there are more variations in the early libretto and score of The Pirates of Penzance than in other Gilbert and Sullivan works. Songs sent from New York to
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#17329162963381872-419: A few dissenting comments: The Manchester Guardian thought both author and composer had drawn on the works of their predecessors: "Mr. Gilbert ... seems to have borrowed an idea from Sheridan 's The Critic ; Mr. Sullivan's music is sprightly, tuneful and full of 'go', although it is certainly lacking in originality." The Sporting Times noted, "It doesn't appear to have struck any of the critics yet that
2028-441: A fish cellar. A carving in "Ludgvan granite" thought to be of St Anthony was removed in about 1830 and was used in the wall of a pig sty, which was further vandalised in 1850 when "a stranger ... taking fancy to the stony countenance and rough hands, they were broken off and carried away as relics ...". The remains of the vandalised relic were taken to St Mary's Churchyard by a mason who told Mr Millett that he "popped St Raffidy into
2184-519: A great favourite in Sullivan's formative years, may have been the model for Sullivan's trademark contrapuntal mingling of the rapid prattle of the women's chorus in Act I ("How beautifully blue the sky") in 2/4 time with the lovers' duet in waltz time. Jacobs writes that "the whole number [shifts] with Schubertian ease from B to G and back again." In Act II, a double chorus combines the policemen's dogged tune, "When
2340-499: A group of thugs to the Opera Comique to seize the scenery and props during the evening performance of Pinafore . See Ainger, p. 170 and Jacobs, pp. 124–125. Stagehands and cast members managed to ward off their backstage attackers and protect the scenery. The police arrived to restore order, and the show continued. See Stedman, pp. 170–171 and Gillan, Don. "The Fracas at the Opera Comique" , The Theatre , 1 September 1879, reprinted at
2496-441: A hitherto unknown comic world of sheer delight." Gilbert acted as stage director for his own plays and operas. He sought naturalism in acting, which was unusual at the time, just as he strove for realistic visual elements. He deprecated self-conscious interaction with the audience and insisted on a style of portrayal in which the characters were never aware of their own absurdity but were coherent internal wholes. Sullivan conducted
2652-500: A lugubrious comic number for the Sergeant of Police ... a song of confession for Ruth, the successor [to] Little Buttercup", romantic material for Frederic and Mabel, and "ensemble and chorus music in turn pretty, parodic and atmospheric." Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte met by 24 April 1879 to make plans for a production of Pinafore and the new opera in America. Carte travelled to New York in
2808-439: A mistake "through being hard of hearing": Mishearing Frederic's father's instructions, she apprenticed him to a pirate, instead of to a ship's pilot ("When Frederic was a little lad"). Frederic has never seen any woman other than Ruth, and he believes her to be beautiful. The pirates know better and suggest that Frederic take Ruth with him when he returns to civilisation. Frederic announces that, although it pains him, so strong
2964-623: A music critic, praised "the time-honored lilt which Sir Arthur Sullivan, following the example of Mozart and Rossini , chose for the lists of accomplishments of the Major-General in The Pirates or the Colonel in Patience ." This opera contains two well-known examples of Sullivan's characteristic combination of two seemingly disparate melodies. Jacobs suggests that Berlioz 's La damnation de Faust ,
3120-423: A new orchestration and arrangements that changed keys, added repeats, lengthened dance music and made other minor changes in the score. The "Matter Patter" trio from Ruddigore and "Sorry her lot" from H.M.S. Pinafore , two other Gilbert and Sullivan operas, were interpolated into the show. The production also restored Gilbert and Sullivan's original New York ending, with a reprise of the Major-General's song in
3276-498: A new road link the harbour area and the Promenade, and in 1933 the St. Anthony Gardens were built, followed two years later by the Jubilee Pool opposite. Tourists could now make full use of the whole seafront between Penzance and Newlyn harbours. In the early 1990s, a bypass was built around the town. Penzance railway station is sited at the eastern end of Market Jew Street and close to
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#17329162963383432-626: A new vessel for the King Harry Ferry on the River Fal was launched, built on the keel of an old landing craft . A steam tug, the Primrose , was built in 1963. Land was reclaimed beside the Albert Pier in the 1930s to allow the railway station to be enlarged at a cost of £134,000. The 1880 building was retained, but extra platforms and sidings were provided to handle more perishable goods, as well as
3588-600: A payment of 8 shillings for the rent of logii (huts or sheds) of foreign fishermen, i.e. those outside the manor. At a second Inquest in 1327 the number had risen to 13 at Penzance; with 16 recorded at Mousehole and both now paying only 1 shilling each: the total rent for logii was 8s 6d (42 1 ⁄ 2 p) with 17 tenants paying 6d (2 1 ⁄ 2 p) each. Both Inquests record 29 burgesses at Penzance and 40 at Mousehole. A burgess paid his rent with money rather than with personal services, and this indicates that Penzance and Mousehole were considered to be towns. A comparison of
3744-534: A pirate "chief", Captain Bang. Bang was mistakenly apprenticed to a pirate band as a child by his deaf nursemaid. Also, Bang, like Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance , had never seen a woman before and felt a keen sense of duty, as an apprenticed pirate, until the passage of his 21st birthday freed him from his articles of indenture. Bernard Shaw believed that Gilbert drew on ideas in Les brigands for his new libretto, including
3900-510: A professional career path, with apprentices and tools of the trade such as the crowbar and life preserver . While Pinafore was running strongly at the Opera Comique in London, Gilbert was eager to get started on his and Sullivan's next opera, and he began working on the libretto in December 1878. He re-used several elements of his 1870 one-act piece, Our Island Home , which had introduced
4056-651: A royal market in 1404. Henry VIII in 1512 granted the right to charge harbour dues, and King James I granted the town the status of a Borough in 1614. The Charter defined the bounds of the town by an artificial line formed by a half-mile circle, measured from the market cross in the Greenmarket. The granting of Borough status made the town independent of the County Courts, a right held until County Councils came into being in 1888. Other privileges included owning land and property; imposing fines for breaking bylaws ; holding
4212-500: A saltire couped Arg. a plate charged with a dagger point downwards Gu. Within a year the new Borough bought a "substantial degree of freedom" from the Manor of Alverton then known as Alverton and Penzance for £34 plus a perpetual annuity of £1 which was last paid in 1936. A market-house and Guildhall was built, and together with the rights bought in 1615, provided almost all the borough income for more than two centuries. The southern arm of
4368-804: A settlement, and an evolving field system with ditches and interconnecting pits suggesting water management. There are traces of a rampart and ditch to the west of Penzance at Mount Misery, and an oval rampart and ditch at Lesingey above the St Just road, which together with Lescudjack, overlook the coast of Penzance and Newlyn. Until recently, there was little evidence for anything but an early and short Roman occupation of Cornwall, and there have so far been only three finds in Penzance. In August 1899 two coins of Vespasian (69–79 AD) were found in an ancient trench in Penzance Cemetery. The coins were eight feet below ground together with some cow bones, and are now in
