REVIEW: Wildly entertaining ‘Pirates of Penzance’ wraps up this week

PALMER — AJ Siems’ production of the classic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta “Pirates of Penzance” gave me an appreciation of the effort that goes into a community theatre production. “Pirates” opened at the Glenn Massay Theatre on July 7 and only three more appearances remain Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The curtains open at 7 p.m. Seims’ cast and crew put together a wonderful performance that left the audience thoroughly entertained.

Starting with the stage production and costumes, the look and feel of the play was visually pleasing. The Glenn Massay crew never disappoints with sound and lighting. Seims did a great job of selecting a talented cast whose vocals and acting skills were on full display. The mini orchestra conducted by Sara Guhl was impeccable the entire show.

Jarrett Hardy delivers smooth vocals throughout the production as he portrays the naively loyal-to-a-fault pirate apprentice, Fredric. Other standouts include Jessica Rentz as Fredric’s love interest Mabel, whose vocals were incredible, especially considering she just graduated from Colony High.

Scott Allard’s performance as the Major General was consistent throughout but his talent shined most during the performance of the fast-paced, and most well-known tune, ‘I am the very model of a modern Major-General’.

Kelly Rentz wears two hats — one as assistant music director and portraying the middle-aged Ruth, whose advances are spurned by the much younger Fredric. Playing the villain with a conscience, sort of, Joshua Hardy made The Pirate King hard to dislike with his engaging performance.

Act I closed with beautiful harmonies from the entire cast in the closing number. The scene stealer of Act II was, no doubt, Jes Seims as the Sergeant of Police. He bursts on to the stage leading his patrol of bungling officers reminiscent of the old Keystone Cops. His duck-foot, goose-stepping march that remarkably stayed in time with the normal march performed by his fellow cops displayed Seims’ impressive athletic abilities. He even threw in a couple of cartwheels, a somersault and an impressive traditional Russian dance, all the while maintaining a strong vocal performance.

This performance was community theatre at its best and is great entertainment for all ages. Congratulations to Director AJ Seims, the cast and the crew for a great production.