For the first time in more than a decade, the University Resident Theatre Company is collaborating with the School of Music to present Gilbert and Sullivan's classic operetta, "The Pirates of Penzance."

Director Cary Libkin said the theater department had already made plans for the musical, which runs until March 1 at the Playhouse Theatre, when he became an associate professor last semester.

The operetta opens in Penzance Cove, England, where on his 21st birthday the main character Frederic becomes a full-fledged pirate. Upon informing his crewmates that he will be staying ashore, Frederic finds himself in several humorous situations.

Frederic falls in love with Mabel, one of the daughters of the Major General. Seeing the other ladies at Penzance Cove encourages the pirates to return in hopes of finding wives. Police officers further complicate matters by trying to protect the ladies of propriety from the pirates.

"We end up in a three-way competition between the pirates, ladies and cops," Libkin said.

The nature of the performance requires the cast to be versatile in singing and dancing. Libkin, the choreographer, the vocal director and the fight scenes choreographer selected 40 out of 120 University students after one day of auditions.

The all-student cast, which represents several majors, are both undergraduates and graduates. Choreographer J. Casey Sams said the show's dancing is more rigid than other shows she has worked on.

"It was important to choreograph movement that supported the music rather than interfered or upstaged it," she said.

Because the characters' desires are conveyed through singing, Libkin said he was looking for people who would be able to express feelings through their performances.

"Pirates of Penzance" was updated in 1980 by the Joseph Papp New York Shakespeare Festival for Broadway. In the updated version singer Linda Ronstadt and actor Kevin Kline starred.

Vocal director Bruce Trinkley said URTC's performance is somewhere between the original and updated version of the show.

For the brawls, in which most cast members eventually join, Jane Ridley instructed the performers on precision and movement. As the fight scenes choreographer, she said the fighting was a challenge because she has never choreographed so many characters at the same time.

"I had a core of people who already knew how to fight," she said.

Some of the cast members studied sword-play taught by Ridley last semester and she incorporated their individual abilities into the fight scenes.

Tickets for the musical, which has gained mainstream popularity, have already sold out.