With Cat-like Tread 

The sheet music has notations of three fancy fs for the volume, or forte fortissimo. Since two fs (fortissimo) is generally playing as loud as you possibly can, the sheet music is telling you to crank it up to 11.

@@Karthos1000 Okay, that is really funny. Thank you for this information!

"With Catlike Tread" is Sullivan's glorious nose-thumb at the many Italian operas of the first half of the 19th century in which the male chorus of robbers, bandits (etc.) stealthily enter while singing their lungs out. Much of "Pirates" is an affectionate parody of contemporary Italian and French operatic cliches, f.i. the prima donna indulging in a show-off cadenza on her entrance ("Yes, 'tis Mabel"). It says a lot for G&S's wit and theatrical savvy that even people unfamiliar with 19th sentury European opera can appreciate the joke(s).

@@treesny That's really interesting, thank you!

@@beanvillus You're welcome!

G&S started it all...created the prototype for musical comedies for generations.

@@sharongelfand5065 Arguably that was actually John Gay with the Beggar's Opera, but G&S certainly laid a lot of foundations!

@@sharongelfand5065 Arguably that was actually John Gay with the Beggar's Opera, but G&S certainly laid a lot of foundations!

@@PuissantAlgernon I would agree that over a century earlier, The Beggar's Opera laid a cornerstone. It was also Interesting to learn that Threepenny Opera was based on it. G&S certainly pioneered the classic 20th century musical with a plethora of original stories and scores.

In terms of number of English Language stage performances, G&S is second only to Shakespeare.

*Best ninjas you mean :)

Been studying his work for many years and I've found it's a trademark of his (whether he's conscious of it or not) that in virtually every role he does some physical thing that ONLY Kevin Kline can do.

Doing the squats while singing , OMG!!😅

Underrated comment award

Oof. Took me a minute... 😂

I got to play one of the daughters years ago in North Carolina. We were empty headed in our own way too.😅.

Yes, that was amazing!

So true 😂

2:37

Conversely Jon English got hit in the head every performance 🤣

@@redisthecoolestcolourYes! 🤣 I almost like that bit of comedy better. XD

Cliff Sheets Most productions sing too softly. The directions on the music says "Fortissimo". Sing it loud!

Claude My brother was in a community production of this show. They had so much fun in the battle between the Cops and the Pirates. It was the funniest of any production I've seen. The scene went 2 or 3 times longer than others I've seen because they were doing so much. Hilarious!

Cliff Sheets the production I saw of this had the pirates sneak though the audience and whenever somebody sneezed, giggles or coughed, they'd turn to them with a "hush!" Once they were onstage and everyone was quiet.... "WITH CATLIKE TREAD!"

+Claude The music I have for our HS performance (looks like it was copied straight out of a typewritten libretto) only has fortissimo for the half-note phrase towards the end, with the rest being mostly forte and one piano.

I think it works best if they're pretty quiet for the verses and then belt out the chorus-

I think that's the moment when Kevin earned his Tony award.

he looks like he's flying :O

That is so incredibly difficult, and making it appear as easy as he does is damn near impossible

I just noticed that! All of this choreography is sooo meticulously thought out and every time you watch there's a new detail to spot. Genius stuff.

That's my favorite bit, too. Their energy is through the roof!

Yes and most of the cast reprised their roles in the film verison of the central park production.

Yes, Kline is "hit repeat a thousand times" sublime, but this is a rare Pirates in which Frederick is also hot af.

The number of band musicians is definitely thin, and the string section definitely missed. But this was a NY Shakespeare Festival "Shakespeare in the (Central) Park" outdoor production, which doesn't necessarily lend itself to a full orchestra. I also kind of like the calliope. It lends a carousel-like sound reminiscent of a seaside amusement park. And Penzance is, indeed, by the sea.

Along with being open-air, it may be due to the recording rather than the orchestra. But it may have been a desire to reproduce the sound of the orchestra as it was in Gilbert and Sullivan’s time, or to sound like a tinny recording from those days.

@@Historian212 No, I don't think there was any wish to reproduce the sound of a 19th century orchestra! The re-scoring, which is deliberately anachronistic in its sound (especially its percussion) and generally free way with the score -- repeating measures or adding extra music for stage action, etc. -- took the show from the opera house to the vaudeville or musical comedy stage. In doing so, they captured something of the more anarchic spirit of W.S. Gilbert's earlier comic poems (the "Bab" Ballads). "Pirates" is the ideal choice for this sort of treatment, especially as it was written to be premiered in New York (for copyright reasons). Even the title may be a sly dig at the "pirated" American productions of their previous show, H.M.S. Pinafore. There's a certain raucousness in places that's very American, hence the appropriation of "With Catlike Tread" for "Hail, Hail the Gang's All Here." I saw this production in Central Park, and it was the ideal summer-evening entertainment.

Movements can be broader onstage. On film, not so much.

Kline had already won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, for On the Twentieth Century (1978). His film debut, however, came soon after Pirates, in Sophie's Choice (1982).

Deborah Ingle Indeed! Classic and so wonderful it was captured!

SAME!!! And, my choir class (6th-8th grade) is doing this for our spring concert. I'm trying out for the Pirate King/Queen.

+Estella Potter We are doing that right now! same with 6-8 grade. I did not get the pirate King/queen though, I got Ruth :)

+Jillian Heart I tried out, I didnt even get a part my choir teacher has some serious favoritism issuses

+Estella Potter aw that sucks. yea my teacher only picked 8th graders for most of the parts.

+Estella Potter wait whats your choir teachers name??

L P 🎶And it is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King!🎶

Quintin?

That's awesome!! How did it go?

This was written decades before there was a Broadway. Let's not go lowering it to the levels of its successors. But yes, there's nothing like a live performance.

Claude the pirate movie was ment to be a kinda spoof version. Rex Smith an Kevin Kline made a movie too ..this is the live stage version. LoVe both. the movie is a little stronger on the vocals. fell in love with Kevin Kline at 11 years old watching this in 83...lol just knew I would grow up to marry him...still would if I could..teehee

And you’re the rogue 😳

Yup correct.

Patricia Routledge combined genuine "legit" vocal chops with he great comedic skill. I saw the show in Central Park, and she was one of the really outstanding performers: her Ruth was also by far the most sympathetic interpretation I've ever seen, quite a feat when you consider Gilbert's antipathy to older women (see: Patience, The Mikado, etc.).

2Spooki4u I agree, nobody could ever do it like Jon English, he was the best.