In this version Ruth was played by the wonderful Dame Patricia Routledge. Not really known for her singing nowadays, she is best known as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. She was on stage with 10 other Dames and HM Queen Camilla a few weeks ago just before her 95th birthday. So pleased to be able to see this version Pirates.
This was the original production at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park during the summer. When the show moved to Broadway, Routledge was (I believe) the only lead not to travel with it. A great loss: I saw the show in the park, and she was the standout. One of the many canny choices she made was in vocal style: she has the pipes and the training to sing 100% "legit" and did so in BBC broadcasts of other G&S (title role in Iolanthe, Mad Margaret in Ruddigore); here she enters entirely into the loose-limbed vaudeville/music hall spirit of the adaptation, and adjusts her singing accordingly. And note that her solo in the Act One duet with Frederick ("Don't, beloved master") was created for her by repeating a duet section without Frederick's voice. (And I love the way she whomps him with her bag as she leaves!)
Amazingly i had never seen this version but loved the movie as a kid since my dad was forever a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. Year later saw a lot of keeping up appearances since my wife loved the show. The neighbor in the show would always say, "shes probably going to sing at me". That part takes on new meaning seeing this 19:07.
How I wish Linda Ronstadt sees this! She will be 78 in July. She was in her glory here. Kevin Kline made some very touching remarks about his memories of her from this performance during her Kennedy Centers Honors ceremony.
I don't understand why everyone makes such a big deal out of Kline and his dancing and his knees in this performance. Maybe it's just me but what he does here isn't really that difficult or impressive.
I was obsessed with Rex.Smith as a little girl. Not justt his looks but his voice and vibrato always sounded absolutely deliciously sexy to me.....and I thank him because he and the movie version helped spark my love of Gilbert and Sullivan. Nice to see he was sounded just as sexy and incredible live as he did on the recording. I am still astonished he didn't have a bigger career. And now i finally get to see why the show becamw such a hit tbat they actually made it into a film. The comedic genius and kinetic energy of Kline, the superb acting from Routledge, Sexy Rexy, and the angelic tone of Linda Rondstadt. Whoever recorded and restored thank you from an 80s kid who wasn't old enough to see theive version, but the film version has stayed with me forver.
I was in a production of this in 1987 when I played one of the Major Generals daughters. Now at age 52 got an audition for the role of Ruth next week.....yes I know she's supposed to be 47😂
@@ElkAndTurtour show starts next week! Can't wait. We've had such a laugh and now the opening night it om Tues 3rd Dec. Every performance is sold out 😊
This is wonderful, funny, very good singing and acting. Open air production, only a few microphones, every word clear. Linda Ronstad can sing everything.
I had not idea this was recorded. I'd seen the movie, but it's a shadow of what I heard about the live performance. I found this and I just spent two nights watching this. Glorious.
I've seen this Central Park live recording before, but wow, this seems to have been really beautifully restored. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this, because it's a real treasure.
my parents showed us the film adaptation but I was always curious what the stage production was like! thank you so much for posting this, it fleshed out a big movie from my childhood
Absolutely spectacular! I saw Pirates in L.A with Barry Bostwick, my lifetime crush Pam Dawber, and Andy Gibb, and it is one of my most treasured memories!
It was 1979 - November - I was on a flight from Connecticut to Texas on my way to Air Force Basic Training. It was my first time on a plane. I was seventeen. And a recording of this cast in the performance of Pirates of Penzance was a selection on the airlines radio. They gave you earphones back then and you plugged it into the jack on the arm rest. I honestly don't remember if it was audio only. But it was a treat.
You must have your dates wrong. The first show for this production was July 30th, 1980 as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. There was no “cast album”. If you did hear Pirates of Penzance in 1979, you were most likely listening to one of the D’Oyly Carte performances. (A more traditional production).