4524-400: A third lower still." In The Music of Arthur Sullivan (1959), Hughes quoted four extracts from Pirates , saying that if hearing each out of context one might attribute it to Schubert, Mendelssohn , Gounod or Bizet respectively, "yet on learning the truth one would kick oneself for not having recognised Sullivan's touch in all four." Hughes concluded by quoting the introductory bars of "When
4680-516: A third time for a race in 2008 called PASAB 1 . This was run in addition to the regular PASAB to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the race. In 1980 the race was split into two legs, allowing the crews to have an overnight rest on the Scillies. This format was used a second time in 1982, before in 1993 the current three-legged format was adopted. Penzance Penzance ( / p ɛ n ˈ z æ n s / pen- ZANSS ; Cornish : Pennsans )
4836-515: A wheelbarrow and trundle him off to the chapel yard." The carving remains in St Mary's Churchyard and has been dated by Prof Charles Thomas as early 12th century. There are no early documents mentioning the dedication to St Anthony; this seems to depend entirely on tradition and may be groundless. A licence for Divine Service in the Chapel of St Gabriel and St Raphael was granted in 1429, but nothing more
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4992-544: Is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert . Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3 April 1880, at the Opera Comique , where it ran for 363 performances. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year,
5148-503: Is a carved figure, now largely eroded, known as "St Raffidy" which can be found in the churchyard of the parish church of St Mary's near the original site of the chapel. Until the 1930s this history was also reflected in the choice of symbol for the town, the severed "holy head" of St John the Baptist . His head is shown on the civic regalia of the Mayor of Penzance and on the northern side of
5304-582: Is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall , England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about 64 miles (103 km) west-southwest of Plymouth and 255 miles (410 km) west-southwest of London. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay , the town faces south-east onto the English Channel , is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn , to
5460-597: Is all Gilbert does. ... The music is infinitely superior in every way to the Pinafore – 'tunier' and more developed, of a higher class altogether. I think that in time it will be very popular." Shortly thereafter, Carte sent three touring companies around the United States East Coast and Midwest, playing Pirates and Pinafore . Sullivan's prediction was correct. After a strong run in New York and several American tours, Pirates opened in London on 3 April 1880, running for 363 performances there. It remains one of
5616-404: Is an orphan to elicit their sympathy ("Oh, men of dark and dismal fate"). The soft-hearted pirates release the girls ("Hail, Poetry!"), making Major-General Stanley and his daughters honorary members of their band ("Pray observe the magnanimity"). The Major-General sits in a ruined chapel on his estate, surrounded by his daughters. His conscience is tortured by the lie that he told the pirates, and
5772-429: Is fresh, bright, elegant and merry, and much of it belongs to a higher order of art than the most popular of the tunes of Pinafore ." The New York Times also praised the work, writing, "it would be impossible for a confirmed misanthrope to refrain from merriment over it", though the paper doubted if Pirates could repeat the prodigious success of Pinafore . After the London premiere, the critical consensus, led by
5928-481: Is his sense of duty that, once free from his apprenticeship, he will be forced to devote himself to the pirates' extermination. He also points out that they are not successful pirates: since they are all orphans, they allow their prey to go free if they too are orphans. Frederic notes that word of this has got about, so captured ships' companies routinely claim to be orphans. Frederic invites the pirates to give up piracy and go with him, so that he need not destroy them, but
6084-460: Is in a manuscript written by William Borlase in 1750: ″The ancient chapel belonging to the town of Penzance may be seen in a fish cellar, near the key; it is small and as I remember had the image of the Virgin Mary in it.″ The chapel was built of greenstone and about 30 ft in length and 15 ft in breadth of which only a fragment remained in situ . In around 1800 the chapel was converted to
6240-486: Is in his eighties. Frederic is convinced by this logic and agrees to rejoin the pirates. He then sees it as his duty to inform the Pirate King of the Major-General's deception. The outraged outlaw declares that the pirates' "revenge will be swift and terrible" ("Away, away, my heart's on fire"). Frederic meets Mabel ("All is prepared"), and she pleads with him to stay ("Stay Frederic, stay"), but he feels bound by his duty to
6396-513: Is in the St Clare area of the town, where a chapel existed to St Clare or Cleer. The earliest reference is a lease of 1584: "...a certain chapel situate below the high road between Pensaunce and Madderne." In the early part of the 19th century the foundations of a building, said to be the chapel, was discovered, and enough was exposed to show the shape of the building. An episcopal licence cannot be traced for this chapel. The name, St Clare, lives on in
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6552-521: Is indicated as many have been found elsewhere in Britain. The earliest evidence of settlement in Penzance is from the Bronze Age . A number of bronze implements such as a palstave , a spear-head, a knife, and pins, along with much pottery and large quantities of charcoal were discovered when building a new housing estate, at Tredarvah, to the west of Alverton. The defensive earthwork known as Lescudjack Castle
6708-422: Is known of this chapel except, possibly, for the mason who mentioned ″St Raffidy″ in 1850. Adjoining the chapel is St Anthony's Gardens, named in 1933 and containing an archway said to have been taken from the chapel site. Dominating the skyline above the harbour is the present church of St Mary's. A St Mary's Chapel is mentioned in a 1548 document which states that it was founded by Sir Henry Tyes, Knight, Lord of
6864-530: Is no evidence of any Roman settlement in the area, although nearby villages such as Chysauster were occupied at this time. The Hundred of Penwith had its ancient centre at Connerton , now buried beneath the sands of Gwithian Towans at Gwithian . The Manor of Alverton , with an area of 64 Cornish acres, gave its name to the second largest tithing in Penwith. The manor included Penzance as well as parts of Madron, Paul, St Buryan and Sancreed. Although Penzance
7020-508: Is not excavated, but almost certainly belongs to the Iron Age . A single rampart encloses three acres of hilltop, and would have dominated the approach to the area from the east. There are no signs of the additional ramparts reported by William Hals in about 1730, and the site is now surrounded by housing with allotments. Excavations in 2008, 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west at Penwith College found an enclosure ditch and pottery indicating
7176-565: Is not mentioned in the survey document the Domesday Book , it is likely that the area would have been included. Domesday records that in 1066 the Manor of Alwarton was owned by Alward who was dispossessed by Robert, Count of Mortain , a half-brother of William the Conqueror . The name Alward and tun , a personal name combined with a town or settlement suffix, indicate Saxon land ownership. In Cornwall
7332-472: Is over....' Now will you please let me have them, and the parts of Thespis also at once. I am detaining the parts of Pinafore , so that the directors shall not take them away from the Comique tomorrow, and I base my claim on the precedent you set." See Rees, p. 89. The Comedy Opera Company directors engaged another theatre to play a rival production of Pinafore , but they had no scenery. On 31 July, they sent
