Ryan ChartrandBefore Johnny Depp hits theaters once more as Captain Jack Sparrow, a different kind of pirate comes to San Luis Obispo.
The Royal Carl Rosa Opera Company returns to the Christopher Cohan Center this Saturday at 8 p.m. with the swashbuckling opera “The Pirates of Penzance.”
According to the Performing Arts Center, the show is almost sold out.
Cal Poly music professor Alyson McLamore will be giving a pre-show lecture at 7 p.m. in the Philips Recital Hall.
The opera company came to Cal Poly last April with their production of “The Mikado,” which played to a sold out crowd.
“The Pirates of Penzance” of “The Slave of Duty” was written by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. The two-act light opera premiered almost simultaneously in New York and England in December of 1879. It is an audience favorite and arguably one of the best-known comedic operas of all of its 127 years in production.
The Royal Carl Rosa Opera Company is Britain’s only professional touring company dedicated almost entirely to performing the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. This production of “The Pirates of Penzance” won the International Award for Operetta and Best Director and Best Production at the Gilbert & Sullivan Festivals in San Francisco and Philadelphia. For this tour, the company has recreated the original period settings and costumes.
The Royal Carl Rosa Opera Company was established in 1873 by German violinist Carl August Nicholas Rosa and immediately enjoyed success. The company closed in 1960 but was revived by Peter Mulloy and musical director Wyn Davies. They now tour around the world performing operas such as “HMS Pinafore,” “The Merry Widow,” “Iolanthe,” “Yeoman of the Guard,” “The Gondoliers” and “Die Fledermaus.”
Tickets are $42 to $54. Student discounts are available at the Performing Arts Center’s box office.