The Pirates of Penzance
May 23 – June 22, 2025
GK Hardt Theater
The Ultimate Musical Pirate Party!
When is a 21st birthday, not a 21st birthday? On February 29!
Prepare for a riotous Cornish beach bash with Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.
This isn’t your typical pirate tale—instead of swashbuckling on the high seas, our story is set on the Cornish coast where a quirky cast of sentimental pirates, bumbling policemen and beautiful young women will steal your heart.
On his 21st birthday, Frederic is ready to leave his apprenticeship to a band of pirates behind in favor of a more respectable lifestyle—though the Pirate King argues that piracy is refreshingly honest compared to respectability.
On a sunny beach, Frederic and his nursemaid Ruth encounter a group of charming young women. He falls head-over-heels for Mabel, the only one among them willing to help him turn over a new leaf. But just as love blossoms, the pirates return hoping to whisk the other sisters away to the high seas in merriment and matrimony.
Enter the Major-General—the girls’ protective father—who claims to be an orphan, winning the pirates’ sympathy and releasing the sisters back to their father’s care. Later, as a police sergeant plans an arrest, a bombshell is dropped: born on February 29, Frederic is legally only five! With duty and love colliding, chaos ensues in a wild, irreverent showdown that promises unexpected twists.
Amid the laughs and love, revel in the rousing tunes like the iconic “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” and “I Am a Pirate King” that promise to get everyone singing along in a celebration of wit, music, and fun!
Skull Cast
Andrew Cedeño
Andrew Cedeño (Frederic) is happy to be back at 6th Street Playhouse after making his debut in She Loves Me as the unforgettable busboy. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance from SSU, where he was in Sweeney Todd, Candide, Spring Awakening, and played Modern Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance. Andrew was also in Hello, Dolly! and played Danny Zuko in Grease. He hopes to live and perform in Los Angeles one day.
Nicole Stanley
Nicole Stanley (Mabel) is happy to be in her first operetta as Mabel! You may have seen her here as Alice in LIZZIE, Nicola in Kinky Boots or in the ensemble of She Loves Me, and as Ilona for one night. Nicole recently played Portia the Otter in Wind in the Willows and Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at Spreckels. She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Chico State, where she played some of her favorite roles: Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Paulette in Legally Blonde. She is a music teacher and the outreach coordinator for Art and Soul here in Santa Rosa, a youth music director at Cinnabar Theater, and a vocal coach around Sonoma County. She would like to dedicate her performance career to her late father.
Laura Downing-Lee
Laura Downing-Lee (Ruth) is primarily known locally as a director. She most recently directed Orlando for SRJC and is delighted to direct A Christmas Story for 6th Street this fall. However, she also loves to perform; recent performances include a “ballsy” Bernadette in POTUS… at Left Edge and a fiery Fruma-Sarah in 6th Street’s Fiddler on the Roof. An SRJC Theatre Arts faculty member for 25+ years, she’s now retired from full-time teaching, but still teaches part-time, and will be performing alongside her students as Dolly in Hello Dolly! next April.
Tim Setzer
Tim Setzer (Major-General Stanley) is elated to return to the 6th Street Playhouse stage, previously appearing as Yvan in ART, Toddy in Victor/Victoria, and Feste in Illyria. A long-time North Bay actor, he has performed in numerous venues including Spreckels Theatre Company, Sonoma Arts Live, Cinnabar Theater, The White Barn, Napa Valley Playhouse, Napa Valley Conservatory Theatre, Shakespeare Napa Valley, and Lucky Penny Productions. Always, for Michael…
Skyler King
Skyler King (Pirate King) is psyched to be back at the Playhouse! After more than a decade studying and performing in the Sacramento area, Sky made his regional debut in 6th Street’s production of 9 To 5: The Musical, was later in Pride and Prejudice, and then played Don in Kinky Boots. Some favorite recent roles include Matterson/M2 in The Hello Girls at Sonoma Arts Live, The Wanderer in Woody Guthrie’s American Song at Splinter Group Theatre and Jack/”Stephanie” in Leading Ladies at Main St. Theatre Works. Love to friends, family, Rachel, and Paco.
Bones Cast
Aidan Cumming
Aidan Cumming (Frederic) is thrilled to be playing this role after joining the 6th Street Playhouse family as Larry in Groundhog Day. He also recently performed on SRJC’s stages as Rocky in Rocky Horror Picture Show, Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Professor Plum in Clue, and Lucas in The Addams Family.
Caroline Flett
Caroline Flett (Mabel) is delighted to return to 6th Street Playhouse after playing Judy in White Christmas. Recent credits include Oklahoma! with Cinnabar Theater, Trial by Jury with Pacific Opera Project and Iolanthe with Lamplighters Music Theatre. Caroline teaches private voice lessons and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. She studied at the European Music Institute in Vienna and performed for the Austrian American Vocal Academy, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and Songfest at the Colburn School of Music. Her next project will be at Festival Napa Valley, where she will be singing with the Versailles Royal Opera in their production of “La Filles du Régiment” on July 18, 2025.
Ginger Beavers
Ginger Beavers (Ruth) has been seen on stage at 6th Street as Martha in White Christmas, Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret, The Suspects in Murder for Two, Dottie Otley in Noises Off, and Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. She lived and worked at the American Embassy in Moscow after earning her BA in Russian. After many years of teaching Theater Arts, she returned to the University of Tennessee and earned her Master of Fine Arts in Acting. While teaching Theater Arts at El Molino High School she appeared at the Raven as Rose in Gypsy! She lives in Petaluma with her wonderful husband Chuck and their faithful lab, Bette Davis.
Ted C. Smith
Ted C. Smith (Major-General Stanley) has performed in Sonoma County and Bay Area theater productions for over a decade. He recently played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, Nostradamus in Something Rotten! and Toad in A Year with Frog and Toad at 6th Street Playhouse. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in acting from Sonoma State, where he played David in Company, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf in Into the Woods. Favorite community roles include Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, Patsy in Spamalot, and Stewpot in South Pacific. He also performed with the Pacific Mozart Ensemble and the Oakland Symphony Chorus. STARS Talent Agency in San Francisco represents him in their voice-over department.
Drew Bolander
Drew Bolander (Pirate King) is a Santa Rosa native who spent most of his life based in NYC performing in anything from opera to circus. Now returned home, you may have caught him as Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, or as Kodaly in She Loves Me, both at 6th Street Playhouse. He also played Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Spreckels, Captain JW Riser in The Hello Girls at SAL, and was in the ensembles of Tosca and La Bohème at Pocket Opera/Cinnabar. He will play Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at SAL and sing Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ with Cantiamo Sonoma.