A FORMER Flying Squad officer will join other Ilkley Amateur Operatic Society recruits in turning to a life of crime as part of a band of dastardly buccaneers.

New pirates were press-ganged onto the stage, thanks to an appeal in Weekend last year, getting on board in time for the society’s production of The Pirates of Penzance.

Many of the intrepid crew are new to the society, but all are now looking forward to strutting their stuff on the King’s Hall stage in tights and thigh-length boots.

One apprentice pirate making his stage debut is James Finch, a member of Ilkley Rotary Club.

He said: “I’ve never acted before but I’ve always enjoyed G&S and hankered to ‘have a go’, so when I saw the appeal for men it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get involved.”

As well as a pirate, James will also be playing a policeman in the show — something that will come naturally to him, having been a policeman in London for 30 years.

He added: “As a Detective Chief Inspector and senior officer on the Flying Squad, I investigated many foul deeds, but never piracy.”

James is looking forward to show week, when many of his family will be travelling from London to see him make his stage debut.

The updated Broadway version of Pirates took New York by storm during the 1980s when it premiered in Central Park.

Starring Patricia Routledge and Kevin Kline, who won a Tony award for best actor, the show then transferred to Broadway, where it ran for more than 800 performances.

The most widely performed and popular of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas, Pirates features the best known of all musical theatre patter songs including I am the very model of the modern Major-General, the stunningly beautiful a capella chorus of Hail Poetry, and a whole host of other memorable melodies, witty lyrics and plenty of slapstick humour.

The Pirates of Penzance runs at the King’s Hall, Ilkley, from March 4 to 7 with shows on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7.15pm, and Saturday at 1.30pm and 5.30pm. Tickets for opening and last night are £10, with other performances £13 (concessions £11).

The final performance will be a pirate party, and the audience is encouraged to get into the pirate theme by coming in costume. Book online at ilkleyoperatic.co.uk or contact the booking secretary on 07763 816611.