SRO Theatre Company presents THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

SRO Theatre Company's 2017-2018 season, it's 33rd, opens with The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious, hopeful farce that follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates.

The production presented in association with Warehouse Theatre and directed by SRO Theatre Artistic Director Kristofer Green, will play MadLab Theatre and Gallery beginning with a preview performance on Thursday, September 7, 2017. The Tony Award winning musical officially opens Friday, September 8 and will run through Saturday, September 23, 2017.

The Pirates of Penzance is Gilbert and Sullivan's fifth collaboration and follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates' way of life and falls for the beautiful daughter of the Major-General Stanley, Mabel. But when the Pirate King discovers that General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an "ingenious paradox" may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of "The very model of a modern Major-General."

The opera was performed for over a century by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Britain 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 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 features a talented local cast that includes Will Macke (The Pirate King), Nick Van Atta (Frederic), Kristen Basore (Mabel), Thor Collard (Major General Stanley), Lori Turner (Ruth), Jordan Shear (Samuel), Mackenzie Leland (Edith) and Douglas Gustafson (The Police Sergeant).

The cast is rounded out by ensemble members Dakotah Sellers, Grace Rinehart, Lexi White, Josh Kaplonski, Sean Woo, and Jen Patton.

Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday Sep. 8, 8 p.m. Saturday Sep. 9, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday Sep. 11, 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday Sep. 15, 8 p.m. Saturday Sep. 16, 2 p.m. Sunday Sep. 17, 7:30 p.m. Thursday Sep. 21, 8 p.m. Friday Sep. 22., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday Sep. 23. Tickets: $25, $22 for students and senior citizens

Committed to producing both classic and contemporary works that break cultural and generational boundaries, SRO Theatre Company continues to operate as one of Columbus' oldest not-for-profit theaters. In SRO's 33 year history, it has won international acclaim for the quality of its productions, its depth and diversity and the excellence of its many community programs.

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