A Policeman's Lot Is Not A Happy One

[gross902]

I remember sitting in the park all day in order to get tickets to see this. I had a great day, reading and flying my Nantucket Kiteman kite. The show was wonderful and I had a nice day in the park.

[Caleedcutie]

Ok so can someone tell me if this is normal my school is putting on a play of this and I'm a policeman but the problem is I'm a girl. I was hoping to get a different part but am I a policeman becuz my voice is low??!!! Someone help thanks in advance!! :)

[1997mcgoo]

@Caleedcutie I was in this and I was the sergeant, there was lots of girls in the policeman's chorus! it added some great harmonies to the song! Don't worry! Just learn the songs and it will be fine!! :D

[candr]

@Caleedcutie Not so adnormal my dear,remeber all the girl parts of Willy Shakespeare plays were men, Peter Pan (a lost boy) has always been performed by a girl for over 100 years. Kabuki, Japanese art form has always been men. Its depends on who they got and what they can do, no reflection on your gender only on your ability. Matter of fact it would be a statement to your acting when you pull it off. Go and have fun, and if anyone says something, mention Mary Martin & Sandy Duncan.

[stanthology]

FREDDY MERCURYISH

[Hawkflame]

the other police must have died of fright

[tillybear2539]

excellent

[pingtran]

Choreographed too much in a USA musical style, not in keeping with Gilbert and Sullivan's ideas. Too bad.

[lithead]

Marvelous bit at the beginning. G & S parodied the medieval monastic "call and Response" of a church service. For Mabel. it indicates her almost religious devotion to Frederic (pure and divine), while for the Police, it indicates their devotion to a lifelong vocation - one that could be analogized to religious Brotherhood.

It's probably why the Sergeant was written as a bass voice. Papp and Azito modernized the cultural references to vaudeville routines. It's a wonderful re-imagining.

[leakiestwink]

Maybe because this is Broadway Pirates, a version especially adapted for modern audiences, and in my opinion, Tony Azito is the best police sargeant ever. If you want the pirates of penzance, don't watch the broadway version.

[janspek33]

@leakiestwink wasn't he in both?

[timpaws]

Absolutely horrendous! Americans can't pull off Gilbert & Sullivan at all, all subtlety is lost, (i.e. why is this 'hilarious character' speaking with an Italian-robotic-psychiactric dialect???). D'Oyly Carte every time.

[canajaneh]

@timpaws

Are you kidding? North American productions give life to G&S. D'Oyly Carte is dull to the point of paralysis.

[janspek33]

@timpaws i almost prepared a stunningly witty response, but it is easier to just say shut the fuck up, dont be a troll

[lithead]

@timpaws Joe Papp *specifically* wanted to make G & S accessible to American audiences with this version. He updated it to emphasize the burlesque, and pulled in a lot of vaudeville routines. At the same time, he left the libretto completely intact. His artistic decisions - and they worked in creating a whole new G & S revival in the States. Since even Shakespeare is re-staged, why not G & S - if that means that even more people are able to enjoy them?

One can love both. Don't be so priggish.

[baritone777]

@lithead I totally agree. In fact, I'd say one of the reasons the G & S canon has survived when so few American operettas haven't (anyone remember Victor Herbert...anyone...?) is that these pieces are, by their very nature, "open" works. That is, they are capable of being reinterpreted in seemingly countless ways and by all levels of talent and ability. Witness their popularity in community theater.

Azito makes me weep for sheer joy. May he rest in peace.

[Sitaker1954]

I miss Tony

[asianaven]

4:30 Tony's Troll face

[janspek33]

@asianaven he just creamed

[BaronVonMeggles]

For some reason, my favorite part of this whole song is the way he lifts his pinkie and sneers at 4:41. I could watch it over and over again forever.

[Gbassman5]

would have been better if they got some actual basses to play policemen... still pretty good tho

[pokemon83060]

we did this at school but it was of couse not as good as dis!

[FRAGIORGIO1]

This is a very talented cast. Outstanding performance. Bravi, bravissimi!

[EddieTheFishReturns]

Penzance Police, prodding bottom and taking addresses like no-one else can.

[flamingcartman312]

God bless Tony Azito

[yougotmycoat]

2 people have acted shamefully

[carrotjuse]

@yougotmycoat A disgrace!

[LalalalalaLauren75]

I love this! Soooooo awesome! I'm gonna walk around work singing his Woooooo ooooooooooh!!!!! XD So awesome!!!

[ProdigyStepper]

i just love his hooooowooooooooooooooowooooooo­!

[crzxr]

it's very reassuring to know that no one can do the sergeant as Tony Azito does.

[ProdigyStepper]

@crzxr i wish we could clone him

[kitboy69]

He was SO great in this and the movie! He was also the nicest guy going...such a sweeet sweet man!! with talent to burn!

[Naiseymae]

ahhh!!!! tap-dancin policemen. my favorite!!!

