The Travelogue (3 of ?)

In the absence of anything better, I went with a production of "Pirates of Penzance."  True, Gilbert & Sullivan don't quite rank up there with ABBA or The Who in terms of rock songs, but there's some peppy stuff in there.  Besides, I already know the plot, so don't need to pay a WHOLE lot of attention to script intricacies.  And, well, Anthony Head (yes, that Anthony Head) was playing The Pirate King, and there's a curiosity factor there that was just too strong to ignore. 

So, last night, I found myself at the Savoy Theatre watching "Pirates of Penzance."

I say all this by way of explanation of my presence.  I wonder what excuse the other 49 people had for being there.

Really.  Huge, 3-level theatre, NOBODY IN IT.  I was sitting in the stalls (read: orchestra), which had about 20 rows in it.  I was in the 7th row.  There was a couple in the 8th.  Nobody sat farther back.  And it wasn't like the first 7 rows were packed, either.  Once the show started, we all sort of rearranged ourselves so nobody had anyone blocking their view, and we all had spare seats to throw our coats on.  I think there were some people in the dress circle (read: mezzanine).  I know this because, when I walked in, I heard someone say they were closing the upper circle (balcony) entirely and sending those folks down to the dress circle. 

I mean, there was a danger that the audience would be outnumbered by the cast.  I'm quite certain that, if you throw in the orchestra and the theatre staff, we were.