HFC holds auditions for “Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King” September 17

Sign up to audition for Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King

HFC Theatre will hold auditions (see complete info) for its original musical Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King on Wednesday, September 17, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Adray Auditorium (Room F-100) of the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center (Building F on the main campus), with callbacks the next day.

Auditions are open to HFC students, Henry Ford Early College students, and dual enrolled students. No prior acting experience is necessary.

An audition packet with preferred audition songs is available. The packet includes sheet music, example recordings, and backing tracks. If you are unable to prepare one of these songs, you may prepare 16 bars of an alternative song as long as you are able to provide a backing track, or you can simply sing "Happy Birthday." Headshots and résumés are welcome but not required. Monologues will be welcome at callbacks.

Rehearsal schedule for cast members

A production of this size and scope requires much rehearsing, which is also a lot of fun. Rehearsals for Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King will take place every Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Fine Arts Center.

• Fall rehearsals will be Monday, September 22, to Monday, November 24
• Winter rehearsals will resume Monday, January 11, 2026 through Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King will make its worldwide debut on Friday, April 3, 2026 in the Adray Auditorium.

“We are planning what will easily be our biggest show since I joined HFC in 2022,” said HFC Director of Theatre Dr. John Michael Sefel. “HFC Director of Music Anthony Lai and I have been working this summer on an original adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic 1879 comic operetta masterpiece The Pirates of Penzance, and we're extremely happy with the result! Featuring a large cast, a hilariously absurd plot, singing, choreography, and piratical hijinks galore, this is going to be one really fun show!”

Brief history of The Pirates of Penzance

W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan partnered on 14 operas in the late 19th century, most famously Penzance and the H.M.S. Pinafore. Penzance, their fifth collaboration, debuted in New York City on December 31, 1879. It is their only collaboration to have its official premiere in the United States.

The plot centers around Frederic, 21, who’s been released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Because Frederic was born on February 29, he technically has a birthday only on leap years. His servitude to the pirates is for another 63 years before his official “21st birthday.” Mabel agrees to wait for him. His alliances shift back and forth between the pirates and "respectable society" until Ruth, the pirates' maid-of-all-work, saves the day.

Modernized productions include Joseph Papp's 1980 Broadway production, which ran for 787 performances, won the Tony Award for Best Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical. It spawned a 1983 film adaptation, which starred Oscar winner Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) and Golden Globe winner Dame Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote). Rupert Holmes’ 2025 Broadway adaptation was called Pirates! The Penzance Musical.

“I've loved the original for years. It was my first acting role after high school. I've seen countless productions and proudly directed one in New England several years ago. I've also taught it in classes for more than a decade. I've always thought, however, to be true to Gilbert and Sullivan's goals, that it needed to be updated,” said Sefel. “I probably have 30 examples of why, but just one in particular: When people attended the operetta in 1879, they would have heard Gilbert's music and likely thought it sounded extremely ‘piratical.’ Compared to other music of the time, it was! However, when most modern listeners hear it, what stands out to them is how ‘classical’ it sounds compared to other music they're used to. We can see how making some careful, respectful changes can paradoxically bring you closer to the original intent. From the music to the setting to the comedy, we spent all summer considering every bit of the show to determine what can stay as-is, and what was due for us to have some fun.”

Going bigger and bolder with the source material

Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King opens in 1909 at a time when a new world of exciting technology and social change is emerging. Advanced steam propulsion has made the world smaller, entertainment has been revolutionized by record players and the introduction of silent movies, auto tycoon Henry Ford's assembly line is the talk of the manufacturing world, and home electricity is so widespread that electric toasters have become commonplace.

Despite the quickly modernizing world, a group of would-be pirates refuse to let go of their anachronistic, adventurous life. When they come face-to-face with modernity in the form of several students and a formidable house mother from the Penzance State Teachers' College for Women, their worldviews, loyalties, and the very meaning of their lives are put in question. It's an over-the-top, absurdist, and family-friendly comedy about accepting change, second chances, and above all, songs, swords, and general silliness.

“I adapted the lyrics, dialogue, and story. Anthony reworked and re-orchestrated the music, both from the original show and some surprise Gilbert and Sullivan songs from their other shows that we've snuck in!” explained Sefel. “Some aspects are nearly identical to the original, while elsewhere we've added characters or songs while cutting others, reimagined circumstances, and generally tried to explore all the ways a joke designed for an 1879 audience might still work, or not. We're having an amazing time playing with this hilarious source material and coming up with new ways to go even bigger and bolder with it.”

Adaptation is faithful in its own way

Several characters, a handful of songs, all the orchestrations, and the setting have all changed. The show is full of energy and eager to break the rules, Sefel said. At the same time, the heart of the piece remains untouched, capturing the hopes, dreams, and young love of Freddy and Mabel, along with the showboating, swashbuckling Pirate King.

“I think some people naturally get suspicious when they hear about adaptations of older works. At times, people treat it as disrespectful or against the original authors' wishes. The thing is, Gilbert and Sullivan did this sort of thing all the time!” he explained. “They had a great deal of ‘meta-humor,’ in which they'd constantly reference and make fun of their other scripts. They were known to reuse music, shift jokes to fit contemporary events, and more. It's generally thought Penzance was largely cobbled together out of songs they had originally created for their show Thespis.”

He continued: “The show's most popular song includes a lyric in which a character derisively sings that he can ‘whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense, Pinafore’ – a mocking reference to their previous show, H.M.S. Pinafore. Gilbert and Sullivan would update their music and lyrics to fit the latest news, to deal with changes in fashion and culture. I sincerely think the sort of things we've done here are very much in line with the sort of changes, updates, and audience-pleasing silliness that the authors always did. We're trying to be just as respectful and committed to Gilbert and Sullivan's humor as any traditional production – and, hopefully, by being a bit more accessible, we'll open up the world of their comic operas to students who might not have given them a try.”

Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King will be directed by Sefel, with instrumental direction by Lai, vocal direction by Vanessa El-Zein Lai, choreography by Mina Haidi, and stage combat by Amanda Buchalter.

For questions or more information about Freddy, Mabel, & the Pirate King, contact Sefel at jsefel@hfcc.edu.