Franklin Light Opera to Present THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE This Month

Grab your friends, family, and your Jolly Roger, and join the fun in a hilariously swashbuckling, high-seas adventure! Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, is sailing into the Williamson County Performing Arts Center in Franklin, September 13 through 15, 2024. Produced by Franklin Light Opera, curtain opens at 7pm Friday and Saturday, with 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday.

Ticket prices range from $20-$35, and can be purchased at www.wcpactn.com. Come dressed as a pirate to join in the fun with a costume contest at each performance!

The story centers on the dilemma of young Frederic who, having been mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates, struggles with his sense of duty and his quest for love and freedom. Helping Frederic deal with this unusual predicament are the brash Pirate King, Ruth (pirate maid-of-all-work), the Sergeant of Police, romantic Mabel, the object of his love, and her father, the delightfully stuffy Major-General Stanley. Audiences will also meet a rollicking band of pirates, a bevy of beautiful maidens, and a brigade of bumbling police.

First premiering in New York in 1879, Pirates has been produced, and parodied, countless times all over the world. This perennial favorite contains some of the most famous songs in the light opera canon including 'Poor Wandering One', 'Oh Better Far to Live and Die', 'With Cat-Like Tread' and the tongue twisting classic, 'I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General'.

Cast as the handsome and honorable Frederick and his love Mabel are Franklin Light Opera veterans Nicholas Branson and Karen Wonder Dumont. The Major-General will be hilariously portrayed by favorite Chad Jones. Making their FLO debut are Andrew Hutton as the charismatic Pirate King and Jessica Lynn French as the loyal pirate maid-of-all-work, Ruth. Will Lasley returns as the timid, but effective Sergeant of Police. The large cast features local talent, and FLO's very first youth chorus, under the direction of Stephen Calgaro, will be making their debut with a pre-show of sea shanties.

Director Christopher Cooper brings a vibrant energy to the work, highlighting the show's wit and charm. Music director Makai Keur lends his talent to the production, conducting a live pirate-inspired orchestra. With beautiful costumes designed by Elizabeth Johnson and assistant Nicholas Branson, choreography by Susan Guina, and able stage direction by Donovan Hughes, the show promises to provide a vibrant evening full of laughter, romance and thrilling music. Fun for the whole family! Support Franklin's very own opera company and reserve your seats today!

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