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From: InvertedJabberwocky
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  • @CommentingPhantomess The costume is quite clearly based on Jack Sparrow.

  • The Captain Jack getup is going to date this production rapidly. A pity, because this is otherwise an incredibly good rendition of the trio.

  • It was first in Ruddigore, then added to Pirates, then Millie.

  • This song is from Ruddigore originally. Joe Papp added this song to his production of Pirates in 1980. It has been used in numerous productions since then, including this one by Opera Australia.

    The Essgee production starring Jon English and Simon Gallaher uses "You Understand (Duty Duty)" instead of "My Eyes Are Fully Open." "Duty Duty" was also from Ruddigore.

  • this song is in pirates of penznzce by it wa originally writen for ruddigore

  • Ahhh I am in love with this song!! Everytime

  • why cant i find this on Itunes????? Ive looked everywhere.

  • I believe that this song was originally in RUDDIGORE - also by Gilbert and Sullivan. In the 1800's when G&S boarded a ship to New York from England to "Pitch" their new play "Pirates of Penzance" to Broadway... they discovered to their horror that they had forgotten to bring the manuscript with them. They then cobbled together pieces of other plays and from memory re-wrote Pirates on the trip over. Apparently very different from what they left at home on the table.

  • I think these three handle the patter as well as anyone I've heard - Hobson in particular shines. Still don't like the Captain Jack thing; the production would be 100% more enjoyable without it.

  • @90lysander Watching this again, it looks to me as though Hobson doesn't take ANY breath during his verse. Most impressive! Obviously the Ruth does - can't tell about Warlow, mostly because the camera cuts away.

  • Long live ~Ruddigore!!!!!

  • Matter trio is originally from Ruddigore and in my opinion should stay there. Pirates is fine without it.

  • the pirate king looks like jack from the carribean aahahahhahaa

  • Anthony Warlow is in this! oh, I must see this now!

  • i watched this on tv a few weeks ago and i LOVED this part

  • "My eyes are fully open" is from Ruddigore! However, it works!! I love Ruth's breath in her verse.

  • i think its actuially written into the script. we did it this year and it was in ours. I was like "oh no it is not" and our teacher wass like "oh yes it is"!

  • In the film version, the last line of Ruth's verse is "So we'll take this song from Ruddigore because it doesn't matter!"

  • I'm sure this is a brilliant production, but for me, the Jon English production will always have a special place in my heart that not even the wonderful Anthony Warlow can replace

  • The only problem with Matter is that it already has a corresponding operetta - Ruddigore!

  • I do particularly like the Pirate King decked out as only Jack Sparrow could be....Sparrow really fits right in with Penzance...

  • Why is Ruth nit ugly and old... and why is Fred in a suit?

  • Why in the world are they having the Pirate King be Jack Sparrow? That's terrible.

  • this is awsome.

  • Anthony Warlow is fantastic!

  • You should be honored that you even got the part in the first place...it's really up to the director what happens and whether or not you're going to be imitating Captain Jack Sparrow so you can either sit there and bitch at him for it...or you can suck it up and take part in this show...your call

  • Yeah well when you start getting cast in shows. Hit me up

  • will do...

  • That's an idiotic thing to say. This came first. So they copied Pirates of Penzance.

  • jack sparrow fits right into a gilbert and sullivan musical

    anyway part of the reason anthony warlow did it was to make opera less forbidding to younger people

  • how do u know thats what he was told?

    ANYWAY just as well IT WASNT YOU!!

  • I'd like to see this production actually...Anthony Warlow is awesome...nuff said...they used to have him doing Pirate King on here but now it's gone...

  • I hate the tendency in recent productions to clothe the Pirate King as Jack Sparrow.

  • I'm not a fan of the Jack Sparrow as the Pirate king, but these three are good. Ruth is a little too pretty imo

  • wow these guys are awesome. that would be such a hard song to do! holy cow!

  • agreed

  • Despard? o_O

    He's the Pirate King, hence the Sparrowness. Although the song's from Ruddigore it often gets put into Pirates of Penzance, as in this case.

