February 29 (Leap Day) comes only once every four years, a calendrical adjustment that is of the utmost importance in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I’ve no desire to be disloyal, Some person in authority, I don’t know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal, Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February, twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty, One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty. Through some singular coincidence – I shouldn’t be surprised if it were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy – You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been born in leap-year, on the twenty-ninth of February; And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you’ll easily discover, That though you’ve lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays, you’re only five and a little bit over!
Celebrate this quadrennial occasion with a viewing of the delightful The Pirates of Penzance
Real-life Leap Day birthdays:
1468 – Pope Paul III (d. 1549)
1792 – Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (William Tell, The Barber of Seville) (d. 1868)
1896 – Morarji Desai, former Indian prime minister (d. 1995)
1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)
1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player
1960 – Anthony (Tony) Robbins, American motivational speaker
1964 – Lyndon Byers, Canadian hockey player
1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr, Italian-born actor
1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
1980 – Chris Conley, American musician and songwriter/composer
Many thanks to Anna Bradley, whose school production of "Pirates" inspired this selection!
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I LOVE the Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt version of the P of P, but you'd be much better off watching the video tape version of the 1983 movie. This DVD of the Central Park performance is really hard to hear, and is not likely to engage anyone who doesn't remember the great 1983 version.
You are right! I was very disappointed to see that the movie version (same cast and director) was not available on DVD. But I put the link in the post in case people no longer have VHS players in their homes. I hope the movie version becomes available on DVD soon, and certainly before the next leap year!
Amazon.com says it's "coming soon". I dug out the old BETA player to show this movie to my son. He's 8 and loved it. He especially liked "Model Major General"
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