7488-542: Is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of the incompetent Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year . His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty to honour his bond with
7644-452: Is set to direct, with choreography by Warren Carlyle . Roundabout Theatre Company is producing. Designs are by David Rockwell (sets), Linda Cho (costumes), Donald Holder (lighting) and Mikaal Sulaiman (sound). A concert of this concept was staged in October 2022 by, and for the benefit of, Roundabout, at the same theatre, with the same creative team, starring Pierce and Karimloo, with Colton Ryan as Frederic. The following table shows
7800-427: Is so dear to all" ("When a felon's not engaged in his employment"). The police hide on hearing the approach of the pirates ("A rollicking band of pirates we"), who have stolen onto the estate, intending to take revenge for the Major-General's lie ("With cat-like tread"). Just then, Major-General Stanley appears, sleepless with guilt, and the pirates also hide ("Hush, hush! not a word"), while the Major-General listens to
7956-747: Is the eccentric Egyptian House in Chapel Street, built in 1830. The first part of the Promenade along the sea front dates from 1844. After the passing of the Public Health Act (1848) , Penzance was one of the first towns to petition to form a local board of health , doing so in September that year. Following a report by a government inspector in February, the Board was established in 1849 which led to many facilities to enhance public health. The report shows that most streets were macadamised or sometimes paved, and
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#17329162963388112-470: Is written throughout for voices and instruments with infinite care, and the issue is a cabinet miniature of exquisitely defined proportions. ... That the Pirates is a clear advance upon its precursors, from Trial by Jury to H.M.S. Pinafore , cannot be denied; it contains more variety, marked character, careful workmanship, and is in fact a more finished artistic achievement … a brilliant success. There were
8268-603: The Tribune both dedicated considerable space to their reviews. The Herald took the view that "the new work is in every respect superior to the Pinafore , the text more humorous, the music more elegant and more elaborate." The Tribune called it "a brilliant and complete success", commenting, "The humor of the Pirates is richer, but more recondite. It demands a closer attention to the words [but] there are great stores of wit and drollery ... which will well repay exploration. ... The music
8424-739: The Delacorte Theatre in Central Park , as a Shakespeare in the Park summer event. Musical direction and arrangements were by William Elliott. The show played for 10 previews and 35 performances. It then transferred to Broadway, opening on 8 January 1981 for a run of 20 previews and 787 regular performances at the Uris and Minskoff Theatres, the longest run of any Gilbert and Sullivan production in history. This take on Pirates earned enthusiastic reviews and seven Tony Award nominations, winning three, including
8580-531: The Egyptian House , The Admiral Benbow public house (home to a real life 1800s smuggling gang and allegedly the inspiration for Treasure Island ' s "Admiral Benbow Inn"), the Union Hotel (including a Georgian theatre which is no longer in use), and Branwell House, where the mother and aunt of the famous Brontë sisters once lived. Regency and Georgian terraces and houses are common in some parts of
8736-830: The Penlee House Museum . Another coin, found in 1934 in the Alverton area, depicts Sol , the Roman sun god. It is described as a ″ coin of the reign of Constantine the Great ″, and was also donated to the museum. A 30 mm (1 3/16 in) sestertius was found on a building site in or around Penzance about ten years previously, and was presented to the Royal Institution of Cornwall . Larger quantities of Roman coins have been found nearby, at Marazion Marsh and Kerris in Paul parish, but there
8892-523: The Tony Award for Best Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical , and spawning many imitations and a 1983 film adaptation . Pirates remains popular today, taking its place along with The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore as one of the most frequently played Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its official premiere in
9048-407: The overture for the last moment, often sketching it out and entrusting completion of "the details" to an assistant, in this case the company's music director, Alfred Cellier. Pinafore opened in New York on 1 December 1879 and ran for the rest of December. After a reasonably strong first week, audiences quickly fell off, since most New Yorkers had already seen local productions of Pinafore . In
9204-552: The tun indicates a manorial centre such as Helston or Connerton. The change of ownership in 1066 was a change from one alien landlord to another, and the name Alverton lives on as the western part of Penzance from St John's Hall , to the housing estate on the west side of the River Laregan. The first mention of the name Pensans is in the Assize Roll of 1284, and the first mention of the actual church that gave Penzance its name
9360-574: The "Comedy Opera Company". Carte formed a new partnership with Gilbert and Sullivan to divide profits equally among themselves after the expenses of each of their shows. Sullivan wrote to a former producer, John Hollingshead of the Gaiety Theatre , saying: "You once settled a precedent for me which may just at present be of great importance to me. I asked you for the band parts of the Merry Wives of Windsor ... and [you] said, 'They are yours, as our run
9516-467: The 1908 revival Gilbert had the pirates yielding "in good King Edward's name". Despite Helen Carte 's repeated urging, Gilbert did not prepare an authorised version of the libretti of the Savoy operas . In its 1989 production, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company restored one of the original versions of the finale, which finishes with a variation of "I am the very model of a modern major-general", rather than with
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#17329162963389672-578: The Act II finale. Linda Ronstadt starred as Mabel, Rex Smith as Frederic, Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, Patricia Routledge as Ruth (replaced by Estelle Parsons for the Broadway transfer), George Rose as the Major-General, and Tony Azito as the Sergeant of Police. Kline won a Tony Award for his performance. Smith won a Theatre World Award , and Kline and Azito won Drama Desk Awards. Notable replacements during
9828-697: The British copyright , a D'Oyly Carte touring company gave a perfunctory copyright performance of Pirates the afternoon before the New York premiere, at the Royal Bijou Theatre in Paignton , Devon, organised by Helen Lenoir , who would later marry Richard D'Oyly Carte. The cast, which was performing Pinafore in the evenings in Torquay , received some of the music for Pirates only two days beforehand. Having had only one rehearsal, they travelled to nearby Paignton for
9984-409: The Broadway run included Karla DeVito , Maureen McGovern and Pam Dawber as Mabel; Robby Benson , Patrick Cassidy and Peter Noone as Frederic; Treat Williams , Gary Sandy , James Belushi and Wally Kurth as the Pirate King; David Garrison as the Sergeant; George S. Irving as the Major-General; and Kaye Ballard as Ruth. The Los Angeles cast of the production featured Barry Bostwick as
10140-406: The Conception of Virgin Mary (8 December), St Peter in Cathedra (22 February) and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (8 September). It is not known when a quay was built at Penzance as there is no grant or licence, but an Inquest as to the Manor of Alverton in 1322 records eight fishing boats each paying 2 shillings each, and an unspecified number at Mousehole each paying 12 shillings. There was also
