“We sail the ocean blue,
and our saucy ship’s a beauty;
we’re sober men and true,
and attentive to our duty.”

—The Sailors’ Chorus
H.M.S. Pinafore
The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's Production of

H.M.S. Pinafore or The Lass That Loved a Sailor

March 6 to 29, 2015

Photo Gallery

Video

H.M.S. Pinafore Program

H.M.S. Pinafore Cast

Directors

Stage Director: Lesley Hendrickson
Music Director: Randal A. Buikema

Director’s Notes

H.M.S Pinafore was Gilbert & Sullivan’s first full-length hit, opening 1978.  It has remained, with Mikado and Pirates, among the “big three” of the G&S canon, continually in performance by groups ranging from professional companies to elementary schools.  It’s story manages to be sweetly romantic while tying logical (and mathematical) granny knots.  Half the fun is rolling along with the rapidly rising level of implausibility.  Don’t ask how old Little Buttercup is supposed to be.  Don’t even think it.

As originally staged, the work had a contemporary setting.  Over the years, the GSVLOC has mounted three productions of Pinafore, the first an homage based closely on photos and engravings of the original.  Our second was a very contemporary ‘Love Boat’ setting.  This, our third, is set on a World War II battleship.  For a gaggle of blitz-wearied “sisters and cousins and aunts,” a jaunt down to Portsmouth is a jolly distraction, and aiding young love an added treat.  So grab your gas mask and your ration book and join us on the H.M.S. Pinafore.

Lesley Hendrickson

H. M. S. Pinafore

Victoria Valencour as Josephine and
Kai Brewster as Ralph Rackstraw

H.M.S. Pinafore Reviews

          Cherry and Spoon, by Jill Schafer

          One Girl Two Cities, by Laura vanZandt

Two excellent internet resources for information about H.M.S. Pinafore:

Wikipedia – H.M.S. Pinafore

The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive – H.M.S. Pinafore

H. M. S. Pinafore 2015 Show Poster

Show Poster

Poster design by Tom McGregor and Mary Olson

Rowland Hilder / © Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK / Bridgeman Images

H. M. S. Pinafore 2015 Company Photo

Company Photo

Photography by Daniels Studio

“He is an Englishman! 
For he himself has said it,
and it’s greatly to his credit,
that he is an Englishman!”

—The Boatswain
H.M.S. Pinafore

Video