The 19th-century British musical team of William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan collaborated on perhaps the most popular comic operas in the world, and in the 20th century, Rockbridge County was no exception.
A new article in “Rockbridge Epilogues,” written by the daughter of a local Savoyard (as devotees of the duo’s extravaganzas were known), tells the story.
“A Rollicking Band of Pirates We; or, Gilbert and Sullivan in Rockbridge,” by Suzanne Barksdale Rice, borrows its title from a rousing ensemble number in “The Pirates of Penzance,” one of their most popular creations. “Penzance” was presented here first in 1966 by the communitywide organization called Friends and Relations of Gilbert and Sullivan, known more generally by its acronym, FROGS, and again in 1982 by the Henry Street Playhouse.
Rice is the daughter of the late F.H. “Pinky” Barksdale, who, she remembers, sang G&S songs around the house when she was a child — not surprising, given that Colonel. Barksdale starred in two separate productions here of “Trial by Jury (1944 and 1947), as well as in “H.M.S. Pinafore” in 1964 and “Iolanthe” in 1965. The two “Trial” plays were notable for having been presented in the actual Rockbridge County courtroom.
“Rollicking Band” is the 60th article published since “Rockbridge Epilogues” was established in 2016 with the blessing of the two area historical societies. It and all the other articles can be read freely at www.HistoricRockbridge.org.