Just found this after having only ever seen the movie... I LOVE this version, but I still ADORE the movie version as well... They are both perfect in their own ways to me. :)
It's been scrubbed from UA-cam, but the only time Saturday Night Live ever had a Broadway stage cast as musical guests was in the infamous 1980 season, which always dared to be different. Enter Rose, Rex Smith and Linda Ronstadt, cramming themselves into Studio 8H with about 20 other dancers headlining performances of four different numbers from *Pirates of Penzance* on the Christmas SNL show. The operetta was totally separate from any of the host skits or segments, which was David Carradine and "Kung Fu" that night! But that was crazy, eclectic, wonderful live TV in 1980 for you. Rose's "Modern Major General" remains the high-culture water mark of the entire 50-year history of SNL, and it would be great if anybody knew where to track it down (the episode streaming on Peacock cuts all that out).
Been looking for this for years. It may not be up very long but thank you so much for posting! I was lucky to sing in a few operas with the Samuel of this performance, G. Eugene Moose. He was the understudy but went on that evening and happily the cameras caught it. He gave invaluable advice to this (once) young baritone. Thank you and Rest in Peace, Eugene!
Fantastic performance. Thanks so much for posting it. I saw it on Broadway a couple of months after Linda Ronstadt was replaced by Maureen McGovern.... and again later when Peter Noone ( of Herman's Hermits) had joined the cast. This and Les Miz are the only two Broadway shows we ever saw twice. And as others have noted, the movie was good but nothing compared to the live performance. Bravo!
The movie version was on high rotation all through my daughter's childhood. Ive never seen this particular version before. Loved Angela Lansbury in the role but Dame Patricia blows her off the stage
When I got to see this on Broadway in the very early 80s, the cast had been adjusted a bit - Treat Williams as the Pirate King, Robby Benson (who knew he could sing? not I, but sing he did, and pretty well, too) as Frederic, Maureen McGovern as Mabel, and Kaye Ballard as Ruth.
You are so lucky. I remember when that cast was on Broadway (I was 15 or 16), and I very much wanted to see Treat Williams in the role. Years later I became a huge fan of Kaye Ballard and George S. Irving who took on the Major-General for a while. I remember reading that they had to make quite a few adjustments for Mr. Williams who just couldn't do a lot of the physical things that Kline did (who could?). Let's hope there's a tape floating around out there!
I saw the production in Central Park. If not for this production, Linda Ronstadt would be a forgotten "who was that". When she told Joseph Papp she wanted to play Mabel, he told she wasn't good enough. So she took 2 years to really learn to sing .
Uh, no…Papp asked her and she said she need to learn it an audition to be sure her voice was right for the part. And while it’s feather in her cap, Ronstadt’s place in history was secure before her run as Mabel…
So they do do the verses that the movie cuts out. I'd often wondered if this was the case. I'm guessing that they did record the missing verses for the movie, but they got edited out. For the most part, I can understand why. The second verse of the Major General's song is almost nothing but references no one today would get.
Always loved this with Kevin Kline. I just wonder if the audience watching must have had glue on their bottoms although they obviously loved it. Different times I suppose. Fantastic to see live version.
It's a fun enough version and I'll always have a bit of a soft spot to it as the film was my first G&S experience. I stopped on it while randomly browsing channels and was surprised at how well both the humour and music held up and wondered how closely it stuck to the original (quite closely, it turned out, except in the orchestral arrangements). That led me to seek out other ones. It's fun to see this live staging. The leads are all still great but now having seen more traditional stagings these instruments are fairly hard to listen to!
Who knew that Hyacinth Bouquet played Ruth in an earlier life? I knew Patricia Routledge was a good singer, but not that she had done any stage singing...
Patricia Routledge has had a long career and in the early part of it she spent a lot of time in the musical theatre. She sang in a show for Leonard Bernstein on Broadway and also took leads in London's West End such as Cousin Nettie Fowler in 'Carousel' and 'Little Mary Sunshine.' There are lots of recordings of her singing songs from shows - notably the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music for us to enjoy too. .
Thanks for posting. I'm a G&S stan my whole life, so this version has its pleasures (great Kevin Kline, George Rose, Patricia Routledge) and problems (those awful fucking sledgehammer orchestrations, the ensemble being directed to overact at every opportunity).
Perhaps you miss the point. They portray an amateur performance such as many of us enjoyed, with all its clunkiness, performed by a cast of professionals, who get the idea and amplify it with humour. The band is perfect.
