As a little boy this was my favorite movie, and this was my favorite scene. The choreography is amazing. It's like very terribly drawn animation in which the artist has no clue how things like elbows and knees actually work in the real world, and yet the dancers/cops manage to move their bodies in such awkward ways with precision. The song is hilarious in it's own right. Thanks G&S.
Look online for a performance of this song ON THE STAGE as it was originally intended. The police dance exactly the same way, complete with cartwheels and awkward movements of their arms and legs (especially the police captain) and it's amazing, considering the small space they have to work in. And as for this movie version, the cast is absolutely perfect.
What version is this??? I remember I saw it once and like Pinafore was playing in a theater in the movie?? I always watched the 1982 Stratford Festival version so this was weird and different but I loved it
Vulpezerda Vulcan This is the 1983 movie version produced to commemorate 100 years since the play was written by G & S. This is the cast that performed the show on Broadway from a 1980 staging. This version did play in movie theatres.
You'd be making a big mistake! Apart from this ridiculous travesty of the original G&S scene which is far funnier for being played straight, the modern British police force are just that - modern, though still unarmed and far less brutal than their American counterparts.
Tony Azito dances like a marionette Keystone Cop with no weight and yet a very odd balance. It's incredible to watch and realize he's got absolute control over every little nuance of the performance, including perfect synergy with the backup dancers who seem to be holding him up and directing his every move that seems to fall imperfect. Everyone in this scene is so on fire.
This brings back such memories for me. This was my first stage show that I was in while in High School. Our casting director would cast everyone who auditioned in our shows, and we had TONS of girls audition since the MG has so many daughters. Unfortunately, we only had like 16-17 guys audition. SOooooo, our MG had like 12-13 daughters, and the girls who were not cast as daughters or main characters were ALL cast as the cops. I was one of those girls. Boy was our choreography good. I was actually one of the few girls who could do our penguin down the aisles during our entrance.
This is what I love about G&S. Gloriously camp, humourous but catchy and infectious songs that you can’t get out of your head and brilliant choreography
How funny is this watching the movie version some many years later. I sat in the very orchestra pit (flute and piccolo), during the 1983 Broadway version with the same cast and then with Maureen Mc Govern and Peter Noon from Hermans Hermits.
My favourite musical number from this musical opera! Currently I’m in the pit orchestra (drums, percussion) for my high school musical. It is a fun experience collaborating with other professional musicians in my community. The police in this movie have such precision on their weird movements, like Tony Azito. He was great! Rip to him. Also I love singing “Tarantara” while this song is being played!
3 years later, Yuma High has now taken Pirates of Penzance under thier wing. Feels bad that we get a script that has been shattered, about 2/3 of the script was gutted and we now have an unnecessary plothole where Mabel says the Major General is an orphan, yet the pirates are still aggravated by the Major General. RIP script
When I was 10years old I was taken to see this comic opera at the palace in Manchester, 55years ago, I’ve just recently picked it up on u tube, I remember most of the words and bits of the story, love the humour and performance
I've seen every police Sargent perform this song and the spirit of Tony Azito lives on..but he was.the most talented and funny police Sargent.gone too.soon.
Stan Farrow (G&S pianist) Serenata Singers Toronto: The double chorus "When the Foeman Bares His Steel" from the movie version on RU-vid of "The Pirates of Penzance". The lyrics are printed on the screen to follow along. The men's chorus are the Keystone Kops-type policemen and the women's chorus are the wards of the Major General, encouraging the police to be brave while scaring them out of their wits by sending them to glory and death! Sullivan was at his best meshing the two melodies together in the second half, even if the movie presentation isn't perhaps the most accurately musical. It can provide some much-needed humour for us singers. (Stan)
This used to be the school of the former Blackpool Grammar School for Boys and was sung at the speech day(?) held in the Tower Building. Ken Topping, a History teacher used to take the part of the lead policeman.
More like WHF's bobbies are intentionally modeled after historical British policemen. There's actually quite a few Gilbert and Sullivan references in-game. Not only do the bobbies whistle this very song at night, the town of Wellington Wells is named after a G&S character.
Please, do someone have the Broadway version of this piece with MAUREEN McGOVERN as Mabel? She played on this, in beginning of 80`s and I`m searching, would like to see, but unfortunately I can`t find, thanks since now.
I've never been a police officer or in the military, and I know nothing about 19th century British law enforcement, but, am I the only one who has always found it strange in The Pirates of Penzance that the local police would be called in to solve a pirate problem? Would the UK Navy and army be used to fight pirates? (A few days ago I finished watching "Captain Phillips" on Netflix.)
God how I wish people would stop making such asinine comments. Nobody does things like Pirates when they are 9 years old. Perhaps your grade school had you sing a snatch from this song and you don't know the difference between that and the actual song.
youtuuba i did a junior version of this show in a community theater and we performed the whole show just with no sex jokes or foul language. i played the sergeant when i was 12 and some of the kids in the show were as young as 8 because it was a childrens community theatre production so there’s no need to be rude lol, it’s entirely possible
A very modern and very, very HIGH CAMP version of G &S. Yeah the dancers are very limber and mug for the camera and there is entertainment value but it says to me they don't trust modern audiences to watch a traditional staging.
John Morrison What’s so special about “traditional staging”? Theatre is all about entertainment value and modern sensibilities are very different to those prevailing in the late 19th C. Theatrical art is always being re-interpreted for the age in which it is being performed. Right up until copyright expired in 1961, Bridget D’Oyly Carte kept a very tight control on how the Savoy Operas could be performed and, in my opinion, did G & S no favours by doing so. By 1961 the genre was thoroughly outdated and only had appeal to G & S aficionados. If you wish to make a Broadway production of a Savoy Opera in this age, you’re only going to be successful if you give it a lot more pizazz than the original. In 1983, camp was the prevailing mode on Broadway. Fear not, there will always be plenty of traditionally staged G & S for us to enjoy.
Look at all the women being oppressed by the patriarchy, dangerously admonishing those men to die while perilously pointing and speaking. How oppressed women were in those days.
the sergeant in this over performs in an really unnecessary fashion, I understand that the character is meant to be over the top, but he looks like he's having a manic fit the entire time, as if the actor is abusing his time to shine horribly, I really really don't like his performance in this. But maybe I don't fully understand the character, feel free to explain to me if I've misunderstood, but at the moment I see his performance as arrogance and abuse of his spot in the limelight to persuade the audience that he is a good performer
Light opera such as this is *intended* to be comical and humorous, so it's really not a problem when the actors "chew the scenery" and go over the top as long as they stay true to the character. As another example, look at Kevin Kline portraying The Pirate King in this same film -- he does the same thing.
Theo Mynka Yes! Aside from the brilliance of the execution (that few could measure up to) the satire of the song is a dark reflection of how send young men to war amidst pageantry, pomp and circumstance... to protect women... who could really careless... they’ll just as happily mate with pirates.
Who said it’s “supposed”? G & S have been dead for well over a hundred years. Like all theatrical art it is interpreted for the sensibilities of the age. You wouldn’t understand a word of Shakespeare if the lines were still spoken as they were in 1600.
