When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy at an attorneys firm
I cleaned the window and I swept the floor
As I polished up the handle on the big front door
I polished up the handle so carefully
That now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navee
                                                           —W.S. Gilbert

It seems like Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas never grow old.

Whether it’s Sir Joseph Porter bragging that he never went to sea and became the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee in H.M.S. Pinafore or the ambitious Lord High Executioner KoKo making a list of enemies (who never will be missed) in The Mikado, the biting satire still rings as strong as ever, maybe even stronger. Arthur Sullivan’s pliable music still moves gracefully from comic to lushly romantic and W.S. Gilbert’s librettos are as fresh now as they were in the 1870s..

The University of Michigan’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society (UMGASS) is presenting H.M.S. Pinafore at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, April 3-6.

In Pinafore, Capt. Corcoran wishes to marry off his daughter Josephine to Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty, and elevate his and her social rank. But Josephine is in love with the seaman Ralph (pronounced Rafe) and he’s in love with her. A somewhat worn street vendor known at Little Buttercup has a secret but she’s reluctant to divulge it. Will class differences destroy true love? Maybe or maybe not, but for a rollicking comedy, Pinafore touched lightly but pointedly on some controversial issues when it was first performed in 1878. Despite some controversy (an offended First Lord of the Admiralty and raised eyebrows), Pinafore was a Gilbert and Sullivans breakthrough hit and a huge success in London and throughout the world and was quickly followed by the equally successful The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance. And the shows continue to be performed everywhere.

Lilya Heidelbaugh is a young director who sees issues raised in Pinafore that still resonate, especially those issues dealing with the role of women in society. She brings the opera forward from the 1870s to the 1920s when British women were marching on the streets of London to win the vote and a voice in public affairs and control over their private affairs.

“I really love this show which is one of the reasons why I wanted the opportunity to direct it,” she said. “I thought there was a lot of opportunity for exploration in it. The music is great and I think with all the things going on in the world right now, it’s very relevant as well.”

The 1920s were a volatile time following World War I and women were trying to break free from the restrictions of British society. Heidelbaugh said she hasn’t seen a version of the play done the way she’s doing it.

“In the show, we have themes of marriage and being pushed into a marriage that one might not want, so I think just in terms of empowering women in the show into fighting for their rights and fighting to be strong. It adds another layer to the show,” Heidelbaugh said. “I really hope that the audience understands the relevance of this even though the show was written so many years ago. It still remains relevant today, especially with women fighting for our rights. There’s the hope that we have come this far and we’re still fighting for our rights. We’ve made progress already.”

Madeleine Wignet plays Josephine, the heroine who is torn between honoring her father’s wish that she marry the First Lord of the Admiralty and her true love for the salty seaman Ralph Rackstraw.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Wignet said. “She is such a great character because even though at this time women didn’t have a lot of choices in their lives, she is pushing against that in her life. And she’s also quite funny. She speaks her mind when she wants to and I think that’s fun.”

Wignet said she was also challenged by singing Sullivan’s music.

“Josephine sings a lot of very high stuff and almost every song is quite high so that’s definitely a challenge,” she said. “Also, just putting all the emotion into this can be quite challenging because it’s such an emotionally charged show. She is feeling this anguish and trying to make all these decisions and she’s so in love with Ralph it’s almost like an overcoming feeling.”

Melinda Carlisle performs in the ensemble, most notably as one of the admiral's many supportive  “sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts.”

“It’s so great to be in a communal role, of getting to interact with each other a lot and make your own choices: how you made it onto the ship and really getting to interact with the sailors, finding your own little love story and just being with everybody on stage,” she said.

This is Carlisle’s second UMGASS production but she is on the UMGASS board and manages all of the organization’s ticket sales. Carlisle’s father performed with a Gilbert and Sullivan company when he was her age and came to town to be in the show with his daughter.

“He inspired me to really love Gilbert and Sullivan and I ended up majoring in opera in college, so it’s become a love of mine and that’s how I ended up here,” she said.

Wignet said she wants audiences to go away feeling “the happiness that you get from the end of the show when everyone is finding their own love story and they find their happy ending.”

Carlisle puts it simply, “Follow your heart, choose joy and do what makes you happy and find what fulfills you whether it’s a person or a life of living.”

UMGASS is all about a community.

“We have quite a few students in the show,” said Heidelbaugh. “When I think about UMGASS it’s that we have a really good blend of students and community members. We have community members who have been here for many, many years, which is great and is a real welcoming community to students. It gravitates toward a feeling of welcoming into this group.”

We’ll go out with some more sage advice from the First Lord of the Admiralty:

I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament
I always voted at my party’s call
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all
(He never thought of thinking for himself at all)
I thought so little, they rewarded me
(He thought so little, they awarded he
By making him the Ruler of the Queen’s Navee!)

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit.

The  University of Michigan’s Gilbert & Sullivan Society will present "H.M.S Pinafore" at 8 pm on April 3-5 and at 2 pm on April 5-6 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor. For tickets, go to umgass.org/tickets.