@@tomshea8382 OK, then you will continue to miss the humor of this performance. Gilbert said of his comic operas that they should portray a ridiculous situation in a completely serious way. Get it?
The changes they made for the movie where nessisary for what was cut. Both are great for their respective mediums. The stage show has some weird pacing though. The fast talking but slow tempoed songs are jaring.
Really enjoyed this version. Frederick, Ruth, Pirate King and the Major General were superb. Not keen on ladies costumes though and sorry but Mabel's wig was not good! Also I was disappointed with 'A Policeman's Lot'. Good acting but prefer a more traditional take on the main policeman. I have seen it many times and although I seem critical as I say I did really enjoy it.
Robbie Hagberg was a good day for you you too much all the way home now and can take the kids out of school I think I have to be just like you want to do for a while but I didn't know what to do you can vote for him Matt Elias what I lost my mind to get anything 😮done by the end of a
In this version Ruth was played by the wonderful Dame Patricia Routledge. Not really known for her singing nowadays, she is best known as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. She was on stage with 10 other Dames and HM Queen Camilla a few weeks ago just before her 95th birthday. So pleased to be able to see this version Pirates.
🌴🌴🗺🏴☠⛵🌊💖🌊⛵🏴☠🗺🌴🌴
This was the original production at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park during the summer. When the show moved to Broadway, Routledge was (I believe) the only lead not to travel with it. A great loss: I saw the show in the park, and she was the standout. One of the many canny choices she made was in vocal style: she has the pipes and the training to sing 100% "legit" and did so in BBC broadcasts of other G&S (title role in Iolanthe, Mad Margaret in Ruddigore); here she enters entirely into the loose-limbed vaudeville/music hall spirit of the adaptation, and adjusts her singing accordingly. And note that her solo in the Act One duet with Frederick ("Don't, beloved master") was created for her by repeating a duet section without Frederick's voice. (And I love the way she whomps him with her bag as she leaves!)
Amazingly i had never seen this version but loved the movie as a kid since my dad was forever a Gilbert and Sullivan fan. Year later saw a lot of keeping up appearances since my wife loved the show. The neighbor in the show would always say, "shes probably going to sing at me". That part takes on new meaning seeing this 19:07.
Loved her in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates with a very young, pre-Lord of the Rings Dominic Monaghan.
@@karlkarlos3545 I always jokingly referred to that series as "Hyacinth and the Hobbit"
How I wish Linda Ronstadt sees this! She will be 78 in July. She was in her glory here. Kevin Kline made some very touching remarks about his memories of her from this performance during her Kennedy Centers Honors ceremony.
Linda is FABULOUS!! And Kevin Kline is a marvel. My condilences to his knees! YIKES!!!
Just a phenomenal cast!!
I don't understand why everyone makes such a big deal out of Kline and his dancing and his knees in this performance. Maybe it's just me but what he does here isn't really that difficult or impressive.
@@ElkAndTurtit may be difficult and impressive for normal folks like me
@@m.campos254 sorry, I hadn't considered that
I was obsessed with Rex.Smith as a little girl. Not justt his looks but his voice and vibrato always sounded absolutely deliciously sexy to me.....and I thank him because he and the movie version helped spark my love of Gilbert and Sullivan. Nice to see he was sounded just as sexy and incredible live as he did on the recording.
I am still astonished he didn't have a bigger career.
And now i finally get to see why the show becamw such a hit tbat they actually made it into a film. The comedic genius and kinetic energy of Kline, the superb acting from Routledge, Sexy Rexy, and the angelic tone of Linda Rondstadt.
Whoever recorded and restored thank you from an 80s kid who wasn't old enough to see theive version, but the film version has stayed with me forver.
So THIS is the origin story of Hyacinth Bucket's love of singing!
Saw this version on my 21st birthday and have loved it ever since. Absolute gold standard when it comes to Pirates.
I was in a production of this in 1987 when I played one of the Major Generals daughters. Now at age 52 got an audition for the role of Ruth next week.....yes I know she's supposed to be 47😂
Tell us how it goes :3
@@ElkAndTurt I got the part and rehearsing at the moment ☺
@@kathrynthomas6138 Capital! Good luck.
