Alhambra High School Presents “The Pirates of Penzance”

Alhambra High School’s Drama Club is preparing to present their Spring musical, the rollicking comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance directed and produced by Mr. Gerry Wiener with musical and technical direction by Mrs. Sara Stafford. Four performances will be held at the Performing Arts Building on campus at 150 E Street in Martinez on Wednesday, April 17, Thursday, April 18, and Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m. with a closing matinee Saturday, April 20, at 2 p.m. Tickets are now on sale to the general public via the school's GoFan.

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert is set on the coast of Cornwall, England during the reign of Queen Victoria. At the show’s opening the dutiful and well-intentioned pirate’s apprentice Frederic, played by Sophomore Ben Williams, has aged out of his contract and is determined to leave the pirate profession behind in pursuit of an honest life. Junior Dahlia Guidos stars opposite Williams as Mabel, the kind and beautiful maiden Frederic meets and instantly loves. With Mabel’s father, the expressive and well-rounded Major-General Stanley (Ethan Basa), our couple must outwit and defeat the proud Pirate King (Max Rivera) and his band including Frederic’s former nursemaid Ruth (Elena Reeves) through a series of surprises and one peculiar paradox.

Supporting roles feature Caprice Crum as Isabel, Calina Montero as Kate, Brody Moran as the Sergeant of Police, Sasha Olson as Edith, and Nick Webb as Samuel. Alhambra’s production features a large ensemble cast with the crew of pirates portrayed by Charlotte Allen, Waylen Dodds, Derek Dyken, Liam Evans, Eli Huntsinger, Kyle Karg, Megan Kelley, Mars Kersey, Kenneth Ko, Mariano Kozera, Eric Menconi, Lev Narducci, Soph Pogorzelski, Jillian Richards, Aidan Rose, Ben Scott, Emma Scott, Salem Simpson, Conor Topasna, and Niko Vaquerano and the Major-General’s numerous daughters played by Maliyah Aranzamendez, Annabella Boyce, Nicole Cataldo, Mackenzie Clem, Char Davenport, Cheyenne Earlywine, Tess Ferra, Adrianna Gauthier, Angelina Harris, Faith Jonson, Gracie Kunkel, Lillian Padilla, Della Ross, Sapphire Sherzai, Daylana Shorter, and Samantha Yasaki. Aranzamendez, Crum, Harris, Jonson, Kelley, Kersey, Ko, Kunkel, Padilla, Pogorzelski, and Simpson additionally are double-cast as the corps of police officers recruited to battle the pirates.

First premiering in 1879 to critical acclaim and audience delight, Pirates features many memorable melodies punctuated by clever dialogue and plenty of parody. The songs range from beautiful operatic arias (“Poor Wandering One”) to lively ensemble numbers (“With Cat-Like Tread”) to Gilbert & Sullivan’s hallmark tongue-twisting patter songs including their most well-known “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.”

Performing the music live under the direction of Mrs. Stafford are student musicians Isabel Bour, Danny Dominguez, Micah Kushner, Austin Loker, Lizzie McCauley, Myron Millena, Fern Murphy, Landon Poston, Antonio Ramirez-Toutjian, Naomi Rivera, Matthew Schick, Aimee Truong, and Kaiya Yasaki with Mrs. Josie Bromley. Technical crew for the production are Theo Belt, Cruz, Angelina Garcia, Mick McDowell, B Rubio, and Daphne Yasaki. The show is choreographed by Mrs. Brittany Watson with some dance numbers led by dance captains Angelina Harris and Faith Jonson. Costumes are designed by Ms. Sara Bragg assisted by Mars Kersey.

Tickets are priced at $15 for adults, $10 for students and senior citizens, and $5 for children 10 years old and under. The show has a run-time of approximately 135 minutes including one 15-minute intermission. Productions of the AHS Drama Club are made possible in part by the nonprofit Alhambra High School Arts Foundation. Leading sponsors for The Pirates of Penzance at the time of publishing are The Allen Family, C&J Fencing, The Kelley Family, Martinez Music Mafia, Rapt with Joy Shirts, Ruhe CPA, and Santa's Helpers Foundation. The Arts Foundation encourages local businesses and individuals to sponsor or donate to support production costs for this and future shows at Alhambra High School.