10296-475: The Cornwall Railway was built to the 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) broad gauge . The West Cornwall Railway Act included a clause that it would be converted to broad gauge once it had been connected to another broad gauge line, but the company could not raise the funds to do so. The line was sold to the Great Western Railway and its "Associated Companies" (the Bristol and Exeter Railway and South Devon Railway ) on 1 January 1866. The new owners quickly converted
10452-434: The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Richard Suart played Major-General Stanley and Nicholas Sharratt played Frederic. A Broadway production titled Pirates! The Penzance Musical is set to run at the Todd Haimes Theatre , with previews from 4 April 2025, and an official opening on 24 April; it is expected to play through 22 June 2025. It is set to star David Hyde Pierce as Gilbert/Major General Stanley; Ramin Karimloo as
10608-416: The D'Oyly Carte touring company in England for the Paignton premiere were then altered or omitted during Broadway rehearsals. Gilbert and Sullivan trimmed the work for the London premiere, and Gilbert made further alterations up to and including the 1908 Savoy revival. For example, early versions depicted the Pirate King as the servant of the pirate band, and the words of the opening chorus were, "Pour, O King,
10764-408: The D'Oyly Carte touring repertory in 1893 and was never again absent until the company's closure in 1982. New costumes were designed by Percy Anderson in 1919 and George Sheringham in 1929 (who also executed a new Act I set). Peter Goffin created a new touring set in 1957. In America, after the New York opening on New Year's Eve, 1879, Richard D'Oyly Carte launched four companies that covered
10920-404: The Lizard . They were considered a success, carrying 16,091 passengers by the end of the year, so were followed the next spring by further routes to Land's End and St Just. These services developed into the First Kernow bus network that currently serves the area and is still centred on a terminus alongside Penzance railway station . In 1912, Penzance erected its first electric street lamps and
11076-425: The Major-General's Act II song, "Sighing softly to the river", "as plainly inspired by – and indeed worthy of – Sullivan's hero Schubert ", and Amanda Holden speaks of the song's "Schubertian water-rippling accompaniment", but adds that it simultaneously spoofs Verdi's Il trovatore , with the soloist unaware of a concealed male chorus singing behind him. Writing about patter songs , Shaw, in his capacity as
11232-519: The Manor of Alverton, who gave a £4 stipend for a priest. There is an earlier document from 1379, when Bishop Brantyngham licensed for services "the chapel of Blessed Mary of Pensande". At this date it was probably used as a chapel of ease , and not used for Sunday services, which would have affected the attendance at the Parish Church in Madron. Further evidence of historical settlement from this period
11388-514: The Market House in the town. About 400 prehistoric stone axes, known as Group 1 axes and made from greenstone , have been found all over Britain, which from petrological analysis appear to come from west Cornwall. Although the quarry has not been identified, it has been suggested that the Gear , a rock now submerged half a mile from the shore at Penzance, may be the site. A significant amount of trade
11544-438: The Pirate King says that, contrasted with respectability, piracy is comparatively honest ("Oh! better far to live and die"). The pirates depart, leaving Frederic and Ruth. Frederic sees a group of beautiful young girls approaching the pirate lair, and realises that Ruth misled him about her appearance ("Oh false one! You have deceived me!"). Sending Ruth away, Frederic hides before the girls arrive. The girls burst exuberantly upon
11700-426: The Pirate King, Jinkx Monsoon as Ruth, Nicholas Barasch as Frederic, Samantha Williams as Mabel and Preston Truman Boyd as Sullivan/Sergeant of Police. Rupert Holmes adapted the libretto with a New Orleans setting. New orchestrations with Caribbean and French Quarter influences are by Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters , with Joubert serving as music director; dance arrangements are by John O'Neill. Scott Ellis
11856-478: The Pirate King, Jo Anne Worley as Ruth, Clive Revill as the Major-General, Dawber as Mabel, Paxton Whitehead as the Sergeant, Caroline Peyton as Edith and Andy Gibb as Frederic. The production opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , London, on 26 May 1982, to generally warm reviews, for a run of 601 performances, earning an Olivier Award nomination as Outstanding Musical and another for Tim Curry as
12012-535: The Pirate King. Among the cast were George Cole and Ronald Fraser as the Major-General; Pamela Stephenson as Mabel; Michael Praed and Peter Noone as Frederic; Curry, Timothy Bentinck , Oliver Tobias and Paul Nicholas as the Pirate King; Chris Langham as the Sergeant; Annie Ross as Ruth; Bonnie Langford as Kate; and Louise Gold as Isabel. The Australian production opened in Melbourne in January 1984, opening
12168-514: The Stage Beauty website, accessed 6 May 2009. See also "The Fracas at the Opera Comique", The Era , 10 August 1879, p. 5 and "The Fracas at the Opera Comique", The Leeds Mercury , 13 August 1879, p. 8. The matter was eventually settled in court, where a judge ruled in Carte's favour about two years later. See Ainger, p. 175</ref> In November 1879, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte sailed to America with
12324-687: The US have included the American Savoyards (1953–67), the Light Opera of Manhattan (1968–89) and the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (1976–present). As discussed below, Joseph Papp 's 1980–83 Pirates ran for nearly two years each on Broadway and in the West End , boosting the opera's popularity. Professional and amateur productions of the opera continue with frequency. For example, in 2004, there
12480-607: The United States on tours that lasted through the following summer. Gilbert and Sullivan themselves trained each of the touring companies through January and early February 1880, and each company's first performance – whether it was in Philadelphia, Newark, or Buffalo – was conducted by the composer. In Australia, its first authorised performance was on 19 March 1881 at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, produced by J. C. Williamson . There
12636-435: The United States. At the time, American law offered no copyright protection to foreigners. After the pair's previous opera, H.M.S. Pinafore , achieved success in London in 1878, approximately 150 American companies quickly mounted unauthorised productions that often took considerable liberties with the text and paid no royalties to the creators. Gilbert and Sullivan hoped to forestall further "copyright piracy" by mounting
12792-578: The attention of a much wider and younger audience. The Papp production design has been widely imitated in later productions of Pirates , even where traditional orchestration and the standard score are used. Some modern productions are also influenced by the Disney film franchise Pirates of the Caribbean , combining aspects of the Papp production with the Disney design concepts. Not all of these revivals have generated
12948-420: The award for Best Revival and for Leach as director. It was also nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards , winning five, including Outstanding Musical and director. Compared with traditional productions of the opera, Papp's Pirates featured a more swashbuckling Pirate King and Frederic, and a broader, more musical comedy style of singing and humour. It did not significantly change the libretto, but it used
13104-455: The businesslike bandits and the bumbling police. Gilbert and Sullivan also inserted into Act II an idea they first considered for a one-act opera parody in 1876 about burglars meeting police, while their conflict escapes the notice of the oblivious father of a large family of girls. As in Pinafore , "there was a wordful self-descriptive set-piece for Stanley [" The Major-General's Song "], introducing himself much as Sir Joseph Porter had done ...
