SEMO'S `H.M.S. PINAFORE' OFFERS JOLLY GOOD FUN

It may not be quite at the D'Oyly Carte level, but Southeast Missouri State University Department of Music's presentation of "H.M.S. Pinafore" is jolly good fun in the best Gilbert & Sullivan tradition.

This durable comic opera a favorite almost from its first performance in London in 1878 will open in Academic Hall Auditorium Saturday at 8 p.m., and will be presented again at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Cast, orchestra and "crew" members are an agreeable mix of faculty, students and community participants, with Louisa Panou-Takahashi as vivacious director-choreographer. Her music department colleague, tenor Christopher Goeke, triples in brass by doing the effective scene design, serving as musical director, and singing one of the leading roles, that of Ralph Rackstraw, with thorough professionalism and charm.

The story, of course, is a spoof of English Victorian snobbery the class consciousness that makes money and position all-important.

In the case of the good ship Pinafore, Captain Corcoran (baritone Thomas Lowery of St. Louis) sets great store by his connection, however tenuous, with the peerage. He is, of course, protective of his lovely daughter Josephine (sung Saturday night by Lori Shaffer of Cape Girardeau, a community participant, and Sunday afternoon by Donna Smith of Cape Girardeau both sopranos).

The Captain is flattered that Sir Joseph Porter, sung by baritone Jason Shaffer of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, seeks the hand of fair Josephine, and is duly chagrined when the lass confesses that she is in love with a lowly tar on her father's own ship.

Josephine is torn between her internalization of her father's value system and her love for the sailor who happens to be the peerless but hapless Ralph, whom Sir Joseph charged with the task of learning a new song "designed to encourage independence of thought and action in the lower branches," and teaching that "a British sailor is any man's equal, excepting mine."

It remains for tough-and-rough Dick Deadeye (performed by baritone department head Sterling Cossaboom) to point out the dichotomy of that position: "When people have to obey other people's orders, equality's out of the question."

Deadeye is much more deeply convinced of the reality and propriety of class differences than others mouth themselves to be... and certainly more honest about it, even when he tips the young lovers' plans.

All the while, there have been veiled suggestions by "Little Buttercup," sung by mezzo-soprano Laurie Pierce of Poplar Bluff on Saturday night, and Patti Miller-Hunt on Sunday afternoon, that all is not what it seems: "Skim milk masquerades as cream ... Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers." And when Buttercup upsets the applecart by revealing her long-kept secret, things that were at "sixes and sevens" get turned around to everybody's advantage well, almost~!

The Boatswain, baritone Lance Lancaster of Cape Girardeau, and the Boatswain's Mate, bass Alvin Hillis of Cape Girardeau, are quite aware of Ralph's unsuitable suit for Josephine, as are his fellow sailors, and dutifully provide the gun with which he proposes to kill himself when she spurns him. True love (who could have doubted it?) intervenes, of course.

Adding to the frothy confusion is the bevy of "sisters, aunts, and cousins" that surround Sir Joseph; in the end it is the determined Cousin Hebe (sung by mezzo-soprano Delisa Hedspeth of Puxico) who will "comfort" Sir Joseph.

The "sisters, aunts, and cousins" include Sherri Bates of Pevely, Johanna Sutton of Imperial, Kelly Flamm of Arnold, Laurie Pierce, Sherri Blasingame of Dexter, Jennifer Venker of Carlisle, Penn., Jennifer Kovac of St. Louis, and Shannon McCreight of St. Louis. All are gowned delightfully in white Victorian summer fluff, adding prettily both vocally and visually to the show.

The lusty, jauntily uniformed sailors include Joshua Rhine of Mount Vernon, Ill., Chris Hayes of Festus (who also understudies the role of Ralph), Mark Williams of Ware, Joe Domian of Cape Girardeau (a non-student), Dan Lancaster of Cape Girardeau, and scene-stealer of all scene stealers, tiny Sara Goecke of Cape Girardeau as Tommy, who gets the privilege of hauling the hefty and the haughty to the brig.

Sara Edgerton of the music faculty conducts the small but effective orchestra that helps set the pace for the on-stage merry madness. Heidi Bergman of the faculty plays first violin, while Beverly Reece, a community participant, plays second violin.

Other orchestra members include: Rhett Hendrickson and Melissa Shillito, violas; Hee Chiat Chew, cello; Thomas Harte, string base; Stephanie Rushin,, flute; Gary Miller of the faculty, oboe; Melissa Cummins, clarinet; William White of Poplar Bluff, a community participant, timpani; Jill Edmundson, percussion; and Mary Miller, also a community participant, piano. Ryan Kasten served as rehearsal accompanist.

As always, musical productions in Academic Hall suffer somewhat from the lack of an orchestra pit; no matter the quality of the performance of the instrumentalists and the singers/actors, balance of sound is difficult to achieve. The use of microphones for some of those on stage both helps and hinders, depending on one's perspective.

The entire cast pitched in to transform Academic's stage into the deck of the H.M.S. Pinafore, with multiple playing levels providing opportunities for varied action; Carl Mason handles the lighting chores.

As always, "H.M.S. Pinafore's" infectious tunes and absolute absurdity of dialog and song content make it a sure and sheer delight, and the performances of all involved in the Music Department's production are in festive fettle for such frivolity.

"... Three cheers, and one cheer more" for "H.M.S. Pinafore"!