[HufflepuffTheGreat]

haha this is great! almost exactly like the movie!

[Krazykoreankyle14]

@HufflepuffTheGreat That's because he is in the movie

[Lissical]

Tony Azito, in my opinion was the best actor to ever play the Police Sergeant.

[carrotjuse]

@Lissical I concur! His characterization is iconic! He owned this role. It's hard to believe he's gone.

[Lissical]

I know! His voice was perfect for the role, as was his dancing. I agree, it's too bad he's gone. :(

[pannicatack]

@Lissical I don't think his voice was right at all. But what he brought to the role makes up for having the wrong voice.

[JustAnotherDE]

@pannicatack Respectfully, I would disagree. His slightly nasal (potentially annoying) singing voice makes him perfect for the role. It helps add weight to how ridiculous the constabulary are in the plot. The constabulary are hard to take seriously, which is exactly how it should be, rather than played straight (as if ANY G&S character should be played straight).

[Random22222y]

@JustAnotherDE I agree. The cops are meant to be bl00dy useless (mind you, the pirates themselves aren't that successful either, since to claim you are an orphan not only affords your release, but also their lifelong protection!) and I think with his unusal dance moves, nasal singing voice and weird facial expressions, he pulls it off PERFECTLY. I think G&S would be proud!

[carrotjuse]

@Lissical I must concur! Nobody brought more to the role than Tony!

[cialovesyou]

Great isnt it?

[cialovesyou]

Who was that actor? The sergeant?

[JSillabub]

Tony Azito.

[fxguy1969]

Thanks, I agree. I was lucky enough to meet and hang out with a lot of famous people, due to my father's job. Bowie was a favorite, as well. And yes, Rose had a very nice, grandfather-like presence. I was very sad to hear about his murder.

[ajkl27]

I like this version best; never understood why they shortened it so much in the film.

[fxguy1969]

My father was bodyguard to some of the stars of this show, and I remember attending one night. Backstage, Rex Smith gave me a Coke and let me watch his TV in his dressing room. Estelle Parsons baked me chocolate chip cookies. After the show, Azito asked if I knew who he played, and I, of course, told him the Captain of Police. George Rose told stories, and Linda Ronstadt was beautiful. We drove Kevin Kline home that night, with some other pirates. Any chance you have Bowie as Elephant Man 80-81?

[cialovesyou]

Maybe, but he lived a great artist

[bundleHastings]

Azito died of AIDS.

[TheRazzleDazzler]

Though it's not how Gilbert and Sullivan intended, I absolutely adore Tony Azito as the Seargent. Don't get me wrong, I love a good bass doing the role as much as the next guy (when I did Pirates, we had a honest to goodness full on bass do it), but Tony really reimagined the part of the Seargent as a whole. And that's what keeps the part and the play alive. People reinventing and adding their own philosophy to a role and to the show itself.

[spinynorman230]

thats what keeps ANY play,but you are right, it is PARTICULAR to Gilbert and Sullivan. As long as its funny.

[ajkl27]

exceptions should be made when an actor is so clearly perfect for the part =)

[Jourell1]

I agree. personally i prefer the traditional baritone but Tony`s performance was so incredible you cant help not think of him as the Sargent.

[adhoodo]

2:47

[Camsplint]

Shame they couldn't find a suitable Bass - or did they think they knew what Sir Arthur wanted better than he did?

[BorisGodunov]

Look, the Joseph Papp production was not in any way intended to be a faithful reproduction of a G&S production, it was entirely designed as a rock opera re-imagining of the operetta. Did you not notice how the orchestrations are all revamped, and extra songs are added in? Tony Azito was one of Broadway's great dancers of the day, and that was why he was cast. And he was wonderful for Papp's production, probably earning the highest all-round praise of any.

[elephantbarbiegirl]

Agree with you here. No disrespect to this production which looks fabulous it's just that it's such a treat to hear a good bass doing "a Policeman's lot"

[LightVSDarkness64]

I wish the woman didn't sing so, whiny, still, i love seeing this

[Moonpath74]

My school is doing this play next year, and I want to be in it so bad, but i am going into high school, so I can't! This play rocks!

[SingularSuperNinja]

Can anybody tell me: Is this sergeant the same as in the film version (minus the moustache) ? Because they have remarkably similar voices if not, and they are both utterly marvellous in the role!

[SingularSuperNinja]

Thanks mate. He looks very different here, which made me wonder. It's not just the lack of the moustache. His face seems much gaunter in this version. Amazing performer! Saddened to be informed just now that he passed away...

[BorisGodunov]

This was filmed before the movie was made, so I doubt the gauntness has anything to do with his later illness. He died in 1995, I believe.

[EntilZa1]

He also passed away several years ago, unfortunately. An amazing dancer.

[dottoressaK]

Thought he was great and he and Kevin Kline competed for a Tony, which went to Kevin (who I love). Tony Azito, sadly, died from AIDS....whatta talent!!!