  • Gosh, everyone here should stop comparing AW to Jack Sparrow. Anyone who's seen him in other productions like phantom of the opera know that that's just how he acts.

    Anyway, he is AMAZING.

    full stop.

  • It was done on purpose because this particular series of performances were AFTER the success of the pirates of the caribbean. So they PURPOSELY dressed and made him act like captain sparrow to encourage people to see the G&S. I find it to be quite quite sad.

    John English Simon Gallaher and Co were NOT dressed like that nor were there mannerisms like Captain Sparrow.

    They were trying to make themselves relevant

  • @CommentingPhantomess Well it's more than that, he's pretty explicitly meant to be a put-on for Sparrow. Look at the little charm on the dread that hangs over the top of his bandanna.

    But my sentiment is that importing characters like this isn't just fun, it's also an exemplary way of serving the opera's satirical legacy. One could hope that the cribbed Sparrow pirate king becomes a permanent institution as just another one of those things that the play picks up in its long, long history.

  • @CommentingPhantomess Yes, AW is amazing, but he is doing a Jack Sparrow impression here. If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you.

  • Talent or no talent, the director is an idiot for modelling the Pirate King after Jack Sparrow. I don't care what the reasoning was, copy-cats cheapen a production. Forget the RUDDIGORE issue. This is the TRUE insult to Gilbert and Sullivan.

  • far out. did you even SEE this production?? im guessing not. who said it was the directors idea anyway? and who said it was modelled off jack point? yes it seems to resemble him somewhat.but dont jump to ridiculous conclusions. in the 21st century it is also about attracting wider/larger audiences. this needs to be acknowledged. and im telling you in this instance the king worked wonders and with Anthony Warlow..amazing nothing else covers it. AND dont be so bloody hostile!

  • Can we just make it quite clear that this number was not written for PIRATES. Gilbert and Sullivan worte it specifically for RUDDIGORE. This number has no business being in PIRATES at all.

  • Songs from Ruddigore have always been chucked in here, becuase they fit and they're often sea-shanty type songs. It's not new, it's not unique, and who really cares?

  • can we also just make it quite clear that THIS PATTER ISNT GENERALLY HEARD AND IF IT IS...IT...DOESNT MATTER !!!!!!!!!!!! get over it! its a bit of fun. and fitted perfectly. listen to the song!!

  • There is actually no need to be so gratuitously rude and offensive. I was merely making a point that this number has nothing to do with PIRATES - it was written 8 years after that show. Gilbert and Sullivan themselves would never sanction the use of a number from one of their works in another - it they made a quote from another opera and as I recall they only did so twice, that was because they considered it necessary.

  • THIS PRODUCTION WAS AWESOME! SAW IT TWICE IN MELBOURNE! HAD TO GO BACK A 2ND TIME! IT JUST GOT BETTER and BETTER BY THE TIME IT GOT TO MELBS! :P :P i <3 anthony!

  • We performed this version at my local theatre. I was lucky enough to have the role of Ruth. (: It was absolutely amazing!

  • im doing this at my school and it is quite hard the hartley gilbert sullvian association are helping us :D

  • wait, im confused...does anyone know if thoroughly modern millie stole this song, or if pirates of penzance did? cuz if its like a substitution for a different song, maybe it was added in after thoroughly modern millie was written, even though pirates of penzance was written first. does anyone know??

  • I'm fairly certain it was added to "Pirates" before "Thoroughly Modern Millie".

  • you are correct it was orginally in pirates but then i think both gilbert and sullivan cut it then moved it into ruddigore (or ruddygore) then this "thoroughly modern millie" nicked it off them.

  • I think Ruddigore came first, actually; and then a version of Pirates added this song... I'm pretty sure this wasn't in the original PoP score.

  • ruddigore was peformed in 1887 and Pirates was peformed in 1879 so it looks like this song was cut then replaced as the patter song in act 2 of ruddigore (despard,Riven and Marget)

  • Sorry folks, this song was NOT written fro Pirates and then cut. It was written for Ruddigore.

