[QUOTE]
“Originally posted by Bricker:
**Also my favorite G&S!”
It's 3rd on my list. 1st is Iolanthe (perhaps this is not as surprising as it might be,) then Princess Ida. I'm a little tired of it at the moment, since I've performed it 2x in 6 yrs (chorus, then Isabel.)
“Whereupon Kevin Kline, with a stricken look on his face, mutters angrily, ‘It’s the same as the Pirate King song!’”
And speaking of which… My first thoughts on reading the OP were thus: If anyone here noticed 3 college age women wandering around Disneyworld 3 years ago, each declaiming that she was the Pirate King, well, that was me (& 2 others. Mundane & pointless anecdote? Well, this is the forum for it.)
“And I’ll tell you that Linda Ronstadt really surprised me. That chick can sing. She gives perhaps the best recorded version ever of ‘Poor Wandering One’.”
Um, tastes differ I suppose. I missed the actual high notes, as opposed to the watered down lower keys. If you're going to sing Mabel, sing Mabel. It's not worth it without the high E-flats.
Actually, this is why I'm not a huge fan of the movie version - the singing. Sullivan wrote some lovely music, and the singing should do justice to it. The worst offenders were the female chorus, and the woman singing Edith. Why? Not at all enjoyable.
“Ultra-operetta-geek trivia question: in what year does Pirates of Penzance take place? There is no specific mention in the show, but it can be deduced from the lyrics, a knowledge of history, and the rules of calendars. :)”
Bricker, I realize that you probably won’t read this, but I will miss you here. Who will do the challenges (that is, in addition to Arnold?) But here is my answer (and I’m finally beating everyone else, at last check 
Frederic sings "In 1940 I of age shall be." If he has 21 birthdays in 1940, then he shall be 84 years old. At first glance, simple subtraction would give you: 1940-84=1856. 1856+21=1877, which is around the time that Pirates was written. However, 1900 is not in fact a leap year, so in order for Frederic to be "21" in 1940, he must have been born in 1852 (a fine American presidential election year - Franklin Pierce has always amused me.) So the action would take place in 1852+21=1873.
So there are two answers:
1 - 1873. Frederic knew about the non-leap year, and incorporated it into his counting.
2 - 1877. Frederic didn't know/can't count/was too damn upset at leaving Mabel to care.
Which is the answer? Clearly this belongs in Great Debates, under the title "Does a career in Piracy imply a lack of math skills?" (right next to "When the 2-lines-no-singing-female-characters finally have a revolution, who's first up against the wall?" Bitter, me?)