Linda Ronstadt In "The Pirates of Penzance"

Would have just died to see this.

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.

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.

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

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"

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.

It’s “Poor Warbling Star”

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)

Updated On: 8/2/22 at 07:48 AM

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