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From: tigrrr12
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  • yes, tis maaaaAAAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAaaaAAAaa­AAaAaAAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAAaaaaAAaA­AAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­AAAAAAAAA...bel

  • As a die-hard & committed Savoyard I can only O.M.G. , Simon's Frederic was breathtaking, I wish I'd been in time for the full performance, it must have rocked. I once played Fred, ( ah many yrs ago ) but I don't think I will try it again after that! His sustained top Bflat - I can only dream off. Am doing Pirates again soon but this time have come down to safer registers as The King - I know my limits.

  • I really don't care for those silly, clownish wigs, and there's supposed to be more maidens too. Otherwise it is beautiful.

  • i have a audition for this tomorrow :$

  • @trueharted GOOD LUCK!

  • amazing vocals

  • WHO IS HE

  • my school is doing pirates of penzance. sure it's awesome, but i'm kinda worried about having to sing some of those notes there....... (cringe)

  • Most enjoyable... wish I had been at the peprformance.

  • Superb all round,a big laugh.

  • 7:18 MAY~ble

  • 5:19 BITCHSLAP THAT B FLAT

  • aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaa­aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh­hhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh­hhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  • Beautifully sung!!!

  • Really good, but he does have a face you want to slap.

  • @tomaswolstenholme Why would you want to do that I've seen a lot of uglier Fredericks. I think he's lovely.

  • we just did this play at my school and I played Ruth :D standing ovations and encores!

  • wow

  • If you like this song check out, Pirates of Penzance, Maiden Breast "RILEY COPE"

    Great Performance!!! :)

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  • he is a beast!

  • Great voice, hysterical performance. 2 thumbs WAY up.

    Move over Rex Smith, You've got yourself some competition.( no offense... )

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  • MAYYYyyyyYYyyyyYyyyy.....bell LOL!

  • fuck me. thats what frederic should sound like.

  • Fredrick must have leaned his dance moves from the Pirate King. :)

    Also 20 second high note is amazing.

  • @kastritis00 Wow, first of all, no one here appreciates your vulgarity. Second of all, I just finished playing Frederic in an operatic production of Pirates, and I can hold a REAL Bb for much longer than 20 seconds. I am a studying tenor who has sung, in addition to an operatic Frederic, Tamino, Gherardo, excerpts of Il duca di Mantova and am preparing Nemorino. I'm not bragging, I'm young and still have much to learn to become an opera singer. However, I don't appreciate such ignorant comments

  • 22 second b flat holy shit

  • oh! I have this on video! :D

    only I don't know where I put it :(

  • This man has some of the best breath control i have ever seen

  • That Bb was absolutely terrible. He sounds like he is 12 years old.. Gilbert and Sullivan is light opera, people.. Opera. This Fredric is a horrible, horrible singer. To do real Gilbert and Sullivan requires either young or light, trained, opera singers. So many of these productions on youtube are just wrong..

  • @cuckthefardinals He keeps the high note for some 20 seconds....

    The audience just loves his performance! And Simon Gallaher is a fantastic singer! Something must be wrong with your computer or your musicality or both!

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  • @cuckthefardinals Being a huge G&S fan I agree with you - a traditional version of Pirates would require a tenor of more operatic abilities. This production however, was more of a affectionate mick-take of Pirates, and works reasonably well with Simon Gallaher's more musical-theatreish style voice - I have a feeling that an operatic tenor opposite the Fabulous Singlettes would be a hilariously awful clash of genres! I don't mean at all to imply your argument is wrong, just a little harsh.

  • @sparkyisbonkers Right, well really I'd prefer if these types of productions didn't exist at all. This is just my opinion, but I do feel strongly about it because its the large number of productions like this that really short sells G&S to audiences. Even some of my own fellow students studying opera didn't realize that playing Frederic was a legitimate thing to do as a young opera singer. Several of my colleagues questioned my participation because they thought it was music theatre.

  • @cuckthefardinals Granted, this is much the fault of my own colleagues not educating themselves well on their own topic of study. But I think the point is clear.

  • @cuckthefardinals um...it IS Musical Theater...

  • @omikronescence No its not! Its absolutely not, you idiot. Its operetta, the primary difference being legitimate singing!

  • @cuckthefardinals There's no need to call anyone idiot. Operettas breached the line between Opera and Musical theater...The main difference being the amount of acting... There is a difference in the type of singing, but being closely related to musical theater, the director has the right to decide how the piece will be performed, also, the most known rendition of this Musical/Operetta is Joseph Papps and he used a cast of popular singers for it. The musical was not made for you.

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  • @omikronescence - Since you knew what the proper term was; why didn't you use the proper term?

