Keith Jurosko, Angela Smith & Stephen O’Brien in H.M.S. Pinafore .

Photo by Carol Rosegg.

An ebullient H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), first of William S. Gilbert and Arthur S. Sullivan’s successful operettas, opened the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players’ (NYGASP) two weekend season at City Center on January 6, with Artistic Director, Stage Director and Conductor Albert Bergeret presiding.

Heading the cast as Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., company veteran buffo baritone Stephen O’Brien left Bergeret and his players to vamp at length until he was good and ready to begin “I am the monarch of the sea,” taking the maestro by surprise when he finally did sing—an old bit, but still an effective one. Bergeret exacted revenge by letting O’Brien start “ When I was a lad” without accompaniment, not raising his baton until he was ready, whereupon the singer delivered Sir Joseph’s autobiographical solo with his customary keen comic timing and flair.

Let’s give three cheers, and one cheer more, to NYGASP’s ensemble for giving “Shall we submit,” in the first act finale, and reiterations of anthems “A British tar” and “He is an Englishman” all the grandeur of the “Hallelujah,” from Messiah , and making plain the operatic ancestry of “Carefully on tiptoe stealing,” with sneaky antecedents like “Zitti, zitti,” in Rigoletto, and “Piano, pianissimo,” in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Baritone Keith Jurosko, as Captain Corcoran, greeted his crew, in “My gallant crew, good morning … I am the Captain of the Pinafore,” with polish and brought operatic breadth to his serenade, “Fair moon, to thee I sing.” Instead of “extra grog” on the occasion of Sir Joseph’s visit, he rewarded his men with additional “Grey Goose vodka and tonic.” Angela Smith introduced herself with an ingratiating, lyric “I’m called Little Buttercup.” She established her kinship with Verdi’s louche Azucena and Ulrica in the mystical, comical “Things are seldom what they seem,” with Jurosko, and in her dark revelation scene, “A many years ago.”

Charlotte Detrick lent Josephine’s entrance ballad, “Sorry her lot,” and ruminative, German romantic-derived scena, “The hours creep on apace,” an even, light soprano. In the patter trio with O’Brien and Jurosko, cheerful highlight “Never mind the why and wherefore,” and its dance and three encores, Detrick proved unfazed by the rapid-fire repetitions of her solo verse and capping each one with a bright high note. NYGASP newcomer Brian Kuchta, as Ralph Rackstraw, displayed a graceful lyric tenor, but uncertain restrained top tones, in his lovelorn ballad, “A maiden fair to see.” He was on surer ground in his more forceful contribution to the mock- dramatic duet “Refrain, audacious tar,” with Detrick, which boasted the requisite Verdian fire and fury. The lovers’ jubilant “Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen,” with Erika Person’s Cousin Hebe, successfully banished the gloom of a scene that began with Kuchta’s Ralph threatening suicide.

As Dick Deadeye, this year’s Isaac Asimov Award winner, Louis Dall’ Ava, with NYGASP since 1979, made as mean and disturbing a villain as one would want, interpolating a lament of “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” ; when Sir Joseph made it clear that Ralph, not Dick, is the “splendid seaman” he would interview, and bringing ominous echoes of Rigoletto and Don Carlo duets for low voices to “Kind Captain, I’ve important information,” the exchange with Jurosko. William Whitefield, as the boatswain’s mate, Bill Bobstay, and David Wannen, as the carpenter’s mate, Bob Becket, firmly anchored the first, solo statements of the patriotic anthems. In the octet “Farewell, my own,” descendent of the Miserere, from Il Trovatore , “no cellular phone,” rather than “no telephone,” would “communicate with [Ralph’s dungeon] cell.”

H.M.S. Pinafore alternates in repertory with The Mikado through January 15.

H.M.S. Pinafore January 6^th & 14^th at 8 p.m., 7^th at 2 p.m. & 15^th at 3 p.m.

The Mikado January 7^th & 13^th at 8 p.m., 8^th at 3 p.m., 10^th at 7 p.m. & 14^th at 1 p.m.

Quintessential G&S, including Trial by Jury, January 12^th at 8 p.m.

New York City Center, West 55^th St between 6^th & 7^th Aves