4/7/08-4

Thursday, 03 April 2008
Shiver me timbres! Singing pirates dock at Center Street Musical Theatre Print E-mail
HERALD CORRESPONDENT

Rette Speight

For "Pirates of Penzance" director Gavin Grooms, the play signifies more than just a successful show.
Grooms is not only the director of the play, but also plays one of the lead roles as the Pirate King. His involvement in the production doesn't stop there though.

Grooms and his wife, Sharilyn, own Center Street Musical Theatre and for the last four years have seen tremendous growth in its popularity. In addition the scheduled musical, the theater also offers a dinner option each evening at an additional cost.

"We do everything," Grooms said. "We're sometimes washing dishes after the shows, and we often serve meals before they start. We work very hard."

All of that hard work seems to be paying off for the Groomses. Gavin said that from the first quarter of last year, the company has seen more than 50-percent growth, and over the last four years has grown 10 percent annually.

This is Grooms's fourth time directing "Pirates of Penzance," which is currently playing at the theater.

The play holds sentimental value for the Groomses, as it was the first play to be performed on the stages of the Center Street Musical Theatre. The production, by Gilbert & Sullivan, was written as a tongue-in-cheek spoof of British politics. Since this is the fourth time Grooms has directed it, however, he has found better ways at adapting it to a more modern crowd.

"In a lot of ways, it goes with the politics of today as well," he said. "It all fits."

The show includes an "enormous" amount of dancing and singing, and Grooms said that including the crowd is important.

"We've worked hard at making this a good quality show, a very family-friendly show," he said. "We're developing a new generation of theatergoers here."

Working with Grooms not only as a director, but a fellow cast member as well, is a unique opportunity to get to know who is leading the play, said Shannon Eden, who plays "Mabel."

"Everyone just has way too much fun," said Eden, who has been in this play once before and has been in four plays with the company. "I'm so sad that we already have the first weekend down. Usually I'd be glad to get life back to normal, but this is just the opposite."