@@ElkAndTurtour show starts next week! Can't wait. We've had such a laugh and now the opening night it om Tues 3rd Dec. Every performance is sold out 😊
This is wonderful, funny, very good singing and acting. Open air production, only a few microphones, every word clear. Linda Ronstad can sing everything.
The lyrics (and music) are so fresh and fun. Also, Kevin Kline. Grrrrr.
A great performance by Mrs Bucket
It shows what a great actress she is. There is far more to her than you would ever guess from watching her play Mrs Bucket.
Routledge was inspired casting as Ruth.
I had not idea this was recorded. I'd seen the movie, but it's a shadow of what I heard about the live performance. I found this and I just spent two nights watching this. Glorious.
I've seen this Central Park live recording before, but wow, this seems to have been really beautifully restored. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this, because it's a real treasure.
It’s amazing how many people from this were in the movie as well
Most of the cast were in the Broadway stage musical followed by the movie.
It looks like everyone in this production was having the time of their life. Pure joy!
Whooaaa grew up with the film so this is like multiverse nostalgic
my parents showed us the film adaptation but I was always curious what the stage production was like! thank you so much for posting this, it fleshed out a big movie from my childhood
I did this show during my junior year of high school and I had the honor of playing the Sergeant of Police
In the role made famous by Tony Azito.
I'm sure you did the role just like the late Tony Azito.
DAMN KK had a wonderfull Voice!!!! WOW! Never seen before! THANK YOU!!
Often imitated, but never matched. The best "new " Pirates ever! Saw it when they moved it indoors to a Broadway house. Simply gorgeous.
We may have been there on the same night! I took my Mom 😅
Wow. I saw this live!! Thank you. George Rose was perfection.
Absolutely spectacular! I saw Pirates in L.A with Barry Bostwick, my lifetime crush Pam Dawber, and Andy Gibb, and it is one of my most treasured memories!
Barry Bostwick Joe Anne Worley and Andy Gibb.
Imagine seeing this live!
It was amazing- saw it here and on Broadway!
@@tvaddict6623 I saw it on Bday and Wilford Leach was my theatre don at college!!! XXX
I still have the record album set signed by the cast!
Oh, how I wish!
It was 1979 - November - I was on a flight from Connecticut to Texas on my way to Air Force Basic Training. It was my first time on a plane. I was seventeen. And a recording of this cast in the performance of Pirates of Penzance was a selection on the airlines radio. They gave you earphones back then and you plugged it into the jack on the arm rest. I honestly don't remember if it was audio only. But it was a treat.
nice memory!
Thanks for sharing!
You must have your dates wrong. The first show for this production was July 30th, 1980 as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. There was no “cast album”.
If you did hear Pirates of Penzance in 1979, you were most likely listening to one of the D’Oyly Carte performances. (A more traditional production).
@jasonjoyce7835 Sometimes people have ten years to shed here and there
I have this P.P on DVD and I love the movie. The women in this played Ms. Peacock from Clue movie. She plays one of the sisters.
What a pleasure! Thank you, Joseph Papp
Kevin Kline was so funny and amazing in this show!
fabulous performnce
Just found this after having only ever seen the movie...
I LOVE this version, but I still ADORE the movie version as well... They are both perfect in their own ways to me. :)
It's been scrubbed from UA-cam, but the only time Saturday Night Live ever had a Broadway stage cast as musical guests was in the infamous 1980 season, which always dared to be different.
Enter Rose, Rex Smith and Linda Ronstadt, cramming themselves into Studio 8H with about 20 other dancers headlining performances of four different numbers from *Pirates of Penzance* on the Christmas SNL show.
The operetta was totally separate from any of the host skits or segments, which was David Carradine and "Kung Fu" that night!
But that was crazy, eclectic, wonderful live TV in 1980 for you. Rose's "Modern Major General" remains the high-culture water mark of the entire 50-year history of SNL, and it would be great if anybody knew where to track it down (the episode streaming on Peacock cuts all that out).
Comedy Central showed that episode back in the 90s. I was entranced and i loved the cast performance of Noel. Great episode!
Absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for posting this!!
