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All Aboard the U.S.S. Pinafore



Someone is doing a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore… set in the Star Trek universe. The concept is so fucking nerdy I had to give myself a wedgie just for reading this blurb brom the San Francisco-based Crown City Theatre website:

When the original Pinafore was first performed in 1878 as a comic opera, it had enough mirth and silliness to sink the Titanic. It was conceived as a loving satire of the British royal navy -and, more matter-of-factly, the English system of social class. In this adapted version Jon Mullich places our team of players on a spaceship like the Enterprise of Star Trek, which is the most beloved sci-fi show in American television history, a true-blue institution, open to as much criticism as our democracy itself. In the chain of command how commandants like to step on captains and captains on lowly TARs (that’s Transport Assistant Repairmen)! We may not be privy to class distinctions, but we certainly understand what it means to be rich and lofty versus poor and lowly. The adaptation fits the satire beautifully!

The plot remains unchanged in the new version and the quick-paced, upbeat score as well. Only some lyrics have been altered to suit the new venue. An example would be “He Is an Englishman” is now “He Is an Earthling Man”. A great addition to the list of characters is Dick Deadeye, a lizard-like alien who stands apart as ugly and undesirable, making marriage to him seem utterly impossible.

U.S.S. Pinafore will run through June 27th, if, you know, you think you can watch a Trek-themed Gilbert and Sullivan production and still look at yourself in the mirror without beating yourself up and taking your own lunch money the next morning. Are we 100% sure this isn’t the reason why the Borg hate us? I mean, specifically? Thanks to Elan for the tip.