  • @Balloonoid Because it is still a form of musical theater...it has music...it's performed in a theater...a plain opera singer would most probably suck at it....unless he's an accomplished actor...

  • @omikronescence - true enough. however! at the time operettas were usually performed for the lower classes and thus the actors didn't have the disciplines of a true opera singer of the time. thus it became it's own can of worms.

  • @Balloonoid So...We're settled?

  • @omikronescence - I suppose we might as well be. Nice discussion though thanks.

  • @cuckthefardinals It's Gilbert and Sullivan, it's an operetta, but only in name. It's not meant to stay the same through every production, as it's more of a farce that's supposed to be played around with then be so much about the music. Besides that, this Frederic has a fantastic, albeit not that operatic voice and plays the role perfectly.

  • @cuckthefardinals Sorry but can I point out that that thousands of people adored his performance...no one was there to see an opera. This isn't traditional D'oyle Carte. All theatre companies have the artistic license to have fun with it...I think G&S would approve.

    Your experience as an opera singer allows you to criticise others for liking it. But despite my "ignorance" (I'm a trained singer too) I wouldn't go as far as to call a man with a quality voice TERRIBLE in any genre of singing!

  • @cloudboheme I agree with you,i only regret that we did not see this production in the UK.What's not to like-its lively and ribald,and the leads are perfect, with a strong ensemble to match,We have been given the opportunity to see this here thanks to Sky tv and i am sure that many people enjoyed it just as much as i did,

  • this is one of my favourite songs in the entire play!!!!!!!

  • Brilliant!!!!

  • Hahaa! He does this very well, especially the acting portion along with the singing!

  • I think it would have been hilarious had he tried the shirt-opening thing at the end, after the lifting of the feet thing, but either stopped, or they didn't do it, and he'd be like "Well, I tried."

  • He can certainly sing, but he could be a little more attractive.

  • shit son!! he's fucking good. what a stud. I've been singing for like 10 years and I'm seriously put to shame

  • @NiwdeLagirdam I think he's gorgeous, it's all in the eye of the beholder!

  • Sorry guys, that wasn't falsetto. I did this show with Simon in '84 and '85 and he never once went into falsetto. Always head voice. More pop than operatic but fantastic technique. And he never missed or cracked.

  • Head voice is falsetto.. he must've been in mixed voice...

    because sing in falsetto and feel your head... it vibrates.. and sing in chest voice, your chest vibrates.

  • now THAT was impressive, just finished this at my college, and ALL our tenors couldn't hold that long... Falsetto or not... But even better are those girls there, that was the funniest "A Man!!" I ever heard at the beginning. lol

  • even though he used circulatary breathing which is very dangerous

  • @StevePatient74240 really? how do you do that?!

  • enj06 it might be falsetto but it takes real skill to do it that long. I have been singing for year ad got my grade 8 and i struggled.

  • He really did a terrible part with this part. What is with his vibrato?

  • such picky people... he's got a great voice and an amazing talent, why can't you just accept the video for its entertainment purposes for which it was intended? sad...

  • let's see you do better my friend.. the faster the better.

  • Elvis was a pirate?

  • He's got a bit of the terminal vibrato there... And not the good kind!

  • On the other hand that's a nice top B flat he's got there!

  • @atomicmrpelly

    The girls' B's, C's and D's aren't anything to scoff at either!

    *rimshot*

    SORRY, SORRY! It had to be done.

  • It certainly did!

  • that's a high C dude.

  • Who cares what note it is, its falsetto

  • never mind.. it's a Bb...

  • I am thrilled to find this again. I saw this clip on a local "Arts" channel a couple of years ago, and was thrilled by it. I didn't find out from what production it came, or who the performers were. What luck to have stumbled across it! These people are great. I love the comedy!

  • 7:17-7:30, SO great!!!!

  • I'm falling in love with Pirates of Penzance...all over again. :)

  • I don't like this play. even tho we are doing it

  • I'm also really impressed by the musicianship of the Singlettes to hold up all of those harmonies so perfectly without much support from the orchestra/synthesizer

  • That note... INDREDIBLE

  • 4:58...any note like that is instantly called a Holy Sh*t! note.

  • it's in falsetto man, it's not that hard haha... but full voice like Rex Smith does it it's awesome.

  • @Thriller94

    true, but he does hold it for a LOOOONG

    time

  • haha yeah that's true.

  • @aquakid360 Haha, I actually said holy shit out loud when I heard that note. Very accurate name for it.