Gadzooks that was tour de force performance 🎭 superb singing incredible music 🎶 fantastic acting 🎭 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Been looking for this for years. It may not be up very long but thank you so much for posting! I was lucky to sing in a few operas with the Samuel of this performance, G. Eugene Moose. He was the understudy but went on that evening and happily the cameras caught it. He gave invaluable advice to this (once) young baritone. Thank you and Rest in Peace, Eugene!
Fantastic performance. Thanks so much for posting it. I saw it on Broadway a couple of months after Linda Ronstadt was replaced by Maureen McGovern.... and again later when Peter Noone ( of Herman's Hermits) had joined the cast. This and Les Miz are the only two Broadway shows we ever saw twice.
And as others have noted, the movie was good but nothing compared to the live performance.
Bravo!
Despite the video quality and flaws, I prefer this version over the movie.
Its more organic, natural, but not as pretty. Love it!
yes, yes. with all it's faults, i love this version.
Qqq!@@mushroomsuzuki3395
I agree. "With cat like tread" is much more effective on an elevated stage instead of a set.
Me, too. I was living in North Jersey then, and bummed I didn’t get to see this. Patricia Routledge is a much superior Ruth!
The genius of G&S is shown so well here! Amazing cast performing amazing show! I could watch it all day, every day!!!
I saw this on Broadway. Kevin Kline was an absolute pisser.
How fit was Kevin Klein! Great performance.
Kevin Kline later said "Pirates" was the most physically demanding thing he did!
Feet always outside shoulder width - a hero's stance truly!
Love it! My wife and I enjoyed the live Broadway production with this cast.
OMG you legend. This is awesome. I had no idea this version existed.
The movie version was on high rotation all through my daughter's childhood. Ive never seen this particular version before. Loved Angela Lansbury in the role but Dame Patricia blows her off the stage
I was watching a Blue Men video & after YT threw this up for me too look at! Glad it did.
When I got to see this on Broadway in the very early 80s, the cast had been adjusted a bit - Treat Williams as the Pirate King, Robby Benson (who knew he could sing? not I, but sing he did, and pretty well, too) as Frederic, Maureen McGovern as Mabel, and Kaye Ballard as Ruth.
You are so lucky. I remember when that cast was on Broadway (I was 15 or 16), and I very much wanted to see Treat Williams in the role. Years later I became a huge fan of Kaye Ballard and George S. Irving who took on the Major-General for a while. I remember reading that they had to make quite a few adjustments for Mr. Williams who just couldn't do a lot of the physical things that Kline did (who could?). Let's hope there's a tape floating around out there!
Watching the show on Leap Year Day, February 29, 2024.
Thank you.
I was searching for this exact thing after watching the movie.
Thanks for posting this. I know the movie of course but never had the chance to see the stage show.
I saw this production in 1980 in Manhattan NY. It was such a treat to see it over again.
More enjoyable than ever. The American adapters understood, admired, G & S. The production is tremendous. Thank you!
Thank you so much for providing this! A true joy!
No idea this was available, though I love the IA for books. Thank-you! And thank-you for the detailed contents - very thorough.
The sound quality is actually very good. The hall must’ve had great acoustics.
This is an outdoor production
I saw the production in Central Park.
If not for this production, Linda Ronstadt would be a forgotten "who was that". When she told Joseph Papp she wanted to play Mabel, he told she wasn't good enough. So she took 2 years to really learn to sing .
Whoa
Nonsense!
Uh, no…Papp asked her and she said she need to learn it an audition to be sure her voice was right for the part.
And while it’s feather in her cap, Ronstadt’s place in history was secure before her run as Mabel…
So they do do the verses that the movie cuts out. I'd often wondered if this was the case. I'm guessing that they did record the missing verses for the movie, but they got edited out. For the most part, I can understand why. The second verse of the Major General's song is almost nothing but references no one today would get.
Thank you!!!!!
I saw this with Treat Williams as the Pirate King. ......what fun
Thank you so much for sharing this! I liked the film version, but it’s fun to see this too!!
What an absolute gem, thanks for the upload.
Thank you! Wonderful quality of this version! LINDA RONSTADT is Wonderful in this! Such versatility! The entire Cast is simply perfection!
