Jan. 23-26, the Glenn Close Theatre in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall came alive with the sounds of laughter and music during a rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comedic opera, “The Pirates of Penzance.” Presented by the Sinfonicron Light Opera Company at the College of William and Mary, this entirely student-run production showcased the diverse talents of its students.
The opera follows the adventures of Frederick, played by Kyle Sharma ’26, a young man celebrating his 21st birthday and the end of his accidental apprenticeship to a band of pirates. When Frederick falls in love with Mabel, played by Abby Long ’26, he vows to leave his pirate life behind. However, there is a catch — he was born Feb. 29 on a leap year, so he has technically had only five birthdays, extending his apprenticeship for decades more. The story follows his dilemma and ends with an unexpected plot twist. The opera is filled with catchy songs, memorable characters and hilarious dialogue that keeps the audience laughing at every turn.
Long shared her personal connection to the role, as well as the reason why she was so passionate about portraying her character.
“This is my dad’s favorite musical, and he used to show it to us all the time when we were kids,” Long said. “I watched Mabel and I was like, that’s the reason that I want to do musical theater, I want to be that girl.”
Long emphasized her efforts to bring more depth to her character, highlighting the tone she wanted her character to undertake.
“There’s a lot of comedy written into the show specifically for the male characters, which is really cool because Gilbert and Sullivan is silly, but the female characters can fall a little bit flat,” Long said. “One thing that was really important to me was to make Mabel comedic and fun and charismatic, and that’s something that I felt like I achieved, and that was really cool.”
According to Long, the production did not come without its challenges.
“ I’m not trained to sing like this, like even a little bit. I have a lower vocal register, so walking into this was crazy,” Long said. “We have this lovely vocal director, Rebecca Altman [’25], and she sat down with all of us and gave us procedural vocal lessons about how to move your body and how to stand and how to breathe and shake your mouth and all of these silly things, and it was really, really hard.”
Judging by the reactions of many members of the audience, all the hard work appeared to have paid off.
“A lot of what they’re doing is really hard, like the high notes and operatic parts, and so the technique is really impressive,” audience member Caroline Gyure ’27 said.
Director Topher Zane ’25 was also excited to share his experience with the show. While this was his first time directing for Sinfonicron, he has directed other productions at the College many times, primarily for Shakespeare in the Dark. With only a month to prepare, this was different from his other experiences, but he said he enjoyed the opportunity to learn.
“I think everything was a challenge with this. This was not easy, but that was part of what made it so much fun,” Zane said. “This is the first musical that I’ve directed, and so there was so much new to navigate with that. This is also the largest scale production that I’ve directed, so there was a lot of just figuring out how to do that and that was so exciting and so fun and so rewarding.”
Many involved in the production also highlighted the closeness of the Sinfonicron community. Clare Yee ’27, who was part of the Pirate Ensemble, loved her first Sinfonicron experience.
“Everybody here is incredibly nice and so talented and it was such an amazing experience,” Yee said. “It’s just such a special community, and everybody here really loves each other.”
This closeness also extends to the audience. Audience member Zoe Zmuda ’26 came to almost every show to support Long, her best friend and roommate of three years. A lot of other students came to support their friends as well.
“The turnout here is incredible, and I would say probably half, if not more, of the people here are students,” Zmuda said. “Over a hundred students come back, whether it’s people in the pit or people on stage or doing lights or whatever, but so many students come out to support their friends, which is so cool that they will come out on a Saturday night to see them. We talk about campus community all the time, and I think that this is definitely a clear show of that.”
Sinfonicron, according to cast members and audience members alike, works to bring together students from all backgrounds and disciplines across the College.
“It’s a really welcoming community, and I think we have all sorts and types, and it’s a weird conglomeration of people,” Long said. “I was talking to my friend the other day, and we were like, ‘on paper we shouldn’t be friends, but we have this wonderful thing in common, and I think that art is something that ultimately just fosters community and connection.’”
Audience member Courtney Shockley ’25 expanded on this, commenting on how multi-faceted students at the College are.
“I think it’s a good way to appreciate different aspects of what students are passionate about,” Shockley said. “There’s a girl that I recognize from one of my business classes, so I’m like, ‘oh, it’s cool that she’s also doing this and I can see what other things she’s interested in.’”
Many cast members noted how attending such performances can also allow one to explore one’s own passions.
“It’s a really great way to show off and explore the arts to people that might not normally be interested in them because you are interested in coming and seeing your friend,” Gyure said. “There’s more students involved because it’s entirely student run, and so I think it really showcases just how diverse in interests the campus of William and Mary is.”
