CROpera brings ‘Pirates of Penzance’ to Brucemore stage

When Stanley proclaims himself the very model of a modern major-general, he will be more modern than most.

Cedar Rapids Opera’s version of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, “The Pirates of Penzance,” is busting out of its traditional Victorian 1870s British corset and landing on the shores of Staten Island in the 1980s, with a merry band of British punk-rock pirates meeting some donut-wielding cops.

“This is my favorite of the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas,” said Daniel Kleinknecht, founder of Cedar Rapids Opera.

He especially loves the way guest director Gregory Keller, recently retired from the New York Metropolitan Opera, is staging the show. Now in rehearsals, the opera theater’s Young Artists production will be performed at 7:30 p.m. June 16 to 18 in the outdoor amphitheater behind Brucemore mansion.

“It’s a total update,” Kleinknecht said. “We’re finding that even those old references hold true today. Some of the jokes really work. It’s like taking this text and turning the kaleidoscope one turn or looking through a different prism.

“And the words might be sort of old English, but the ideas are just the same, and we can relate to them in this new way without changing the words. It’s been a real adventure. It’s totally different from any ‘Pirates’ we’ve done,” he said.

“It’s certainly well thought-out and active — very, very active.”

With just a small pond nearby and no ocean in sight, one thing that will be missing is a pirate ship, so the cast will rely on golf carts and scooters instead.

“It’s a light affair for a summer evening,” Kleinknecht noted. “It’s fun, it’s entertaining. No death, no high drama.”

That’s part of the difference between an opera and operetta, the latter of which is dramatist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan’s forte.

“(Operettas) are lighter in mood and scope,” Kleinknecht said, generally not containing two or more storylines. “The music (is) less complicated, usually with dialogue,” which most operas don’t have.

That doesn’t mean the Young Artists won’t be challenged vocally. Some are college students, others are embarking on their professional careers.

The work has “great choruses, lots of choruses, some great arias and a familiar construction — recitative, which are sometimes choral, sometimes a little bit of chorus, sometimes a little bit of soloist — and then either an aria or duet or chorus. That thing of recitative and arias are respected in the music itself,” Kleinknecht said.

“We’ve got the patter for ‘Major-General,’ lots of words fast, quick, good rhyme scheme. Of course, we have some high coloratura by Mabel, the soprano lead (Madeline Coffey). Then we have a more melodious kind of music for Fredrick, the tenor (Mark He). It’s very humorous. The police chorus (has) very catchy, familiar tunes that are popular, (which) the people will recognize.”

Kleinknecht, who also is an associate professor at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, is enjoying the educational aspect of working with the Young Artists.

“I forgot how much I adored work,” he said. “I’m older, Gregory is older. It’s interesting to do this work and be reflective of the teaching aspect of what you do. Working with young people who rarely have been onstage, or it’s their first or second time — to give them opportunities to learn and grow.

“It’s not just about the show, the production, the entertainment value. It’s about the road, it’s about the process. The older I get, the more I see that that’s valid.

“It’s important to give people experiences that I had when I was young, and to give them hope, and to give them an example of what life could be like as a singer or a musician. I’m more intensely aware of that now — especially when we haven’t been able to do that for a while,” Kleinknecht said.

“You see the light bulb come on in their eyes and their faces. That’s so important and feels really good. Even Gregory, who works with seasoned singers, I think he enjoys seeing the sparkle in their eyes and their first realization that their posture is important to speak through a phrase. It is important to live the character physically. I think he finds pleasure in that — I certainly do.”

COVID factor

With the singers and production staff coming from as far afield as New York, keeping everyone safe from COVID-19 remains a challenge.

Even with conducting rehearsals in an open indoor space, with everyone masked and learning more than one role, a casual performance of arias planned for June 11 at Stillwater Coffee Co. in Hiawatha has been canceled, “in an abundance of caution to keep everyone healthy for ‘Pirate,’ ” according to an email from the opera company.

Juneteenth concert

But the opera company’s second annual Juneteenth free community concert is moving ahead as planned, set for 2 p.m. June 19 on the outdoor stage at NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids.

Presented in partnership with the market and the African American Museum of Iowa, the concert features guest performer MaKayla McDonald, a University of Northern Iowa graduate and former Cedar Rapids Young Artist, who is working professionally as a singer, creator and educator based in New York City.

Current Young Artist Jude Balthazar and other community chorus members will share the stage.

McDonald’s repertoire will be varied, she said in her artist’s statement.

“I want to reinforce that Black classical music is so incredibly diverse, there isn’t just one African American sound. The history of Black music in America is deep and multifaceted.

“My goal was to create a kaleidoscope of compositional and poetic voices; to uplift the old and the new. The unifying theme circles around Black love, beauty and joy.

“Juneteenth is such a joyous, yet heavy celebration,” she noted. “Black people in America encounter heavy all the time. We also know that through the heavy, there is buoyancy. We know that there is love. We know that there is happiness. It’s my hope that this music explores just that.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com