    The first time it was ever used in Pirates was the 1980 Joe Papp production with Kevin Kline

  • @InvertedJabberwocky It was originally in a different G&S called Ruddigore. Then one production of Pirates put it in and it became a tradition.

    Mille Nabbed it for The Speed Test since it was out of copyright and it suited it's purpose.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky

    It was originally written for Ruddigore, but it's added into both.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky It was definately added to "Pirates" before "Thoroughly Modern Millie." it was first added to "Pirates" by Joseph Papp in 1980. The musical version of "Thoroughly Modern Mille" wasn't even written until 2002.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky It was definately added to "Pirates" before "Thoroughly Modern Millie." it was first added to "Pirates" by Joseph Papp in 1980. The musical version of "Thoroughly Modern Mille" wasn't even written until 2002. The song was actually written for "Ruddigore," another Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky It was originally created for Ruddigore, however they started using it in some of the Pirates shows shortly after its creation...

  • ah, hello mealworm. i see you've already started scouring youtube for pirates. yay! i hope this song is in the version we do, i like it.

  • the song "speed test" from thoroughly modern millie was in fact based on this song from pirates of penzance.

  • Ha. Pirates was first performed in 1879. Millie? 2002.

  • LMAO. preeeety sure pirates came waaay before mille.considering its gilbert and sullivan....

  • @mealwormissupercool They both stole it. The song's originally from Ruddigore.

  • @mealwormissupercool I believe that this song was originally in RUDDIGORE - also by Gilbert and Sullivan. In the 1800's when G&S boarded a ship to New York from England to "Pitch" their new play "Pirates of Penzance" to Broadway... they discovered to their horror that they had forgotten to bring the manuscript with them. They then cobbled together pieces of other plays and from memory re-wrote Pirates on the trip over. Apparently very different from what they left at home on the table.

  • @dancethebossanova It is originally from Ruddigore and it is true that they left some of their music behind, but Pirates predates Ruddigore. It was the Act I of Pirates that was left behind. The only known source of interpolated music is Gilbert and Sullivan's lost first collaboration, Thespis, from which the song Climbing Over Rocky Mountains was adapted.

  • @mealwormissupercool It wasn't stolen, per se. The creators involved with musicalizing Mille for Broadway acknowledged the song was based off of the one by Gilbert and Sullivan. You can see that if you look Thoroughly Modern Mille up on IBDB.com

  • @mealwormissupercool - this song belongs in Ruddigore and was only put into Pirates when it was modernized about 15 years ago. Ruddigore was written I believe in the 1880s or thereabouts.

  • @mealwormissupercool

    It was first in Ruddigore. It was then taken from that and put in Pirates of Penzance. And it was put in Millie after those two.

  • @mealwormissupercool The song originates in Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, which dates back to 1887. Pirates of Penzance, which dates back to 1880, did not originally have this song. Joseph Papp when reviving Gilbert and Sullivan in the early 1980s decided to incorporate it into Pirates of Penzance with some slight lyric changes. The tune became part of Thoroughly Modern Millie when it was adapted from a movie into a stage musical in 2000.

  • @mealwormissupercool Gilbert & Sullivan wrote it for "Ruddigore" in 1887. It was added to "Pirates of Penzance" later on. This Millie thing is from when?

  • @Kremzeek217 Thoroughly Modern Millie was produced as a musical on 2002

  • Thoroughly Modern Millie was produced as a musical on 2002

  • @mealwormissupercool but i think before modern millie came ruddigore.

  • @FinalFreek Yeah, like over a century before. :P

  • @mealwormissupercool Thoroughly modern millie did an HOMAGE to the matter patter.

    They didn't steal lit it was like a tribute. besides, Pirates is genuinely pre-1920s, Millie was made much after the 1920s

  • @mealwormissupercool I think this song was written for Ruddigore and only added to Pirates in 1980s.

  • @mealwormissupercool The song was originally part of the G & S musical, Ruddigore. Then they added it to the revival of Pirates, and as a tribute it was added to Thoroughly Modern Millie.

