WEEKEND REVIEWS : Music : Opera a la Carte’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’

With nary a hint of stultifying routine, Richard Sheldon and his modest but accomplished Opera a la Carte offered what might have been its umpteenth performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” on Saturday at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena.

As Major-General Stanley, Sheldon sang his patter song with great clarity and acted with his customary authority. But it was Donald Adams, principal bass of the old D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, as the Pirate King who most embodied the complex Savoyard spirit.

Adams acted with zest and warmth and brought a seemingly inexhaustible capacity to render every line with nuance and strong characterization. It was wonderful.

Patrick Gallagher made a boyish, good-looking Frederic and sang with a healthy, strong tenor--as long as the vocal line did not ascend too high, which of course it did, often. Then Gallagher ran into serious trouble.

Wearing Goldilocks curls, Lova Lee Hyatt as Mabel looked fetching and sang with the requisite agility and range, no mean feat. Her comic skills, however, remained muted.

As Ruth, Eugenia Hamilton also showed some signs of vocal wear but compensated with a richly detailed characterization.

Rollin Lofdalh sang the Sergeant strongly.

The chorus sang with typically clear enunciation, and Frank Fetta conducted the underpowered pit band of 25 musicians with sympathy and lyricism.

The troubling sudden boost and ebbing of the voices as the singers moved about probably could be traced to the presence of floor mikes at the front of the stage.