"If you want a comfy and lively evening of well recognized wit, whimsy and pleasing voices, then take in the Washington Savoyard's The Pirates of Penzance. Since its premiere on December 31, 1879, it has had who knows how many revivals at all levels of theater skills from high school wobblers to Linda Ronstadt in New York City. It remains an outlandishly plotted picaresque musical evening when a core group of competent professionals are surrounded by a gaggle of new-comers who throw themselves into the topsy-turvy world of Gilbert and Sullivan. Director Carrie Klewin and Musical Director N. Thomas Pedersen have cast principals who have the chops to effortlessly reach some surprisingly high soprano notes and find some pretty brawny low bass-baritone notes as well … and all this with smiles on their faces and nary a missed lyric or off key adventure. With choreography by Pauline Grossman, the energetic cast is able to move about the stage with a minimum of the missteps that often can come from large cast productions..."

"High audience expectations are met with this production of Pirates. Years ago, the great New Yorker theater reviewer, Robert Benchley, wrote that he wished to be "allowed to enjoy" Pirates in his own way ...." This production will allow audiences, either those die-hard followers of all things Gilbert and Sullivan or first timers, to enjoy it each in their own way. Director Klewin has a solid group of experienced featured actors who can sing and act at the same time. The large ensemble includes nine students from Catholic University who support the featured cast with solid skills and voices. And, in the large Atlas Theater space there are no microphones to be found on the actors but their voices by and large do project to the back of the House. In the various permutations of group settings and singing throughout the production, the harmony is pleasing. The men in the ensemble move about energetically, using some athletic leaps and bounds, while the demure and prim moves of the women are cheery and pleasurable to view. When the choreographed traffic of the chorus of over 20 moves around the Atlas stage, they do not seem to look about for their places -- they are a confident group."

~David Siegel, Potomac Stages