It is difficult to understand how a director who got so much comedy out of Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park” over the winter could so miss the comedy in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance, ” but Drury Lane Oakbrook associate artistic director William Osetek has somehow managed to do exactly that with this hollow production of the famous operetta. Even with the comedy gone, things might still have been rescued from the voices of the cast, but alas, mostly mediocre show voices utterly incapable of the technique and power necessary for this kind of show are employed in the leads. What you have left is something that makes the Linda Ronstadt Broadway and film versions look like high art. If this is the kind of musical that Drury Lane will be producing after the loss of artistic director Ray Frewen, best to stay away from the form. (Dennis Polkow).
Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace; (630)530-8300. Through May 7.
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