  • @mealwormissupercool Here's the deal. Pirates of Penzance was written by Gilbert and Sullivan in the 1870s. Thoroughly Modern Millie was written in the 1960s. You tell me which one you think came first.

  • @mealwormissupercool It's actually originally from the G&S operetta "Ruddigore," but it's often put into Pirates becuase it fits so well :)

  • I'm just not crazy about this being put int to Penzance. I do like Warlow going for the Sparow look and feel it's been done the same o many times over again why not go crazy!

    Thanks for posting.

  • never seen pirates of penzance but i like Anthony Warlow so i wanted to check it out XD and i find Anthony dressed up like Jack Sparrow lol thats not really jack, just i pirate king but based off of jack, right? or am i confusing myself 0_0;

  • I wonder how Anthony felt with playing The Pirate King as Jac Sparrow...

  • Great video! Anthony Warlow is just a spectacular singer (and another reason I'm a lil' jealous I'm not an aussie!) but what always bugs me is the lyrics. Frederic (I think that's the chars name) sings different, as far as I can tell, slightly different lines from those sung in Ruddigore anyone know his exact lines?

    Lol as sad as it sounds I enjoy singing along while I listen to this and tinker with my things lol.

    Thanks :) and great video! ^_^

  • He, (Anthony Warlow, that is,) is fantastic! So funny!!!

  • Its funny that since the Kevin Kline/Angela Landsbury production of Pirates of Penzance they've had this song in the show, when its actually a song from G&S's last piece, Ruddigore. In the first production of pirates where they included this song Ruth said "So I'll sing a song from Ruddigore it really doesn't matter." This is still a fantastic job of it, though.

  • I've been scouring the internet for the ending that i saw performed.

    at the end of the song, the band picks up again and an even faster pace and the pirate king points his gun at the orchestra and says "no more verses." and the band falls apart and stops. it was SOO hillarious.

  • LOL!!! I'd love to hear that!!! Does anyone else realize what a good Johnny Depp/Captain Jack Sparrow imitation the Pirate King is doing?

  • That would be Anthony Warlow. Fantastic actor/singer. He's quite the chameleon.

  • Aye he is a fantastic performer. A truly amazing artist vocally and a born entertainer.

  • The ending of this song is absolutley astonishing! Wonderful.

    I've seen the original, and this is really very funny. I love the Sparrow character, my mother is putting on this very same show, and she is using Sparrow as the role of the Pirate King.

    She's going to attempt this song, including where they sing all of their verses together, which looks completley impossible.

    Really a very good show, a must see :]

  • O_o

    Jack Sparrow?

    Pirates of Penzance?

    I'm so confused.

  • It's the Pirate King, but done in a Jack Sparrow style, which is funny as Jack Sparrow was based on the Pirate King in the first place!

  • Jack Sparrow was based on Keith Richards.

  • No, Johnny Depp's performance was based on Keith Richards, but the original character of Jack Sparrow is based on the Pirate King.

  • Ok, thanx for clearing that one up.

  • Very very disappointing that a foolish director dismissed Warlow's originality in favor of a tired character from an over-rated trilogy. The man's fully capable of forming his own character--come on! Let him do it!

  • Yes, but Pirates of the Caribbean was extremely popular at the time, and they felt by having the Pirate King resemble Jack Sparrow it would bring more people in, introduce a younger crowd to the show etc, which it did.

  • As far as I know, it was his own idea. He thought it would be fun, he didn't want to steal a character in order to get a bigger audience. He doesn't need to, these OA G&S productions always pull in huge audiences.

  • Hah, love the ending, great idea.

    Don't know if i like the whole jack sparrow thing yet, it just seems like a cheap way to pull in kids to me...

  • And is that a problem? Bringing in a new lot to see the show who might normally not do. Its hardly changing the character that deastically.

  • I love the fact that Anthony Warlow portrayed the Jack Sparrow as the Pirate King...its hella funny and it works...

    he admitted that he got the inspiration from watching the potc movies...awesome...two of my fav movies in one!:)

  • Ruth is my fav character

  • many productions change the lyrics to fit the concept of the show. This patter number is from Ruddigore, so the text has to be changed no matter what. Unless of course we assume that the first name of the Pirate King is Despard, lol.