  • i played mabel in this at my school:) junior version though... still very cool

  • man that b flat is ridiculus. amazing is all i have to say. as a 1st tenor myself, i look up that that haha

  • know god

  • im goin for mabel in this show, this version x

  • Wow, he's just absolutely uber!

  • Doing this for school production. learning the words is prettyy hard lmaoo :] x

  • Whenever I see a production of "Pirates," I always view the entry of Mabel as a make or break point. In this production she blows the rest to pieces. especially after Frederic's stunning performance!

  • Drop dead amazing.

  • *sigh*

  • Wow...that b flat is hard to even just hit nicely for most guys, and he absolutely made it his bitch. Amazing. I love Rex Smith in this role, but Simon takes it. Best I've ever seen this song done.

  • A comment from Finland in 2009:

    This is a fantastic version of Pirates of Penzance. All the problems of the rather old original are overcome with a great deal of humor and Simon Gallaher is absolutely perfect - and sexy!

    Gilbertand Sullivan would have loved this performance!

  • best version iv seen

  • "A MAN!" and he turns around. Funny stuff.

  • He held love for 21 and a half seconds! Bravo!

  • 4:25 . incredible

  • Personally, I love the original opera setting of Pirates of Penzance...it's just not hardly ever lived up to. It seems to loose it's humor at times when most opera companies stage it.

    This version has very different orchestrations (pop oriented) and a different style of singing that I quite like also.

    Simon Gallaher has an amazing voice. It's incredibly hard to hit some of those notes and not come across as "straining". It's extremely hard to sing properly. He does a wonderful job.

  • WHO could help but applaud at the powerful, heart-conquering way in which he holds those long high A & G notes? & he warmed the audience up for them like a pro, playing around with the girls' attachment to his every move like that!

    Memories, memories!

  • I like it better when there are many daughters.. It makes more sense for them all to pair with the pirates in the finale to be conjugally matrimonified. (:

  • Also, I might add, the SG productions are way too ad-lib and unpredictable to make it possible to pre-record parts. They may well record a "sick-track" for emergencies (I doubt it) but that doesn't mean he can't hold that note for the long and it doesn't mean this isn't legit. Ask anyone who has been to an SG production, they do things different every night.

  • you people do realize that top was pre-recorded

  • With good breath control, you could manage that, actually. They might have prerecorded it, but that's no fun, and he's got good enough control that I think he'd manage it by himself.

  • It's not pre-recorded. If you think that's not possible to do live you're an idiot, 'cause Simon Gallaher he did it every night during the run of this production.

  • I assume that wasn't directed at me, since I already said that it was probably not prerecorded, and could have easily been done without the recording.

    If you did direct at me, then I'll write carefully in the future, and just for safe measure, tell you that you should read more carefully.

  • No, it wasn't directed at you.

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  • !!!! that was incredible! i'm speechless

  • .................. o..m..g... i LOVE Simon Gallaher!!!! his voice is AMAZING in this!!!

    the end part where he's like dancing is HILARIOUS!!! tho his voice is a little high, he's still AMAZING!!

  • that was WONDERFUL!!!

  • you're gay

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  • no he has a natural tenor voice, some people do, its very rare that there is a tenor is this good. Its a high demand low supply vocal type.

  • It sounds good, but in some parts his vibrato makes him sound like a chipmunk. I still think he did a fantastic job though.

  • lol i actually like the three sisters...i take that its edith, kate and isabel....they're funny

  • . . . I think I'm in love. . .

  • I love Simon Gallaher in this and HMS Pinnafore!

    Suggest you check it out. Amazing Voice. And John English and Helen Donaldson are in it too.

  • Dont some people talk or write utter dross. This is a superb version and the ham is perfect to the intent of G&S. A great performance from all the cast and very well done! The audience enjoyment is well marked! Thank you for posting!

  • I played Frederick in the 6th grade. I dominated.

  • Really?

    Considering most boys' voices aren't completely changed by then, let alone matured and trained, that must have been something to hear.

  • We did an awesome job. Senator Charles Schumer attended one of the performances. I was great. God loves me more than he loves others.

  • Why is it weak? Were you hoping for a larger dose of ham?

    This is a great version... He's a good tenor, and floats with an effortless pianissimo.

    Simon takes the mickey beautifully. Playing the slightly self absorbed duty-slave.

  • This is a very weak version of this very good song, the song can be done very well, but this isn't I think; which is a shame because the other songs in THIS SAME PRODUCTION are awesome (I love the purple pirate king <3)

  • The song or your comment? I'll take a wild guess that it's the latter.

  • You need to understand the song, characters and indeed the show first. I'll hit you with a comeback when you have done so. Until then, please, do continue with your witty retorts.