13260-447: The carriages away to Swindon Works at 9.57pm, and all trains since have been standard gauge. The ability of the railway to carry fresh produce to distant markets such as Bristol , London and Manchester enabled local farmers and fishermen to sell more produce and at better prices. The special "perishable" train soon became a feature of the railway, these being fast extra goods trains carrying potatoes , broccoli or fish depending on
13416-574: The central idea in The Pirates of Penzance is taken from Our Island Home , which was played by the German Reeds some ten years ago." The Times thought Gilbert's wit outran his dramatic invention, and Sullivan's music for the new work was not quite as good as his score for The Sorcerer , which the Times critic called a masterpiece. The overture to The Pirates of Penzance was composed by Sullivan and his musical assistant Alfred Cellier . It follows
13572-495: The chorus "Climbing over rocky mountain" from their earlier opera, Thespis . Sullivan's manuscript for Pirates contains pages removed from a Thespis score, with the vocal parts of this chorus altered from their original arrangement as a four-part chorus. Some scholars (e.g. Tillett and Spencer, 2000) have suggested that Gilbert and Sullivan had planned all along to re-use "Climbing over rocky mountain," and perhaps other parts of Thespis . They argue that Sullivan's having brought
13728-497: The current population.) A proposed electric tramway along the Promenade to Newlyn , which would have continued as a light railway to St Just , failed to gain authorisation in 1898. Instead motor buses were put into service on 31 October 1903. These linked Penzance with Marazion and were operated by the Great Western Railway , being introduced only 11 weeks after the railway's pioneering service between Helston and
13884-608: The customary reprise of "Poor wand'ring one", but in later revivals, it reverted to the more familiar text. The Pirates of Penzance has been one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular comic operas. After its unique triple opening in 1879–80, it was revived in London at the Savoy Theatre in 1888 and in 1900, and for the Savoy's repertory season of 1908–09. In the British provinces, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company toured it almost continuously from 1880 to 1884, and again in 1888. It re-entered
14040-527: The eastern side of the harbour, although trains only ran to Redruth at first. From 25 August 1852 the line was extended to Truro , but the Cornwall Railway linking that place with Plymouth was not opened until 4 May 1859. Passengers and goods had to change trains at Truro as the West Cornwall had been built using the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge , but
14196-731: The far west of Cornwall, Penzance and the surrounding villages have been sacked many times by foreign fleets. On 23 July 1595, several years after the Spanish Armada of 1588, a Spanish force of four galleys transporting 400 arquebusiers under Don Carlos de Amesquita , which had been patrolling the Channel, landed troops in Cornwall . The local militias, which formed the cornerstone of their anti-invasion measures and numbered several hundred men, threw down their arms and fled in panic. Only Francis Godolphin, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and commander of
14352-459: The first in the South West . In 1840 Nicholas Holman of St Just opened a branch of his foundry business on the quayside. These facilities proved valuable in supporting the steamships that were soon calling at the harbour in increasing numbers. Gas lighting was introduced in 1830 and the old Market House was demolished in 1836. Its replacement , designed by W. Harris of Bristol , was completed at
14508-528: The first production of their next opera in America, before others could copy it, and by delaying publication of the score and libretto. They succeeded in keeping for themselves the direct profits of the first American production of The Pirates of Penzance by opening the production themselves on Broadway, prior to the London production, and they also operated profitable US touring companies of Pirates and Pinafore . However, Gilbert, Sullivan, and their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte , failed in their efforts, over
14664-478: The first two years the race took place on a single day, with the competitors starting at Penzance , before heading out to cardinal marks at Lowlee and Mountamopus. The crews then travelled south of the Wolf Rock Lighthouse , completed a lap of the Isles of Scilly , passed to the south of the lighthouse again, before finally returning to the starting point at Penzance. This course was used again in 1979, and
14820-415: The foeman bares his steel" and the soaring line for the women, "Go, ye heroes, go to glory". In adapting the four-part chorus "Climbing over rocky mountain" from Thespis for re-use in Pirates , Sullivan took less trouble: he wrote only a single vocal line, suitable for soprano voices. Despite this, the number ends with another example of Sullivan's counterpoint, with the chorus singing the second melody of
14976-493: The former Bijou Theatre). New York has seen over forty major revivals since the premiere. One of these, produced and directed by Winthrop Ames in 1926 at the Plymouth Theatre , ran for 128 performances and gained good notices. A brief 1952 Broadway staging starring Martyn Green , earned Lehman Engel a Tony Award as conductor. Repertory companies that have mounted Pirates numerous times Off-Broadway and on tour in
15132-403: The girls attempt to console him ("Oh dry the glist'ning tear"). The Sergeant of Police and his corps arrive to announce their readiness to arrest the pirates ("When the foeman bares his steel"). The girls loudly express their admiration of the police for facing likely slaughter by fierce and merciless foes. The police are unnerved by this and leave reluctantly. Left alone, Frederic, who is to lead
15288-535: The harbour over the Ross Swing Bridge (1881) (named after Charles Campbell Ross ), allowing the construction of proper sewers beneath. A larger dry dock replaced Matthews' original facility (1880), and a floating harbour was made (1884) with lock gates to keep in the water at low tide. Around the headland, public baths were opened on the Promenade in 1887 and the Morrab Gardens with its sub-tropical plants
15444-951: The harbour; it is the southernmost station on the UK mainland rail network. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line , which runs above the beach to Marazion; this affords passengers good views of St. Michael's Mount and Mount's Bay. Services are operated by two train operating companies : The bus and coach station is next to the railway station from where National Express operates coach services to London Victoria Coach Station (taking around 9 hours) via Heathrow Airport . Local bus services run by First Kernow connect Penzance with most major settlements in Cornwall, including Truro , St Ives , St Just , St Buryan , Land's End and also Plymouth in Devon. The Pirates of Penzance The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty
15600-497: The history of the D'Oyly Carte productions in Gilbert's lifetime (excluding tours): The following tables show the casts of the principal original productions and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company touring repertory at various times through to the company's 1982 closure: In 1980, Joseph Papp and the Public Theater of New York City produced a new version of Pirates , directed by Wilford Leach and choreographed by Graciela Daniele , at
15756-686: The increasing numbers of tourists. In 1905 a new bandstand was built on the Promenade opposite the Queen's Hotel, and the Pavilion Theatre opened nearby in 1911, complete with a roof garden and café. Travel to Penzance was easier than ever, with the Great Western Railway introducing the Cornish Riviera Express on 1 July 1904, which left London Paddington at 10:10 am and arrived in Penzance just 7 hours later, two hours faster than
