Starting Friday, May 7, on-demand streaming of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" by Solanco High School (SHS) will be available for viewers. The show is directed by SHS music teacher Erin Biles, and SHS English teacher John Biles serves as assistant director. "The Pirates of Penzance" is an operetta, so most of the production will be sung.

"We're recording it in house over three performances," explained Erin. "There's nothing like live theater, though, but we do what we need to do to keep everyone safe and still give the kids a great experience."

Tickets can be purchased at http://www.showtix4u.com by searching for "Solanco" with a two-week streaming window. Viewers must watch the show within 48 hours once streaming has begun.

"The Pirates of Penzance" centers around a group of pirates led by the Pirate King, played by junior Aden Jackson, who prepares to say goodbye to his indentured servant Frederick, played by senior Kendell Beiler. After leaving the pirates and his nursery maid, Ruth, played by senior Emily Herr, Frederick meets sweet Mabel, played by senior Lauren Yoder. Mabel, one of the daughters of Major General Stanley, played by senior Tristan Rush, immediately falls in love with Frederick, but the couple's nuptials are delayed when the Pirate King and Ruth reveal a paradox that ropes Frederick back into a life of piracy. The second act features a group of police who, under the leadership of the Sergeant of Police, played by junior Elliot Spangler, are afraid of their own shadow.

Some of the cast members talked about their experiences while rehearsing.

"Due to certain restrictions, we weren't able to rehearse together for the first few weeks," said Herr, "but the musical itself has a nice divide between the daughters, the pirates, and the police. We all rehearsed separately in these three groups, then we put it all together."

"It was hard at first because we didn't know how well the other groups were doing," added Jackson.

"There was a definite split when we started rehearsing with the entire cast," said Yoder.

"We extended our rehearsals into April, which we normally don't do when we perform live," explained Beiler. "We felt somewhat behind at first because we're not used to this schedule, but we will nail it."

"We're presenting the show in a different way this year, so our families who live out of state can watch," said Herr. "It's definitely not ideal, especially for the seniors, but this production is something I think the district and our directors are trying to make special for us."

"As seniors, we were so used to live performances, standing ovations, and cast parties," explained Rush. "Then it all was taken away because of the pandemic."

"I just watched a recording of 'Hamilton' the other day, and what's great about musicals is that if it's a good musical, it will still be good on video," added Spangler. "People will still enjoy it."

Questions about the ticketing process can be emailed to musicalticketsales@solancosd.org.