The Pirates of Penzance

Ahoy there mateys!  This week is a listener pick, and our most recent submission is from loyal listener Jared, who said his mother made him watch this film every Christmas.  (We are not sure if this was for enjoyment or punishment.)  He has requested that we watch 1983's "The Pirates of Penzance;"  a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta  written in the late 19th century, which had a Broadway revival in the early 1980s and then made it to film.  It does star Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt and Angela Lansbury, which sounds promising at face value.  However. . . it was not well received by audience at the time or the MRT crew in the present . . .

We also discuss the origins of the musical and what made Gilbert and Sullivan so popular in the Victorian era.  And so dear listeners, with cat-like tread, upon this film we steal. . . and we also apologize in advance.