I Am A Pirate King!

I just got accepted to be part of a production for The Pirates of Penzance! And I get to be the Pirate King!

For the majority of the performances, I'll be part of the crew. But as a cool little side line I'll be the understudy for the Pirate King. The way this production company works is that the understudies get 2 performances even if the 'main' is there. I thought about it and determined that's a sneaky way to make sure that the understudies have lots of incentive to learn the parts they would be subbing for. So while I will be part of the crew for the run, there are two performances where I get to be the captain of the dread ship Tarantula! HA!

When I was trying out for the performance I thought that I'd take any part with the exception of the Major General, because he has the famous song that's a tongue-twister. I'm sure you know it, even if you don't know that it's a staple of PoP. It's the song that goes, "I am the very model of a modern major general, I've information animal and vegetable and mineral. I know the kings of England and I quote the facts historical, from Aaragon to Waterloo in order categorical." Woah.

It wasn't until after I'd accepted the understudy role that I remembered the Pirate King has a wonderful little tongue-twister song of his own which he belts out at a clip that leaves the orchestra panting for breath afterward. Humm. In the words of the Penzance constabulary, "Oh well, too late now!"