[n30phelps]

This is more like a parody than a performance... I wonder what G&S would make of it, seeing as they were so enraged at the US arrangement of Pinnafore they ensured that they still had the copyright to Pirates of Penzance by simultaneously performing it in the UK and US.

[n30phelps]

Ouch, diction is shot.... Can't understand a word the girl is saying.

[Lilasarai]

My roommate actually compained that this was nothing like the Pirate Movie. I love this show anyway.

[TheBeatBongo]

Tony Azito dances as if he has no bones at all. Wonderful.

[adknorth]

Tony's performance in this is seriously one of the cleverest most original things I remember on Broadway (or in the Park) in thirty years. Genius.

[sprints42]

I agree. He's totally awesome!

[Wribbet]

4:09 - The guy on the right made me randomly crack up. :D

[VoodooConcept]

haha its the moustache, that made me laugh

[caismum]

I absolutely love this clip! Keystone Cops meet the Ballet Rambert, with a little touch of 42nd Street! Absolutely ingenious! Love it! Love Mabel's smitten over-the-top concern! Crazy. Tony Azito - just brilliant... he's made this part totally his own.

[19michael55]

TONY AZITO rocks!!!

[taureleafsilver]

I love that it seems that the Sergeant has a little crush on Maybel

[wickedfeylady]

NO ONE can do this part the way Tony does. He's perfect.

[boykin1324]

I can imagine Sacha Baron Cohen as Sergeant :)

[Gollum622]

Mabel is just awful. Love the police though.

[LightVSDarkness64]

she's annoying, especially when she says "He has acted"

[LightVSDarkness64]

"thanks for the 2 thumbs up"

[adknorth]

LOL - That Mabel is Linda Ronstadt.

[joninho22]

I think if you took James Franco, stretched him out and gave him a ridiculous voice. He could be the actor who played the sargeant. there is a striking resemblance in the face.

[LightVSDarkness64]

is Tony Azito naturally bald?

[LightVSDarkness64]

00:28 = hillarious...the guy bumps into him

[LightVSDarkness64]

the woman annoys the crap out of me

[happydayz1992]

I kind of like this better then the 1983 movie, because they cut some parts of the songs out of the movie. this is great. I love this song!

[Nerris121]

it takes a lot to master the role of the seargant, and this guy is truly a master of this role. the best stage actor of a comical character i've ever seen in my life

[Soxlotus]

i dont get it they made the movie then the actors perform it live with diff people?

[GerryAlwell]

These clips are from a stage show. The movie was made a number of years later with many of the stage show actors. The movie was shot in England and some of the actors were not available at the time of shooting

[Soxlotus]

oooo thank u

[mykms0321]

I'm doing this musical in my school, and I'm the sergeant,, i thank him giving me a good model of my role haha

[wavesofwoodenlegs]

I love Tony Azito's face at 4:31.

[jonnysouthjersey]

Great version! Very funny.

[icedrummer17]

I love this version.

[greentrombone]

Are they laying down a funk groove @ 4:08? haha!

[Hendoodle]

I think they are mate :P

[Aplaplap]

gah, lead must be a bass dammit! :D

[10Amuffett]

why have people thumbed down your comment, i don't get it. But yeah unfortunately most main roles like the sergent and the pirate king are basses but fredric is a tenor. A baritone could probably get this role though

[math9023]

I saw this play in a tiny 40 person autitorium and it was as good as a 2000 person auditorium with crack singers

[master0rolando]

i love the guy whos helmet covers his eyes

[master0rolando]

this is awsome...

hes not a great singer...but hes an incredible dancer...

the mable is god awful

[richardharris44]

What a remarkable talent Tony Azito was. Apart from Linda Ronstadt's voice, for my money, he stole the show. The visual and lyrical comedy of this number is delightful. This has to be the greatest production of Pirates of Penzance ever done.

[TheJazzManKing]

I love their little tarantera dance!

[zgates]

Not just openly gay, but VERY gay. Apparently there was a crossdressing incident when he was in school.

[HollyGolightlyII]

They are Amazing!

[KomKai352]

Thank you for posting this! It's wonderful!

[radxgoatxlover]

<3 Tony Azito

[KHearse87]

Good point. I forget sometimes how taboo that was years ago.

[KHearse87]

God, Tony Azito is like rubber! Why wasn't he more famous?

[SmartieRockz]

I got to play The Policeman's Song for my Grade 3 exam!! xD

[Sherlock46]

I love this as a fan of G&S and also as a Policeman! Time clearly doesn`t change everything, but isn`t life easier and far more fun when you can laugh in the face of adversity!?

[drcoxcentral]

This the best and ultimate version of that song, it so nerdy and Barney Fifish right here. I LOL when I see them walk like that.

[Deoxysaway]

Great this will help me in my trumpet exam because i have to play this!!!