BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP BUZZ FEBRUARY 23 - MARCH 1, 2018 29 BROOKLYN
CULTURE BRIEFS
COMPILED BY JAIME DEJESUS
PINOCCHIO
Head over to the Brooklyn Public Library as
its Events for Youth & Families Series presents
“Pinocchio.”
Everybody loves the little wooden puppet,
Pinocchio, the star of this enchanting musical
fairytale that begins with the woodcarver,
Geppetto.
With the help of the Blue Fairy, the puppet
comes to life. His adventures are exciting.
Geppetto sends him to school, but Pinocchio
runs off with a group of little boys who get into
trouble. Bouncy, singable songs add to the fun,
suspense and never-ending excitement.
The free event will take place on Saturday,
February 24 at 1 p.m. at the Central Library,
10 Grand Army Plaza. For more information,
visit www.bklynlibrary.org.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY
As the latest in a long line of famous operas
performed right here in southwest Brooklyn,
“Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini will
be performed by local opera powerhouse,
Regina Opera.
It is based on a short story by John Luther
Long, as dramatized by David Belasco, and is
set in and around a house on a hill overlooking
Nagasaki harbor, Japan, in the early 20th
Century.
Performances will take place at Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Catholic Adademy, 5902 Sixth
Avenue, on Saturday, March 3, Sunday, March
4, Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11 at
3 p.m. Tickets are $26 for adults, $21 for seniors
and students, $5 for teens and free for children
under 12. For more information, visit www.
reginaopera.org.
MAGIC AT CONEY
Take the family to Coney Island for its
“Magic at Coney!” series. The performance is
a magical variety show featuring illusionists,
escape artists, mentalists and close-up magicians
from around the world.
Hosted by magician Gary Dreifus, this
week’s performance will feature entertainers
Torkova, Carl Mercurio and Jim Vines.
The fun will take place on Sunday, February
25 at 12 p.m. at the Coney Island Museum, 1208
Surf Avenue. Admission is $10 for adults and
$5 for children under 12 online or at the door.
To purchase online, visit www.coneyisland.
com.
NCT walks the plank with
"Pirates of Penzance in Concert"
BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Ahoy!
Starting Friday, March
2 Narrows Community
Theater (NCT) will present “The
Pirates of Penzance" in concert
to Bay Ridge audiences at St. Patrick’s
Catholic Academy.
This time around, NCT will
present Gilbert and Sullivan's
hilarious farce of sentimental
pirates, bumbling policemen,
dim-witted young lovers and an
eccentric major-general. The story
centers around young Frederic,
an orphan who has mistakenly
been apprenticed to an ineffectual
but raucous band of pirates.
The show’s director, Justin
Ward Weber, is excited to bring
this adaptation to local theater.
“'Pirates of Penzance' was one
of Gilbert and Sullivan's early
successes first performed in
New York City in 1879, a year
after their previous and popular
show 'H.M.S. Pinafore,'” he said.
“Pirates' was a big hit from the
time it was first performed and
has maintained its comedic status
for over 100 years. Its host of
colorful characters, winding plot,
and catchy and memorable tunes
are the recipe for a show that begs
audience members to see it again
and again.”
Weber believes that the charm
of the show is its wit and humor.
“As a predecessor to the modern
musical, ‘Pirates’ parodies
the overly dramatic operatic
conventions of the 19th century,”
he said. “Large musical gestures
often mock the triviality of the
character's words and actions, like
in the finale of Act One.”
As for the highlights, “There
are too many to count, but if I had
to name a few favorites, I can't
wait for our audience members
to see moments like the finales
of each act where all of the cast
and band are woven together in
a tapestry of challenging musical
figures, and many comedic scenes
that continue to build towards the
end,” said Weber.
Thus far, Weber has had a wonderful
time working with the cast.
“Not only are they smart and
quick learners, making rehearsals
a breeze, but they are also daring
actors ready to dive into their
material,” he explained. “They are
most certainly not afraid to get a
little silly. Learning the music is
obviously a large undertaking,
but the special contributions
they make to that music through
the way they perform the material
and characters is really the icing
on the cake.”
Although there won’t be many
sets and costumes, expect the
performances to carry the show.
"Our semi-staged show gives us
a lot of room for making a lot with
a little,” Weber said. “There will
be many surprises to be had that
involve some staging and movement,
as well as a few choice hats
here and there. Our imaginations
will help us out with the rest.”
Providing high quality local
theater has always been a goal for
NCT. Thanks to homegrown talent,
they have accomplished just
that over the years and Bay Ridge
is in for another high quality production,
said Weber.
Photo courtesy of NCT
“The community here is strong
and carries a lot of members that
are excellent at what they do on
stage, but it also brings those within
and outside of the community
who are totally new to this, or who
wish to learn and grow in theater
and in the arts," he said.
"By working together and
growing together, they create
something on stage that's even
more special than what you
expect when they first start,"
Weber went on. "It blossoms into
something that's completely new
and different every single time,
and I think that this occurrence
is important not just to Bay Ridge
but to neighborhoods all across
Brooklyn and the country. It's
the real joy and beauty of local,
community theater."
“The Pirates of Penzance” premieres
Friday, March 2 at 8 p.m.
at St. Patrick’s School Auditorium,
401 97th Street. Additional shows
will take place Saturday, March 3
at 8 p.m., Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m.,
Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m., Saturday,
March 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday,
March 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25
for adults, $20 for seniors and
students under 21. Children under
12 get in for $15. For more information,
visit www.ncttheaterny.com.
The cast of “Pirates of Penzance.