Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
#1Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 6:34pm
I'm watching her documentary and am curious as to how her performance was received by fans and critics alike. Did any of you have the good fortune to see her performance?
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
#2Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 6:48pm
Would have just died to see this.
#3Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 6:50pm
There's a brief clip of "The Pirates of Penzance" in the Linda Ronstadt documentary: "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice."
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
smidge2
Understudy Joined: 12/16/20
#4Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 7:15pm
I wish I had seen it live also. I have DVDs of the Delacorte production and the film version. I seem to remember the response to Linda was very positive.
Iowa
Swing Joined: 7/8/11
#5Linda Ronstadt In
Posted: 8/1/22 at 7:20pm
Yes, I saw it in previews at the Uris (now Gershwin). I was (and remain) a huge Ronstadt fan and was curious to see how this rock belter would handle a lyric soprano role. She sang the role beautifully and had a charming stage presence, although it was clear in her minimal dialog scenes that she is no actress. I think the real lasting legacy of her taking on a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta is it made her a much better singer when she returned to making pop music. If you ask me, starting with "Get Closer" (her first post-Pirates release), there is both a new fearlessness in her vocals and more nuance in her interpretation of lyrics. I also assume it encouraged her to take more risks and further expand her repertoire into the American Songbook, mariachi, Philip Glass, etc. IMO she has the widest range, technically and emotionally, of any singer in my lifetime. It's easy to forget now that when she was first announced for "Pirates" in 1980, lots of folks scoffed. The idea of a pop diva taking on a "legitimate" soprano role sounded absurd. Once they'd seen her actual performance, the scoffing stopped entirely.
Updated On: 8/1/22 at 07:20 PM
Jarethan
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
#6Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 7:21pm
She was fine in a pretty insipid role. You were always aware that a rock star was doing G&S. Her throat voice was thin.
In a show that starred Kevin Kline in a Tony winning performance as the Pirate King and had George Rose sing about being the model of a modern major general, it would have been hard for anyone else to stand out.
After seeing this show, I reached the conclusion that operetta was not my thing. Highly acclaimed, well directed and choreographed, and I was bored out of my mind every time that Kline was off-stage. He gave a great star turn, comedic performance.
#7Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 7:42pm
Jarethan said: "She was fine in a pretty insipid role. You were always aware that a rock star was doing G&S. Her throat voice was thin.
In a show that starred Kevin Kline in a Tony winning performance as the Pirate King and had George Rose sing about being the model of a modern major general, it would have been hard for anyone else to stand out.
After seeing this show, I reached the conclusion that operetta was not my thing. Highly acclaimed, well directed and choreographed, and I was bored out of my mind every time that Kline was off-stage. He gave a great star turn, comedic performance."
I saw it when it moved to the Uris and I agree with you. Kevin Kline was magnetic in the role, and having George Rose and Estelle Parsons in the cast was wonderful. The comedy in the show was showcased, as I recall, and I found it to be quite enjoyable. I think Rex Smith was also in the cast, but I recall he and Ronstadt were pleasant, but not as strong as the real theater vets. To the OP, Ronstadt was sweet in the role, but not quite on the level as a more seasoned theater performer. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't great.
nasty_khakis
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/15/07
#8Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 7:47pm
There's a filmed version captured from the Central Park run. It's all on youtube. I grew up watching this and to sort of restate something, she was fine, but it's hard to stand out next to THIS version of a Kevin Kline performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ud54BCPJv8&list=PL3FDBD78A6AFACF0A&index=8
#9Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 8:46pm
Not sure if it’s behind a pay wall but I found The NY Times review from the archive.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#10Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 9:30pm
Saw it at the Uris twice and enjoyed it. I do recall Linda had some pitch problems; enough for Forbidden Broadway to parody her with a song called "Poor Wand'ring Note"
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#11Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 9:55pm
Dollypop, if I’m not mistaken, the Forbidden Broadway parade was “Poor War’bling Star.”
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
pethian
Leading Actor Joined: 5/23/22
#12Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 10:50pm
Yes, I saw it when it moved indoors to the Uris. I remember being dazzled by Kevin Kline and George Rose whose bravura performances were delicious. Linda Ronstadt sang beautifully but struggled as an actress. But as someone else noted, the role is so uninteresting that her lack of acting chops did not cause much damage.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#13Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/1/22 at 11:33pm
Sally Durant Plummer said: "Dollypop, if I’m not mistaken, the Forbidden Broadway parade was “Poor War’bling Star.”"
Could be. Who knows?
It was a long time ago.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#15Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/2/22 at 3:36am
Thanks, Brody. Maybe by the end of my second decade on this board, I’ll learn how to integrate a YouTube video into the post like that.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#16Linda Ronstadt In
Posted: 8/2/22 at 7:48am
That was my first summer in New York, and I lived blocks from the park. After I saw the production (a friend worked at the Public), I used to stroll over at night and listen to the second act. With the amplification, you could hear well, even on the other side of the Turtle Pond behind the Delacorte. I'd listen to the Ronstadt "Go Ye Heroes!" and especially "Sorry Her Lot," the interpolated G&S to give her a 2nd act ballad. It was the single most exquisite thing in her performance to my 20-something ear, in which she used the full Ronstadt talent -- the range -- to land a song with utter simplicity.
I thought her vocals were stellar for the piece, and her presence, the stiff characterization accepted as a part of the intended style of the staging, wonderful. Later Mabels were better actors (DeVito I saw on B'way), but Ronstadt's limitations were part of the appeal. If you listen to the recording, you certainly hear how charming she was. And she hit every note at every performance, no strain (that dogged her in Boheme later)
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Updated On: 8/2/22 at 07:48 AM
#17Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/2/22 at 7:10pm
Ronstadt was no actress—not at all. However, she had star quality coming out of her fingertips. She was so beautiful onstage, and while she couldn’t really deliver the dialogue—they set a few lines to music, so she had two lines of actual spoken dialogue—but she was aptly amusing (no one mentioned the silly, pigeon-toed way she walked around on the stage) It was one of the most charming star performances I’ve ever seen onstage, and the revival remains a high point of my theater going.
#18Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"
Posted: 8/2/22 at 9:02pm
I would have loved to have seen this musical on Broadway - the movie was a lot of fun and such an amazing cast. I was only 4 lol. Many of you must be really old! HAHA
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
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