The Troupers, Fairfield County’s resident Gilbert and Sullivan company, will perform The Pirates of Penzance at the Norwalk Concert Hall on April 2 and April 9, matinees 2:30 and evening performances at 7:00 on each Saturday.

OperaMetro (OM) had the privilege of interviewing Wendy Morgan-Hunter (WMH), who is the Director for this performance. We’re talking on a warm sunny day in Connecticut, spring is approaching!

OM: Thank you, Wendy, for this interview!

WMH: You’re welcome!

OM: Always curious about one’s road to the Gilbert and Sullivan repertory. What was your road in?

WMH: I believe I first met G & S singing with my parents. I remember that Pirates score sitting on my mom’s piano so well! My mom Kay Morgan is a pianist and singer and my aircraft designer father Ray Morgan plays drums and banjo. We had family sing-alongs with my younger sister Cheryl and me for all my formative years, and my folks and I still do so whenever I get back home in California. As my own 3 children grew and became musicians themselves, we carried on the tradition of making music together.

Major General Stanley (Jordan Fenster) and his admiring daughters in *The Pirates of Penzance*

OM: Have you directed The Pirates of Penzance before?

WMH: I have not directed this opera before, but I am very happy to be doing so this season.

I have mostly stage directed and music directed musicals – over 40 of them and many, many concerts of all types. Most recent are staged concert versions of My Fair Lady and Guys and Dolls with the New Haven Symphony, a new opera Jack and Jill and the Happening Hill with Stonington Opera, and a reading for a new musical with book written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Madeleine Blais and starring Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl.

OM: Quite a diverse background!

WMH: Jack and Jill and the Happening Hill inspired me to found Sweet T Productions. With Sweet T we have branched into film – a necessary step during Covid- my production partner Chris Bolan directed A Season of Love seen on Netflix, and we are currently working on several new exciting projects for film and streaming. I was a producer on the Tony nominated A Sound Inside starring Mary Louise Parker, who won the Tony for her starring role, and the tour of Jitney directed by Ruben Santiago Hudson.

OM: I have to ask this…a member of the audience I have the freedom to laugh at Gilbert's prose, but part of that laughter is because often absolutely absurd lines or dialogue are delivered as if they are dead serious. As a director, what secrets do you give to your players to avoid breaking character and laughing at his or her own lines or the lines of another character?

WMH: I haven’t had too much trouble with giggles or guffaws from the text from my players, only from myself when they hit the nail on the head! I’ve a singer’s laugh which can be distracting, but it is also one of the cues I use to know a part of a scene is effective: If I’ve got chills, tears, or can’t contain my joy, I know the audience will enjoy it as well!

OM: Though most of any G & S opera is lighthearted and amusing, there are short stretches of action or song that are sincere and touching. Pirates has a few. In what ways do you have the characters usher in these moments? Do you find shifting gears to from silly to sincere a tricky thing to pull off?

WMH: Such a great question! This is why I believe this opera has stood the test of time! It is filled with nuances! You literally laugh and cry. I’ve been thrilled to find my cast is good with these shifts and nuances, but I am definitely enjoying guiding them through the journey of silliness one moment, love and admiration the next, and a sense of duty. Duty is Frederic and Mabel’s interfering mistress in this work!

OM: Showing a strong bias here, but I think Pirates is in the top four of the G & S repertory. What scenes or interchanges in Pirates between characters or between the stage and the audience do you find particularly amusing or touching?

WMH: I would take it a step further and say I believe Pirates is the best of G & S!

OM: I, too, agree!!

WMH: As parents of three grown children who all returned to our home state of California pre-Covid, my husband and I have missed them terribly, and the notion of the Major General’s struggles with letting go of his wards and their concern for his well-being and happiness in return, I find very touching.

OM: I can relate, having two daughters of my own.

WMH: I also enjoy Ruth’s confusion with Frederic: is he still her charge, or should he be her beau? And the idea that an entire band of pirates could be swayed by anyone who calls “Uncle” – I mean “Orphan”- is just too, too!

OM: What drives you to be involved with the arts? Why do you do what you do?

WMH: My passion and my skill are to help others find their voice. I do this through directing, producing, conducting choirs and in the pit on occasion, and through teaching voice. I also sing!

OM: I feel strongly that the G & S operas are really important artistic creations, treasures, even. Yet they contain some stereotypes that might be offensive to modern ears. Your thoughts?

WMH: We’ve tried to tread lightly in this area and be as respectful as possible. With this work I’m trying to tread lightly with regards to the treatment of women. Pirates grabbing young women, Mabel and her sisters being handed off to whomever their caretaker deems suitable? Ruth being tossed back and forth? My take with this opera is it is really about strong women! Ruth and Mabel actually have control, albeit less overt, over their outcomes. In the end, Ruth consents to let Frederic go to Mabel, and chooses her own beau. That is my update to the work!

OM: I completely agree. Important perspectives on the characters. Thank you so much for your insights and background and your work with Troupers! We look forward to The Pirates of Penzance!

To repeat: Troupers Light Opera will be presenting that perennial Gilbert and Sullivan favorite, The Pirates of Penzance on two Saturdays, April 2nd and 9th at 2:30 and 7:00 pm. For tickets and information go to Trouperslightopera.org.

All the best, OM