Chookas to that percussionist! Very busy man!!!!
Wonderful thank you
Thank you for posting!
Always loved this with Kevin Kline. I just wonder if the audience watching must have had glue on their bottoms although they obviously loved it. Different times I suppose. Fantastic to see live version.
It's a fun enough version and I'll always have a bit of a soft spot to it as the film was my first G&S experience. I stopped on it while randomly browsing channels and was surprised at how well both the humour and music held up and wondered how closely it stuck to the original (quite closely, it turned out, except in the orchestral arrangements). That led me to seek out other ones. It's fun to see this live staging. The leads are all still great but now having seen more traditional stagings these instruments are fairly hard to listen to!
I bet Kevin Kline was in the best shape of his entire life during this production. His leg muscles must've been like bands of steel!
When Kline passes it will be a loss. Does he even perform anymore?
Who knew that Hyacinth Bouquet played Ruth in an earlier life? I knew Patricia Routledge was a good singer, but not that she had done any stage singing...
She had previously won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, in 1968.
Patricia Rutledge!!!
Patricia Routledge has had a long career and in the early part of it she spent a lot of time in the musical theatre. She sang in a show for Leonard Bernstein on Broadway and also took leads in London's West End such as Cousin Nettie Fowler in 'Carousel' and 'Little Mary Sunshine.' There are lots of recordings of her singing songs from shows - notably the Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music for us to enjoy too. .
Emmet would have been...impressed actually.
wait... isn't Sorry Her Lot from H.M.S. Pinafore? Why is it in here then...
My understanding is that Linda Ronstadt wanted to do it and they indulged her.
The Pirate King's patter song is from Ruddigore, too! A certain amount of licence was taken in this production! :D
The tune of the Pirate King song inspired the "Popeye" cartoon theme song.
Superb. I love the film - with Angela Lansbury replacing Patricia Routletdge as Ruth.
George Rose Royal Marine R.I.P Tony Aztio R.I.P
Thanks for posting. I'm a G&S stan my whole life, so this version has its pleasures (great Kevin Kline, George Rose, Patricia Routledge) and problems (those awful fucking sledgehammer orchestrations, the ensemble being directed to overact at every opportunity).
Perhaps you miss the point. They portray an amateur performance such as many of us enjoyed, with all its clunkiness, performed by a cast of professionals, who get the idea and amplify it with humour. The band is perfect.
@@peterwhyte-zl1kv "They portray an amateur performance" makes no sense at all. No they don't.
@@tomshea8382 OK, then you will continue to miss the humor of this performance. Gilbert said of his comic operas that they should portray a ridiculous situation in a completely serious way. Get it?
@@peterwhyte-zl1kv No. Please explain it some more. Only put down your fucking nose; I'd like to see the sunlight sometime very soon.
I really dislike the orchestration!
Queen Victoria Grandmother Of Alexandera Romanov R.I.P
I saw this on Broadway, same cast except Estelle Parsons was Ruth.
Mrs Bucket!!!!
The changes they made for the movie where nessisary for what was cut. Both are great for their respective mediums. The stage show has some weird pacing though. The fast talking but slow tempoed songs are jaring.
Really enjoyed this version. Frederick, Ruth, Pirate King and the Major General were superb. Not keen on ladies costumes though and sorry but Mabel's wig was not good! Also I was disappointed with 'A Policeman's Lot'. Good acting but prefer a more traditional take on the main policeman. I have seen it many times and although I seem critical as I say I did really enjoy it.
Blue15bomber doing God's work.
Robbie Hagberg was a good day for you you too much all the way home now and can take the kids out of school I think I have to be just like you want to do for a while but I didn't know what to do you can vote for him Matt Elias what I lost my mind to get anything 😮done by the end of a
32:58 Linda Ronstadt's entrance
what the hell bro??????
This is great but I prefer the movie version.
Oh no you can't beat a live performance
@@michaelmayoh656 Oh but you can! More accomplished and more polished. (This is wonderful too.)
everyone is good in this but the head policeman is terrible. not sure what English voice he was attempting
How bold you are to be so wrong
He's brilliant - an incredible comic character.
so terrible he was nominated for a Tony Award for this performance.