2006 ~ H.M.S. Pinafore
We jumped aboard the good ship HMS Pinafore in 2006 for a rollicking good sejourn which involved fun, frolics, antics as well as plenty of music, song and dance. With Director Peter Kennedy at the helm, the cast and crew were certain to have great craic - and that we certainly did. In fact we kinda re-wrote HMS Pinafore ... Gilbert and Sullivan had hardly intended to have 'I'ts Raining Men' included in the repertoire or 'Harmony and Diction' for that matter. Lotions and potions, Viagra by the box load - my word!! But included they were and the audiences loved it all.
The story of H.M.S. Pinafore takes place aboard the British ship H.M.S. Pinafore. The captain's daughter, Josephine (Maria Ryan), is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw (Clifford Killeen), although her father (John Scott) intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter (Jack Hickey), the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her father's wishes at first, but Sir Joseph's advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically near the end of the story. The plot is imbued with mirth and silliness. The opera's humour focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general. Pinafore also pokes good-natured fun at patriotism, party politics, the Royal Navy, and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The title of the piece comically applies the name of a little girl's garment, a pinafore, to the fearsome symbol of a naval warship.
Pinafore's extraordinary popularity in Britain, America, and elsewhere spread even as far as Thurles and amazingly the show, on stage in the Cathedral Town for the first time, was a roaring success. Patrons had a great laugh, enjoyed the shenanigans and came away with some of the more popular numbers ringing in their ears - numbers such as 'We Sail the Ocean Blue, When I Was a Lad, Fair Moon to Thee I Sing, I Am the Captain of the Pinafore, Fairwell My Own, A British Tar and ... ahem It's Raining Men!!!
Great show, great fun, great pity we can't do it again next year.
Chorus Members:
Mary Callanan, Josephine Doyle, Sylvia Moloney, Mary O'Flynn, Breda Byrne, Anne Marie Ryan, Veronica Dunne, Deirdre Lanigan, Maria Ryan, Carol Ronayne, Ber Ryan, Laura Ryan, Linda Ryan, Paula Ryan, Mary Moore, Cheryl Broderick, Kathleen Burke, Marie Boisdron, Joanne Butler, Anne Conroy, Louise Curly, Noreen Daly, Sarah Feehan, Linda Hanafin, Sandrine Pronier, Roisin McCann, Marie Ryan, Nollaig Ryan.
John Butler, Gary Dempsey, Jack Hickey, Mick OBrien, Tim McLoughlin, Michael Molumby,John Hayes, John Scott, Finbarr Shelley, Martin McGrath, John Doyle, Noel Dundon, Clifford Killeen, Gerry O'Hagan, Mark Penfold, Michael Hickey, Sani Mashiya.