Leap Day Paradox from The Pirates of Penzance

A perfect video for the 1st of March. Gilbert & Sullivan wrote about the paradox of how those born on Leap Day (February 29th in Leap Years) celebrate their birthdays in NON-leap years! Beware of the fine print in any contracts! Poor Frederic was born on February 29th, 1856 and thought he was apprenticed to a band of pirates (The Pirates of Penzance) until he turned 21 on March 1st 1877. However, his apprenticeship is until his 21st BIRTHDAY, which won't be until February 29th, 1940, when he'll be 84 years old! Listen to Rex Smith as Frederic, Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, and Angela Lansbury as Ruth sing about this paradox. If you enjoy this, there are lots of other Penzance videos on KZbin (look for the ones with captions - some of the songs are very fast "patter songs!). Here's the link (amzn.to/2FIILh6) to buy the DVD from Amazon, or this link (amzn.to/2F2mspH) for Streaming Video from Amazon (as little as USD 3.99 to rent). DVD or HD streaming cost abut USD 13 to purchase, and both versions include captions.
The film is copyrighted by Universal, a division of NBC Universal

[@davea6314]

Happy Leap Day! 😁

[@MonolithproductionsT]

Happy Birthday Fredrick!

[@TnseWlms]

I took my car for an oil change on November 30th. They printed me a discount coupon that expires on February 30th of next year.

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

@masakasama- a most INGENIOUS paradox!

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

Did the coupon issuer ever discover the mistake?

[@MammamiaLeone]

Was lucky to be cast as a sister in the ensemble in high school in this and oh what fun it was. The songs, the costumes, the memories- it was spectacular🎉

[@Art4ArtsSakeVideo]

Wonderful physical comedy and lyric delivery by our dear Angela Lansbury, may she render heaven ever melodical...

[@0biwan7]

someone gonna die if the pirates ever go near cabot cove

[@kittylove-x0x0]

OM GOODNESS!!!! " A pardox , a pardox, a most in genius pardox, ha ha a Pardox!" Ruth should have thought out that she can't marry a 5 year old! 💭🤣🤣POOR RUTH!!

[@westnoweast5019]

It's going to be here soon!

[@biffyqueen]

Happy Leap Day 2020 Folks

[@TnseWlms]

Move over, Mozart. Rossini wrote over 18 operas before his seventh birthday.

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

TnseWlms, what do Mozart & Rossini have to do with this? The music was written by Sir Arthur Sullivan, and the lyrics by his collaborator Gilbert. Gilbert & Sullivan also collaborated on quite a few “operettas” together, including “HMS Pinafore” and “The Mikado”.

[@TnseWlms]

@@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd Rossini was born on February 29th just like Frederic the pirate. So Rossini's seventh birthday did not come until he was 32.

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

TnseWlms, ah, I should have known it was a Leap Day thing!

[@0biwan7]

@@TnseWlms because his second birthday happened in 1904 rather than 1900 thanks to pope gregory?

[@sleepCircle]

@@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd looks like you'll have to retire your professional status and go back to being an amateur nerd

[@juliewaldron2503]

Actually, Frederic's apprenticeship would not end until 1944 when he was 84 years old because there was no Leap Year in 1900.

[@john10423]

Ah, good point!

[@TnseWlms]

Did Gilbert and Sullivan ever mention the year 1940 in the script?

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

TnseWlms Yes, actually Gilbert mentions it. You can search the libretto for “1940”: archive.org/stream/piratesofpenzanc1911sull/piratesofpenzanc1911sull_djvu.txt

[@norbitonflyer5625]

@@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd Assuming Frederick had calculated correctly, taking into account the non-leap year in 1900, his statement that his 21st birthday would fall in 1940 indicates he was born in 1852 (not 1856), the action taking place in 1873. Either way, we have another paradox, because the Major-General's song ("I am the very model of a Modern Major General") mentions "that infernal nonsense Pinafore" - G&S's previous operetta, the first performance of which was in 1878.

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

Norbiton Flyer, lots of paradoxes and potential errors. But I think it was Schwenck (Gilbert - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Gilbert) who made one error (Leap year in 1900), and took writer’s license with the second (the reference to Pinafore). There’s a lively discussion about this on SavoyNet: www.gsarchive.net/pirates/discussion/2.html

[@samreilly1484]

Could you imagine being born on February 29th, 1896 and having to wait 8 years to celebrate your “first” birthday? On an unrelated note, if Lucile Randon (aka Sister Andre), the oldest verified person alive today, had been born on February 29th, 1904 (18 days later than she claims to have been born because the GRG and Guinness World Records have only managed to recover the month and year that she was born from the town hall of Ales, France), she’d technically still be in her 20s. But I digress.

[@stokescomp]

Have a good leap day!

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

Thanks! You too!

[@martinpatrick1746]

They did this song in the joe Pap production of Pirates on stage in australia..it sounds like the american verison.

[@treesny]

I saw the original Papp/Public Theater production (directed by Wilford Leach) at the Delacorte Theater in NYC's Central Park, a great evening under the stars. Almost all of that cast moved with the show when it transfered to Broadway, with the exception of the great Patricia Routledge, whose Ruth was the standout performance in the show (she was replaced by Kaye Ballard). The leads in this movie adaptation are the same: Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, Linda Ronstadt, George Rose and Tony Azito, the only new principal being the Ruth (again), Angela Lansbury. It appears from the clips I've seen, however, that a fair number of internal cuts were made in the songs for the film. Note: it's amusing to see how much of an afterlife the "patter-trio" from Act II of G&S's Ruddigore has had, having been interpolated first in this adaptation of Pirates and then in the Braodway version of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

[@Mepholar]

Next they’ll sing about how 7 ate 9

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

Julie, I think I need to pull up a calendar and count on my fingers. However, you’re right; 1900 NOT a Leap Year (Frederic would go EIGHT years without a birthday (yadhtrib according to the Pirate King!), whereas 2000 was a Leap year because it is evenly divisible by 400. kalender-365.de/leap-years.php

[@NKBBANDARA]

Graaаcias

[@JSenjaMorgan]

Is this the Chris Novak I know from GE, IL?

[@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd]

Yes Senja, it is!

[@JSenjaMorgan]

Hello again... ironically paradoxical that I searched this song again to post yesterday on FB and of course, yours came up!! I was just telling the folks on staff at the church where I work now how much I miss you, and how wonderful it was that you could transfer all my stuff from one computer to another! Hope you are well ;-) @@ChrisNovak-ProfessionalNerd