When I Was a Lad - HMS PINAFORE | Stratford Festival 2017

With witty dialogue, endearing characters, memorable tunes and a hilariously happy ending, these are the silliest shenanigans ever seen aboard a ship! Since its première in 1878, Gilbert and Sullivan’s wildly popular operetta has delighted audiences with its nautical tale of love across class divides.

HMS PINAFORE
Book and Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert
Music by Arthur Sullivan

A 2017 Stratford Festival production

Director: Lezlie Wade
Choreographer: Kerry Gage
Music Director: Franklin Brasz
Set Designer: Douglas Paraschuk
Costume Designer: Patrick Clark
Lighting Designer: Wendy Greenwood
Projection Designer: Nick Bottomley
Sound Designer: Peter McBoyle

[thomashogan]

Perfectly done. One can understand every single word. The guy has a fantastic voice.

[engin]

All I want in life is that you guys uploaded the full rendition

[johnnyandroidbc]

Wow! What a voice! He sings and enunciates so well, he can be the King's announcer!

[oldschool]

Somebody should acknowledge the skills of the sound technician too. Even sound this good does not get recorded this well by itself.

[AlphaLackey]

Outstanding version, and I like how they modernized a few of the more obscure English words without missing a beat.

[tadimaggio]

I'm a Gilbert and Sullivan nut, and I love this cover of this famous song; but I wonder why, in this version, it's "the KING'S navy". It was "the QUEEN'S navy" when the opera was written during Queen Victoria's reign (which is also when this production is set); and, in our own time, it's been "the Queen's navy" ever since 6 February 1952.

[billbutler]

This is the best rendition I have ever heard. Wow.

[douglas]

I love his wonderful diction in this performance!

[nuclearcatbaby]

“The King’s Navy” LoL he thought the Queen was already dead!

[jackd]

This is world class performance, and the best rendition of the song on Youtube. Thank you for sharing!

[tadimaggio]

I love imagining a dinner party attended by the three greatest lyricists in the history of the musical theater: W.S.Gilbert, Lorenz Hart, and Stephen Sondheim. WHAT insights might those three have brought out in one another!

(Postscript: It's 4 December 2021. Stephen Sondheim died eight days ago. He can finally attend that dinner party.)

[Erc_]

Find someone who looks at you the way the young sailor looks at the ruler of the king’s Navy in 0:53

[chazbrennan]

He sings it very well but I like the character to be more obviously incompetent, vain, unqualified, pompous and sly. He meant to be a satire of a useless pen-pushing landlubber. This guy seems innocent and likeable.

[malbuff]

The last five notes of the refrain are the opening notes of "The Sailor's Hornpipe." I can't prove it, but I believe Sullivan started out with that and built his song around it. Note that Sir Joseph has a "thing" for hornpipes throughout the first act.

[pault]

Our navy has more flag admirals than ships

[billgale]

I’ve seen many versions of this but I thought this was the best even though a few words were changed it didn’t change the idea that you could rise to the top by voting with your party even though you had never even seen a ship other than a “partner ship” at your law firm

[denisbright]

Very relevant to contemporary politics and to its support base with generous funding from the military industrial complexes globally: Denis Bright in Australia. HMS Pinafore is always a popular musical 150 years later as armchair admirals plan wars with rival powers.

[peterdevita]

Saw the production at Stratford, June Like all G & S - LOTS OF FUN with great Songs/Arias full of beautiful melody/

[TheLibermania]

This story is 130 (?) years old... and still fits into politcs. It's kind of sad.

[webz]

This is as perfect as a non D'olye Carte version can be