'Pirates' sensational at Barrington Stage

The scenic design, by Beowolf Borritt, has a cartoon look, with Seussian crosshatches on the clouds and round treetops, and it gives an immediate signal to the tone of the production.

There's exuberant business going on everywhere you look, from music director Darren R. Cohen, whose head is visible in a hole in the stage, to cast members who crawl and tumble down the aisles and a platform that extends through the audience.

Kyle Dean Massey, who appeared on Broadway in "Wicked," "Pippin" and "Next to Normal" before landing a small role in the ABC's country-music TV soap opera "Nashville," shows his real roots are in musical theater as Frederic, a young man impressed into service with the pirates.

Gilbert and Sullivan, to my mind, was stuffy old stuff, likely to have an audience of seniors nodding along before, their pre-show wine having taken effect, nodding off to songs with silly titles like "Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast" and "When a Felon's Not Engaged in His Employment."