In 1879 the legendary British team of William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan wrote a comic opera titled The Pirates of Penzance. At the time they were upset with America’s penchant for “pirating” productions of their highly successful prior musicals (there were no rules to protect British copyright/intellectual property in the U.S.), so they decided to steal a march and open Pirates in New York. Once aboard the transatlantic steamer, they discovered they’d left the score in London, so they had to rewrite the entire musical en route. It took three weeks for the voyage; there were no planes, jets, fax, Web or e-mail. Life was tough upon the bounding main, and these guys didn’t even have time to be seasick.

Such being the nature of their genius, the resulting rewrite proved one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular comic operas. It was so popular, in fact, that the late Joseph Papp put his own spin and stamp on it and produced it in New York’s Central Park in 1980. Those 40 free performances were such an immense hit – with Linda Ronstadt as Mabel; Rex Smith as her love interest, Frederic; Kevin Kline as the Pirate King; and Priscilla Routledge as Ruth – that Papp produced Pirates on Broadway the following year. It ran 817 performances. In 1983 Papp’s Pirates became a film with Angela Lansbury as Ruth. Not bad for a centenarian piece, and I don’t mean Lansbury.

When the story begins, the hard-of-hearing Ruth is a lovelorn, long-in-the-tooth “piratical maid of all work.” Many years before, Frederic’s noble father charged Ruth to apprentice his son to a pilot – shades of Master and Commander. The hearing-impaired Ruth misunderstood and instead apprenticed Frederic to a pirate. Pirates opens on the brink of Frederic’s 21st birthday, at which time he will be free to pursue life as a young English gentleman.

Having seen no other woman thus far, Frederic is easily persuaded by Ruth that he should marry her. When the lovely, youthful Mabel and her sisters arrive on the rocky Cornwall shore – accompanied by their father, Major General Stanley – Frederic quickly realizes he’s been duped. Further complications arise when the spurned Ruth reveals that Frederic was born Feb. 29 in a leap year: His 21st birthday won’t occur for many years. Kidnappings, tears and swordplay abound before the traditional happy ending is reached. Even Ruth gets a man.

As part of its 25th anniversary season, Moonlight Stage Productions presents Joe Papp’s enjoyable take on Pirates July 20-31. It’s directed and choreographed by San Diego’s legendary Don and Bonnie Ward.

“Pirates is one of our favorite pieces,” says co-director Don Ward, who’s directed both the traditional 1879 musical and Papp’s 1980 version.

Ward began his performing career at the Old Globe Theatre, singing and dancing two seasons running in the Globe’s then yearly summer production, Caught in the Act. Then he moved to Starlight Musicals, where Bonnie established herself as a dancer in 1948. “We were, you know, young,” he says. “We didn’t drift into the directing and choreographing field until about 1958.”

In January 2005 the Wards received the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for lifetime achievement. After a long career at Starlight, the Wards began directing at Moonlight in 1995. Ward doesn’t know how many Moonlight productions he and Bonnie have staged. “I think it would be sad if you had to count. You just do the stuff.”

According to Ward, the major difference is the musical arrangements. “They [the Papp version] used synthesizers, a lot more brass, and took out all the strings and made it into a more contemporary sound. The orchestrations enhance the comedy of the piece.”

Other changes, principally in the approach to and performance of the Pirate King and the Sergeant of Police, make the work more fun. Overall, the fast-moving Papp version is more readily available to today’s audiences. It’s like taking the “stuff” out of something formerly considered stuffy.

Ward casts baritone Randall Dodge of Escondido as the Pirate King; tenor Richard Bermudez of Highland as the naïve Frederic; soprano Melissa Hoff of Pauma Valley as Mabel; Susan E.V. Boland of Coronado as Ruth; and Jerry Arnold Wolf of Los Angeles as Major-General Stanley.

Moonlight dedicates the proceeds of a special Tuesday, July 19, performance of Pirates to fund resident care at Fraternity House, Inc., which provides San Diego’s only licensed residential care facilities, Michaelle House in Vista and Fraternity House in Escondido, dedicated to serving men and women with HIV/AIDS.

Orchestra tickets for this benefit performance are $25 and include a private wine and cheese reception at 6:30 p.m. Curtain is at 8:00 p.m. Attendees are advised to dress warmly.

Moonlight Amphitheatre is located at Brengle Terrace Park, 1200 Vale Terrace Dr. in Vista. To purchase tickets, phone VisTix at (760) 724-2110 or go to Obelisk Bookstore, located at 1029 University Ave. in Hillcrest. Contact Abby Schwartz at Fraternity House, at (760) 736-0292 ext. 103 for further information.

Charlene Baldridge is a freelance writer and member of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She regularly writes for Riverside Press Enterprise, La Jolla Village News, North County Times, Performances and La Jolla Today.