15912-464: The line to mixed gauge using three rails so that both broad and "narrow" trains could operate. Broad gauge goods trains started running in November that year, with through passenger trains running to London Paddington from 1 March 1867. The last broad gauge train arrived at 8.49pm on 20 May 1892, having left London Paddington at 10.15am that morning. The two locomotives, numbers 1256 and 3557 , took
16068-564: The local jeweller who made it. A second trophy, the Venus Trophy , is won by the crew which wins the second leg. The race is hosted by Penzance Sailing Club and has been run annually since 1978. The first race was organised on behalf of the yacht club by Richard Wood, Brian Saunders and Colin Harrison, who saw the result of their preparations realised when the first race took place in August 1978. For
16224-428: The matinee, where they read their parts from scripts carried onto the stage, making do with whatever costumes they had on hand. Pirates premiered on 31 December 1879 in New York and was an immediate hit. On 2 January 1880, Sullivan wrote, in another letter to his mother from New York, "The libretto is ingenious, clever, wonderfully funny in parts, and sometimes brilliant in dialogue – beautifully written for music, as
16380-419: The meantime, Gilbert and Sullivan raced to complete and rehearse The Pirates of Penzance . The work's title is a multi-layered joke. On the one hand, Penzance was a docile seaside resort in 1879, and not the place where one would expect to encounter pirates. On the other hand, the title was also a jab at the theatrical "pirates" who had staged unlicensed productions of H.M.S. Pinafore in America. To secure
16536-427: The mild climate of Penzance. Bathing machines had been advertised for hire on the beach as early as 1823, and the town was already "noted for the pleasantness of its situation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its natives". The town's first official guide book was published in 1860, and the Queen's Hotel opened on the seafront the following year. It was so successful that it was extended in 1871 and 1908. At
16692-406: The militias along with 12 of his soldiers stood to offer some kind of resistance. Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away to successfully engage and put to flee a Dutch squadron of 46 ships. The reason for Penzance's relative success probably stems from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries when King Henry IV granted the town
16848-449: The most popular G&S works. The London sets were designed by John O'Connor . The critics' notices were generally excellent in both New York and London. The character of Major-General Stanley was widely taken to be a caricature of the popular general Sir Garnet Wolseley . The biographer Michael Ainger, however, doubts that Gilbert intended a caricature of Wolseley, identifying instead General Henry Turner, uncle of Gilbert's wife, as
17004-412: The museum. In 1875 a local newspaper described the railway station as a large dog's house of the nastiest and draughtiest kind but a series of works improved this part of the town during the 1880s. The original railway station was rebuilt with the present buildings and train shed over the platforms (1880). The lower end of Market Jew Street was widened and a new road was built to link the station with
17160-462: The music rehearsals. Sullivan had sketched out the music for Pirates in England. When he arrived in New York, however, he found that he had left the sketches for Act I behind, and he had to reconstruct the first act from memory, or compose new numbers. Gilbert told a correspondent many years later that Sullivan was unable to recall his setting of the entrance of the women's chorus, so they substituted
17316-554: The new Victorian Arts Centre , directed by John Feraro. It starred Jon English as the Pirate King, Simon Gallaher as Frederic, June Bronhill as Ruth, David Atkins as the Sergeant and Marina Prior as Mabel. The six-week limited season was followed by an Australian national tour from 1984 to 1986 and another tour with same cast in the mid-1990s. In 1985, Papp's Pirates opened the new Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane. Gallaher's Essgee Entertainment version of Pirates
17472-639: The new West Cornwall Steam Ship Company joined the route, taking over the Scilly Isles Company the following year. In 1853 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed one of their boats in the town, the first since 1812, and maintained a station here until 1908 when the Watson Class Elizabeth Blanche was transferred to Newlyn as the first step towards setting up Penlee Lifeboat Station . The RNLI still use
17628-503: The next decade, to control the American performance copyrights to Pirates and their other operas. Fiction and plays about pirates were ubiquitous in the 19th century. Walter Scott 's The Pirate (1822) and James Fenimore Cooper 's The Red Rover were key sources for the romanticised, dashing pirate image and the idea of repentant pirates. Both Gilbert and Sullivan had parodied these ideas early in their careers. Sullivan had written
17784-429: The north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan . The civil parish includes the town of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole , Paul , Gulval , and Heamoor . Granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated on 9 May 1614, it has a population of 21,200 (2011 census). Penzance's former main street Chapel Street has a number of interesting features, including
17940-800: The opera and inspired by the success of the Papp version, The Pirate Movie , was released during the Broadway run. [Papp's version] has been regularly revived on both sides of the Atlantic – a British revival in 2000 transferred from the West Yorkshire Playhouse , Leeds , to the Open Air Theatre in Regents' Park – and has also become well established in the repertoire of amateur student societies. No other production has had as much lasting impact or influence. ... It also helped to promote G&S in places where it has been little performed and bring it to
18096-492: The particular abilities of these performers. The skill with which Gilbert and Sullivan used their performers had an effect on the audience: as critic Herman Klein wrote, "we secretly marvelled at the naturalness and ease with which [the Gilbertian quips and absurdities] were said and done. For until then no living soul had seen upon the stage such weird, eccentric, yet intensely human beings .... [They] conjured into existence
18252-439: The pattern for the "modern Major-General". Gilbert disliked Turner, who, unlike the progressive Wolseley, was of the old school of officers. Nevertheless, in the original London production, George Grossmith imitated Wolseley's mannerisms and appearance, particularly his large moustache, and the audience recognised the allusion. Wolseley himself, according to his biographer, took no offence at the caricature and sometimes sang "I am
18408-407: The pattern of most Savoy opera overtures: a lively opening (the melody of "With cat-like tread"), a slow middle section ("Ah, leave me not to pine alone"), and a concluding allegro in a compressed sonata form , in which the themes of "How beautifully blue the sky" and "A paradox, a paradox" are combined. The score parodies several composers, most conspicuously Verdi . "Come, friends, who plough
18564-442: The piece ("Let us gaily tread the measure") while the orchestra plays the first ("Climbing over rocky mountain"). Sullivan set a particular vocal challenge for the soprano who portrays Mabel. The Sullivan scholar Gervase Hughes wrote, "Mabel ... must be a coloratura because of 'Poor wand'ring one!', yet 'Dear father, why leave your bed' demands steady beauty of tone throughout the octave F to F, and 'Ah, leave me not to pine' goes
18720-562: The pier was built in 1766 and extended in 1785, to add to the first pier of which was built prior to 1512. During the English Civil War Penzance was sacked by the Parliamentarian forces of Sir Thomas Fairfax apparently for the kindness shown to Lord Goring and Lord Hopton 's troops during the conflict. Further Civic improvements included the construction in 1759 of a reservoir which supplied water to public pumps in
