I've just finished watching this on Bravo (in Toronto, Canada) and I stayed with it till the end to learn where this double-bill of "HMS Pinafore" and "Trial by Jury" (an all-musical 45-minute shortie) was produced: Well, it's an Opera Australia Melbourne production and it is simply the best G&S production I have seen in my entire life for sheer energy and general amusement. Even the audience seemed to have talent. The first part was classically elegant while the second part, a spoof of the English jury system, about a breach of promise trial, was simply shock-inducing with a lively chorus of jurymen and journalists whose every movement was choreographed and a talented bunch of idiots as the principals. All the soloists deserve an ovation with particular kudos to Anthony Warlow in a double role as the Captain and the Judge. I also must admit I have never seen such a collection of manly, swarthy, burly, stalwart men who can also sing on a single stage in my life. Makes you feel like booking a cruise to Australia right away. They certainly have a way of updating tradition with class down under. Makes you wonder how they could have come up with a turkey like "Moulin Rouge". Oh well... By the way, I take exception with another commentator's opinion that the line "Be firm, be firm, my pecker" is a new addition to the text. It's been in the original libretto for a hundred years, back in the days when a "pecker" was a nose...