  • why where the lyrics changed? and WHY does he look like Jack Sparrow. i hate this version!!!!

  • Hahaha.

    When I saw this I had no idea what they were saying why so I read the subtitles.

    :D They gave me the biggest laugh!

    I didn't know anything about Penzance before seeing this and so glad everything was the way it does. I was only 19 when seeing it and seeing 'Jack Sparrow' actually helped me to understand the character.

  • Actually Disney admitted that Jack Sparrow was inspired by the Pirate King from the Pirates of Penzance.

  • Anthony Warlow is awesome!!!

  • damn straight!!! there IS NO OTHER!!

  • omg this was so bloody great to watch in the audience. soooooooooooooo funny!!!! they really played it up wen I saw it in Melbourne :p

  • wait...so...is it supposed to be Jack Sparrow as the Pirate King?

  • I think it's more like the Pirate King resembles and has similar mannerisms to Jack Sparrow

  • @ElphabaPhan I can't be sure but I vaguely remember reading that Jack Sparrow, or Johnny Depps interpretation of the character, was based on the Pirate King. Though I could be wrong.

  • haha Pirate King Jack Sparrow!! Great!!!

  • Isn't this from Ruddigore?

  • Yes, it is, but Gilbert and Sullivan reworked the lyrics slightly and slotted it into "Pirates"

  • Gilbert and Sullivan did no such thing!

  • Yes, it is, but Gilbert and Sullivan reworked the lyrics slightly and slotted it into "Pirates"

  • Gilbert and Sullivan did not rework the lyrics. This number from Ruddigore was first put into Pirates in the Papp broadway production of 1980-81.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky

    As far as i know , it was Joseph Papp who put it in for his Central Park production. It's not in any published score of PoP that I have ever seen, though it is in the published score of Ruddigore.

  • @InvertedJabberwocky No they didn't. The song wasn't added into Pirates during their lifetimes and it's not part of the official score. The first production to throw it in was the 1982 Broadway production starring Kevin, later made into a film. Many productions since then have included it, but more often then not, the song is not in the show.

  • Yes, and actually there's a line in Ruth's section which has been changed:

    "So I'll keep them to myself; my opinion doesn't matter" was orignally (I believe, or else I have it backwards) "So we'll sing this song from Ruddigore; it really doesn't matter"

  • Yes, and actually there's a line in Ruth's section which has been changed:

    "So I'll keep them to myself; my opinion doesn't matter" was orignally (I believe, or else I have it backwards) "So we'll sing this song from Ruddigore; it really doesn't matter"

  • Actually when I listened to this, I didn't hear the line change. But I still love that they used Papp's idea to put the song in here.

  • This was a fantastic production. Having Hobson/Warlow combination. I don't think you could have gone wrong.

  • This is great! Have to love Warlow's performance as always!

  • Three amazing artists!!

    WOOOW you go suzanna!

  • ... I like Kevin Kline better for the Pirate King. I mean, why is he Jack Sparrow!?

  • The Pirate King was modelled off Jack Sparrow for this production merely as a jab at pop culture

  • so, thoroughly modern millie, totally stole this..

  • Sure did (and didn't credit Sullivan). Not that they're the first to set new words to Sullivan's music, nor will they be the last.

  • where can i find "When go out the door" from patience sung by this company? This is a superb song this is good for the patter man who's the pirate king so they put this in for him to show how fast he can go.

  • The 1995 Opera Australia Patience DVD could be found on a few websites, such as amazon, I believe. That's a great video.

  • i was actualy meaning on here becuase i wonder if it's on here but thank you for letting me know.

  • I never tire of this. AW cracks me up. XD

  • this is funny

  • Was this song added to this particular production as a musical theatre joke, or did Thoroughly Modern Millie take this song and rework it to fit?