18876-465: The pirate sherry". In the original New York production the revelation by Ruth that the pirates are "all noblemen who have gone wrong" prompted the following exchange (recalling a famous passage in H.M.S. Pinafore ): In the original London production, this exchange was shortened to the following: Gilbert deleted the exchange in the 1900 revival, and the Chappell vocal score was revised accordingly. For
19032-457: The pirates are "all noblemen who have gone wrong". The Major-General is impressed by this and all is forgiven. Frederic and Mabel are reunited, and the Major-General is happy to marry his daughters to the noble ex-pirates after all ("Poor Wand'ring Ones" (reprise)). Act I Act II The notices from critics were generally excellent in both New York and London in 1880. In New York, the Herald and
19188-442: The pirates arrive and capture the girls, intending to marry them ("Here's a first rate opportunity"). Mabel warns the pirates that the girls' father is a Major-General ("Hold, monsters!"), who soon arrives and introduces himself (" I am the very model of a modern Major-General "). He appeals to the pirates not to take his daughters, leaving him to face his old age alone. Having heard of the famous Pirates of Penzance, he pretends that he
19344-422: The pirates until his 21st birthday – in 1940. They agree to be faithful to each other until then, though to Mabel "It seems so long" ("Oh, here is love, and here is truth"); Frederic departs. Mabel steels herself ("No, I'll be brave") and tells the police that they must go alone to face the pirates. The police muse that an outlaw might be just like any other man, and it is a shame to deprive him of "that liberty which
19500-592: The pirates, Frederic's only solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. The pirates' maid-of-all-work, Ruth, eventually reveals a fact that saves the day. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied " Major-General's Song ". The opera was performed for over a century by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Britain until the copyrights expired and by many other opera companies and repertory companies worldwide. Modernized productions include Joseph Papp 's 1981 Broadway production, which ran for 787 performances, winning
19656-510: The police, reflects on his opportunity to atone for a life of piracy ("Now for the pirates' lair"), at which point he encounters Ruth and the Pirate King. They have realised that Frederic's apprenticeship was worded so as to bind him to them until his twenty-first birthday – and, because that birthday happens to be on 29 February (in a leap year ), it means that technically only five birthdays have passed ("When you had left our pirate fold"), and he will not reach his twenty-first birthday until he
19812-417: The previous quickest service. (In 2018 it left Paddington at 10:03 am and took 5 hours and 8 minutes.) The railway promoted local tourism with postcards that were sold at its railway stations, and an annual guide book, The Cornish Riviera , in which SPB Mais described the town as "a suburb of Covent Garden, and a great fishing centre ... there is always something going on in its harbour". 1923 saw
19968-404: The requirements of Mr. Gilbert like Mr. Sullivan, and vice versa , is a fact universally admitted. One might fancy that verse and music were of simultaneous growth, so closely and firmly are they interwoven. Away from this consideration, the score of The Pirates of Penzance is one upon which Mr. Sullivan must have bestowed earnest consideration, for independently of its constant flow of melody, it
20124-455: The rights granted by the Charter, which was paid until 1832, but there was no grant of Parliamentary representation. The old arms of Penzance were the head of St John the Baptist on a charger, with the legend "Pensans anno Domini 1614". The arms of the borough are Arg. a Paschal lamb proper in base a Maltese cross Az. on a chief embattled of the last between two keys in saltire wards upwards Or and
20280-488: The same rate. Little damage was recorded. At the start of the 19th century (1801), the town had a population of 2,248. The census, which is taken every ten years, recorded a peak population in 1861 of 3,843, but it then declined, as in most of Cornwall, through the remainder of the century, being just 3,088 in 1901. By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Penzance had established itself as an important regional centre. The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
20436-480: The same time as the railway was being built more improvements were being made to the harbour, with a second pier on the eastern side of the harbour, the Albert Pier, completed in 1853 to provide even better shelter for shipping. At the same time the Old Pier was also extended, and a lighthouse was built on it (replacing an earlier light), commissioned in 1855. The lighthouse (which was originally lit by an oil lamp within
20592-531: The sea" and "You triumph now" are burlesques of Il trovatore , and one of the best-known choral passages from the finale to Act I, "Hail Poetry", is, according to the Sullivan scholar, Arthur Jacobs , a burlesque of the prayer scene, "La Vergine degli Angeli", in Verdi's La forza del destino . However, another musicologist, Nicholas Temperley, writes, "The choral outburst 'Hail, Poetry' in The Pirates of Penzance would need very little alteration to turn it into
20748-457: The season. In August 1861, 1,787 tons of potatoes, 867 tons of broccoli, and 1,063 tons of fish were dispatched from the station. Fruit and flowers were also carried; the mild climate around Penzance and on the Scilly Isles meant that they were ready for market earlier and could command high prices. The completion of the railway through Cornwall made it easier for tourists and invalids to enjoy
20904-439: The secluded spot ("Climbing over rocky mountain"). Frederic reveals himself ("Stop, ladies, pray!"), startling them. He appeals to them to help him reform ("Oh! is there not one maiden breast?"). The girls are fascinated by him, but all reject him, except one: Mabel responds to his plea, chiding her sisters for their lack of charity ("Oh sisters deaf to pity's name for shame!"). She offers Frederic her pity ("Poor wand'ring one"), and
21060-499: The settlements in West Cornwall can be made with the annual payments, based on the number of fishing boats, made to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1337: Porthia (St Ives) £6; Mosehole (Mousehole) £5; Marcasion (Marazion) £3; Pensanns (Penzance) 12s (60p); Londeseynde (Land's End), (Sennen Cove) 10s (50p); Nywelyn (Newlyn) 10s; and Portmynster (Porthminster, St Ives) 2s (10p). In 1425, 1432 and 1440 ships in Penzance were licensed to carry pilgrims to
21216-408: The shrine of St James of Compostella , in north-west Spain . In medieval times and later, Penzance was subject to frequent raiding by "Turkish pirates", in fact Barbary Corsairs . Throughout the period before Penzance gained borough status in 1614 the village and surrounding areas continued to be within the control of the Manor of Alverton and was subject to the taxation regime of that manor. In
21372-498: The soothing breeze ("Sighing softly to the river"). The girls come looking for him. The pirates leap out to seize them, and the Pirate King urges the captured Major-General to prepare for death. The police rush to their defence but are easily defeated. The Sergeant has one stratagem left: he demands that the pirates yield "in Queen Victoria 's name"; the pirates, overcome with loyalty to their Queen, do so. Ruth appears and reveals that
21528-572: The streets. In 1768 a friendly society of Tradesmen was formed at Penzance with 101 members living within three miles of the town. The members met on the first Monday in each month at the King's Head, kept by Richard Runnals. The benefits of the Society were: a member being sick, lame or infirm would receive seven shillings a week. [gout and rupture were common, and excepted from payment unless 'needful'. Aged and infirm members were allowed 3/6p per week. Three pounds
