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The Pirates of Penzance - 1978 New York History , Info & More


No Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera boasts as many walk-away tunes as The Pirates of Penzance, the only collaboration of the pair to premiere on Broadway, and not in England. Building on the success of the previous year’s H.M.S. Pinafore, but trading—as their principal “serious” focus—the rigors of naval discipline for the obligations of duty, G&S manage to burlesque their normal share of popular institutions, including the army, the police, and operatic sopranos. Pirate apprentice Frederic, at age 21, has faithfully served out his indentures and, replete with a sense of duty, joins the police force, determined to exterminate his old mates. He falls in love with Mabel, the first girl he sees, but the daughter of Major-General Stanley, who himself is the target of a pirate revenge plot. Plans go awry when it is revealed that, thanks to a leap-day birth, Frederic is really only five and one-quarter years old. The engaging musical score includes some of the catchiest music in the G&S canon: Mabel’s pyrotechnic “Poor, wandering one;” the tongue-twisting patter song “I am the very model of a modern major-general;” “A policeman’s lot;” “Climbing over rocky mountain”—a survivor from Thespis, G&S’s lost first stage work; and “With catlike tread,” which, more than a quarter-century later, was given new words as “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here.” At The Egyptian Theatre.


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The Pirates of Penzance History

Other Productions of The Pirates of Penzance

1879   Regional (UK) World Premiere
Regional (UK)
1879   Broadway Original Broadway Production
Broadway
1880   New York Unknown
New York
1880   West End London Production
West End
1884   West End London Revival
West End
1900   Broadway Unknown
Broadway
1912   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1918   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1926   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1927   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1931   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1933   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1934   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1934   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1935   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1936   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1936   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1939   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1940   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1942   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1944   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1946   Broadway Unknown
Broadway
1948   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1949   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1951   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1952   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1955   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1961   Off-Broadway Off-Broadway Revival
Off-Broadway
1976   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
1977   Off-Broadway Off-Broadway Revival
Off-Broadway
1979   Off-Broadway LOOM Revival
Off-Broadway
1981   Broadway Broadway Transfer
Broadway
1981   US Tour National Tour
US Tour
1982   West End London Production
West End
1985   Off-Off-Broadway Off-Off-Broadway Revival
Off-Off-Broadway
2006   Off-Broadway Off-Broadway Revival
Off-Broadway
2006   East Haddam, CT (Regional) Goodspeed Production
East Haddam, CT (Regional)
2007   Milburn, NJ (Regional) Paper Mill Production
Milburn, NJ (Regional)
2017   West End English National Opera Revival
West End
2024   West End
West End
2025   Broadway Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Production
Broadway

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