    I'm very confused. I'm unfortunately unfamiliar with Pirates of Penzance, but I can't help but notice how ridiculously similar this is to "The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie (which I AM familiar with).

    Help?

  • This song is originally from the Gilbert & Sullivan opera "Ruddigore"; as was the case with many of their works, they took the song, reworked the lyrics slightly and put it in "The Pirates of Penzance" (though depending on the production, this song is sometime substituted for the similar "Duty, duty")

    The music in "The Speed Test" is from "my eyes are fully open", hence the similarities.

    Hope this cleared things up

  • It kind of doesn't...

    I realize that "The Speed Test" is from here, but... Why? There was a conscious decision to take this song and fit it into Thoroughly Modern Millie, and TMM was NOT written by Gilbert and Sullivan. A decision like that has some sort of crazy story to go along with it.

    If you know it, I'd be much obliged to hear it.

  • I have no real idea why...

    Perhaps "The Speed Test" was intended to be an homage to G&S?

  • For some reason, I don't doubt it.

    Musical theatre's such a tight-knit group.

    :D

  • It is from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Rudigroe". In the revival of "Pirates" with Kevin Kline used it and from there it just has really work for the show and it's a fun number!

  • he looks WAYYYYYYY too much like jack sparrow

  • That is exactly the point. So much for originality. Easy to sell, I guess.

  • With pirates of the Carribean, Every pirate is Jack sparrow now-a-days. Blackbeards rolling in his grave

  • I don't think it's a problem - just a little poke at the popular culture of the day.

    No different than G&S making a little joke at their own expense in the major General song with that line about "all the airs from the infernal nonsense 'Pinafore'".

  • I love the lyrics!

  • David Hobson i remember him he sang we three kings with Peter Cousen and Hugh Jackman, great singer but Hugh is the best ever! lol

  • Anthony Warlow is so funny as the Pirate King!!!

  • Who is the woman in the red dress? She is very funny and likeable - great face. She makes me giggle. What a good character actress.

  • Suzanne Johnston, a leading Australian mezzo (and Tessa on the OA Gondoliers DVD) sang the role of Ruth.

  • Ruth, she plays Frederick's nurse maid who fell in love with him.

  • Well, no... I didn't perform this play... I sang the part the Pirate King did.

  • I sang this song, I sang the part the Jack Sparrow dude did.

  • You played the Pirate King yet called him "the Jack Sparrow dude" ?

  • who is Anthony Warlow playing? Is he Frederic or The Pirate King?

  • The Pirate King; David Hobson was Frederic

  • anthony warlow = sex, haha, he is absolutely the best male singer i have ever heard.

  • So far, so good, but when are we going to get this in Region 2 format? I'd like the chance to see the rest of it!

  • it's amazing how they can sing & think that fast without losing their train of thought! i'm surprised they didn't pass out after that song, haha. i love Warlow's impersonation of Jack Sparrow - couple times throughout the play i thought it *was* Depp :P. this was good, but I still like the Johnny English version better.

  • While I do enjoy that this once popular play from 1879-1983 has been revived (and I'm also tickled with glee that it stars Anthony Warlow) I almost feel dirty knowing that the revival comes from riding the coat-tails of Pirates of the Caribbean. Not a bad movie nor play, but it still bothers me.

  • As much as I enjoyed it, I have to agree with you there; I always thought companies like Opera Australia were above cashing in on the PotC craze.

  • The popularity of this most famous of the Savoy Operas means it's always being seen somewhere in the world.(During the Sydney season last year there was also a major production playing in New York.) The OA 2006 season was planned years ago and this version was the last in a G&S series with Hobson and Warlow. Except for the Pirate King and this song it was faithful to the 1879 original, had a national tour of 100 performances over ten months and was a big box office hit.

  • OA do a G&S nearly every year, I'm fairly certain that they would have done this anyways, and it was just Ant's idea to go like Sparrow, for fun, not to try to scab the fans. They don't need to, the show would have sold out anyways, these ones always do.

  • Breathe People.

  • Yeah, mad margeret (sp?) sings it with the two guys, is that right? havn't seen Ruddigore in ages!