21684-435: The summer of 1578 Penzance was visited by the plague . The burial registers of Madron (where all Penzance births, deaths and marriages were recorded) shows a massive increase in deaths for 1578, from 12 the previous year to 155. This is estimated to be about 10% of the population of the village at the time. The plague also returned in 1647 and the registers again show an increase of from 22 burials to 217 in one year. Being at
21840-402: The summer of 1879 and made arrangements with theatre manager John T. Ford to present, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre , the authorised productions. He then returned to London. Meanwhile, once Pinafore became a hit in London, the author, composer and producer had the financial resources to produce future shows themselves, and they executed a plan to free themselves from their financial backers in
21996-408: The theatrical newspaper The Era , was that the new work marked a distinct advance on Gilbert and Sullivan's earlier works. The Pall Mall Gazette said, "Of Mr. Sullivan's music we must speak in detail on some other occasion. Suffice it for the present to say that in the new style which he has marked out for himself it is the best he has written." The Graphic wrote: That no composer can meet
22152-655: The time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town, so the idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing to contemporaries. Penzance— Pennsans ; "holy headland" in the Cornish language —refers to the location of a chapel nowadays called St Anthony's that is said to have stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour. There are no early documents mentioning an actual dedication to St Anthony which seems to depend entirely on tradition and may be groundless. The only remaining object from this chapel
22308-415: The top of Market Jew Street in 1838. (The name Market Jew comes from the Cornish language Marghas Yow , meaning Thursday Market , the name of a nearby village now absorbed into Marazion , to which Market Jew Street leads. ) St Mary's Church, another prominent feature of the Penzance skyline, was completed in 1836, while a Roman Catholic church was built in 1843. Another familiar building from this period
22464-452: The town as "St Clare Street", which is part of the road from Penzance to Madron, and the St Clare cricket ground at the top of the hill. Markets were held on a fixed day each week, and fairs on fixed date(s) each year. To obtain either, a manorial lord had to apply for a royal charter . The right to hold a market each Wednesday was granted by King Edward III to Alice de Lisle, sister of Lord Tyes and widow of Warin de Lisle, on 25 April 1332;
22620-472: The town was lit by 121 gas lamps from October to March each year, although they were not lit when there was a full moon. Water was supplied from 6 public pumps, and there were a further 53 private wells. There were no sewage pipes at the time, waste being collected from the main streets by a refuse cart. Penzance railway station , the terminus of the West Cornwall Railway , opened on 11 March 1852 on
22776-501: The town's first cinema opened. The dry dock was sold on 25 August 1904 to N. Holman and Sons Limited, the engineering business that had been trading in Penzance since 1840. New workshops would be built during the 1930s, and the facility continued to be used by the Scilly ferries and other merchant ships, as well as Trinity House, the Royal Navy and Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service . In 1951
22932-495: The town. The nearby sub-tropical Morrab Gardens has a large collection of tender trees and shrubs, many of which cannot be grown outdoors anywhere else in the UK. Also of interest is the seafront with its promenade and the open-air seawater Jubilee Pool (one of the oldest surviving Art Deco swimming baths in the country). Penzance is the base of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan 's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance . At
23088-400: The two quickly fall in love. The other girls discuss whether to eavesdrop or to leave the new couple alone ("What ought we to do?"), deciding to "talk about the weather," although they steal glances at the affectionate couple ("How beautifully blue the sky"). Frederic warns the young ladies that his old associates will soon return ("Stay, we must not lose our senses"), but before they can flee,
23244-433: The unpublished Thespis score to New York, when there were no plans to revive Thespis , might not have been accidental. In any case, on 10 December 1879, Sullivan wrote a letter to his mother about the new opera, upon which he was hard at work in New York. "I think it will be a great success, for it is exquisitely funny, and the music is strikingly tuneful and catching." As was his usual practice in his operas, Sullivan left
23400-428: The very model of a modern Major-General" for the private amusement of his family and friends. On the coast of Cornwall , during Queen Victoria 's reign, Frederic celebrates the completion of his twenty-first year and the end of his apprenticeship to a gentlemanly band of pirates ("Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry"). The pirates' maid of all work, Ruth, appears and reveals that, as Frederic's nursemaid long ago, she made
23556-523: Was a West End production at the Savoy Theatre, and the Chicago Lyric Opera and English National Opera each also staged the work. From 2006 to 2007 an Opera Australia production toured Australia starring Anthony Warlow as the Pirate King, and in 2007 New York City Opera mounted a new production. In 2013, Scottish Opera produced a British touring production co-produced by the trustees of
23712-466: Was founded in the town in 1814 and about 1817 was responsible for introducing a miner's safety tamping bar, which attracted the Prince Regent to become its patron. The first lifeboat in Cornwall was bought by the people of Penzance in 1803 but it was sold in 1812 due to lack of funds to keep it in operation. The pier had been extended again in 1812 and John Matthews opened a small dry dock in 1814,
23868-399: Was given toward the funeral of a member and 10 pounds to the widow or children. All members were to attend the funeral or be fined a shilling. How long this association lasted is not known. Penzance has a long-standing association with the local parish of Madron . Madron Church was in fact the centre of most religious activity in the town until 1871, when St Mary's Church (until this period
24024-572: Was inspired by the Papp version. The Papp version also inspired foreign-language productions in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. The Papp production was turned into a film in 1983 , with the original Broadway principal cast reprising their roles, except that Angela Lansbury replaced Estelle Parsons as Ruth. The minor roles used British actors miming to their Broadway counterparts. The film has been shown occasionally on television. Another film based loosely on
24180-487: Was opened two years later. A bandstand was added to the gardens in 1897. In 1901 the town had a population of 3,088. The decennial census recorded a continuing decline in population until 1921, when just 2,616 people were recorded. The population then climbed to 4,888 (1931) then 5,545 (1951) – thus more than doubling in 30 years. It was now larger than at any time in the past. (The census boundaries changed in 1981 so these figures do not directly compare with those stated for
24336-672: Was still no international copyright law in 1880, and the first unauthorised New York production was given by the Boston Ideal Opera Company at Booth's Theatre in September of that year. The opera premiered in a German translation by Richard Genée and Camillo Walzel ( Die Piraten ) in Austria at the Theater an der Wien on 1 March 1889, and in Düsseldorf , Germany, on 1 December 1936. The first non-D'Oyly Carte professional production in
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