  • I know the show very well, I have 2 recordings of it and I've seen It 3 times. It is brilliente in its origonal form with it's origonal score written and orchestrated by sir Arthur Sullivan, this is a rubbish version and brings the once brilliante opera to the lowest common denominator through the use of micrphones and some rubbish excuse for a 2 bit band with a terrible arrangement of the score. Have you ever seen a proper version of the opera as it was written?

  • Not live, only through the power of the internet. I've only seen the Broadway version live. I've twice performed in the Broadway version too. Which is what this video is of, and not of the original score. Admittedly, the two versions are for two different types of clientel so there can't really be any comparison between the two shows. Therefor rendering your original comment obscelete i'm afraid.

  • You mean this hasn't been sung as classically as performances you "know very well". Evidently not well enough to understand the humour.

    It's DRIPPING with sarcasm, poking fun at both the execution of it and the actual character of these victorian "ladies".

    Hah! But to call the original an OPERA AND have the stupidity to get snobby about it HAS to be a pom! :)

    PFFFT! It's an OPERETTA at best and always was intended for mainstream audiences. Even Sir Arthur Sullivan himself lamented it.

  • I'm mearly pointing ouy how shit it is compared to the origonal. Just because it was intended for mainstream audiences doesn't mean it has to be degraded to the lowest common denominator. Gilbert and Sullivan would have both hated this rubbish.

  • Yep good comment and comeback...clearly a fantastic specimen of a human being.

  • They captured exactly how loopy and demented I a think Maybelle is when she sings her high notes there...lol

    That look is how I have always interpreted it!

  • my school put it on last year and i played mabel

  • He's pretty much my hero.

  • I saw this original show in Adelaide when I was really young - it was absolutely brilliant. Then the original cast put the show on again years later - John English and Simon had gotten a fair bit podgier than the first time round but it was still brilliant...

    Couple of years ago saw Opera Australia do a 'straight' version and it didn't even come close to touching this one. Not even close.

  • That's exactly like me! I saw it first with John, and later with the Opera and the second one was soooo boring. John English was fantasitc ;)

  • I am similiar age and I watched him from early age on many TV appearances ( remember he sang out from the side of his mouth? )

    I must however say, that when I hear him sing now, particularly this song and the duet later, honestly I swoon and have tears. Simon, you are a truly talented. Your voice to me is amazing to listen too and I never tire of hearing you sing. You are a credit to Australian talent and more so, a credit to youself!

  • meh...his voice is pretty but...

    he just overdoes it alot...he comes off as an arrogant dickhead rather than a handsome young man...

    this song is supposed to be pretty and humorous, not a comedy routine

  • Pirates of Penzance has been popular in Australia for so long and has had so many incarnations, this particular production was having fun with a well known show. The audience is well aware of how the show is done usually and were aware that this production was going to be overdone. Simon Gallaher has played the role in 4 productions of the show and not always in this way. I personally think G&S would have loved it.

  • i think maybe one of them would've thought it funny...

    one of them was supposed to be an anal jerk...i don't know which...

  • She is amazing. So much control.

  • i throguht he saw a a tart not saw at heart

  • Simon Gallaher should have been Australia's greatest stage star. I used to go to the bar he played piano at in 1980 just to listen to him play and sing.

  • i wish i could sing as high as him - his top b held on for 18 seconds is bloody impressive

  • I love Pirates and Gilbert & Sullivan generally, but this version of it is just so tacky. You don't need to make G&S slapsticky and schlocky for it to be funny; it's funny on its own.

  • you don't need to, but this version is hilarious all the same.

  • lol

  • i'm playing fred in this i love this song

  • How skinny are his legs! How tall his body!

  • that song is soooo hard to sing! i auditioned for fred but i didnt get it (kind of glad as i now dont have to do the Elvis moves!)

  • hah yeah the fred for our show did the Elvis thing

  • ok his legs are very long, but then they are so skinny! and may i say he looks amazing is tights...;)

  • ya the girl that played mabel in this is good but i'd have to say the girl in my highschool is WAY WAY better. she's amazing.

  • i love this scene so much i was in this play in the summer and played kate but it was the junior version and now my high school is doing the actual full show i love it with a passion..

  • god.. that note... i cant even hold it for that long. :(

  • i cant even reach that note!

  • the highest note for fred in this song is like an A not that high

  • B flat, actually. (I have absolute pitch, so I know he's singing a B flat.) Still not that high, but his breath control is pretty impressive.

  • you mean perfect pitch

  • ego

  • why are there only 3 sisters? there are usually 12 in most productions.

  • really?

    i mean really really??