Remaking the Model of a Modern, Major Revival

The show that is about to be staged at the Todd Haimes Theatre is not your grandma's The Pirates of Penzance. As evidenced by its new name, Pirates! The Penzance Musical is turning the classic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta on its head with a Louisiana-style reimagining.

"This take is New Orleans-inspired; it's set at the turn of the century; it's the beginning of jazz music. It's full of flavor, it's full of life, and I'm hoping to choreograph the hell out of it," explained Warren Carlyle. "In my mind I've said it's inspired by period, not bound by period. Because, you know, you look at 1890s dancing and it's like... I don't know how interesting that is in the modern day. [Laughs] So I've tried to infuse it with my own particular rhythms or my own particular flavor, but always based on the music."

The concept, in fact is based on a nugget of history that the creative team decided to run with. "[The Pirates of Penzance] is a favorite work of mine, but now it's being done in a way that not only have I never heard of that way, but no one's ever heard it this way," explained Rupert Holmes.

"We knew that factually, Gilbert and Sullivan were touring the East Coast of America presenting their new musical before they ever did in England. Then we found that there was a production in New Orleans! We thought, well let's assume that that's them and they went there and Sullivan heard the  beginning of ragtime, jazz, the blues, exotic music from the Caribbean, and said, 'My English ears have never heard anything like this. Let us bring this New Orleans sound into our score! And let the performers be from the area, and have their way with the tunes!'

"And Gilbert said, 'Forget that, there are real pirates in New Orleans, not the fake ones we had! Let's make it part of that history.'"

This New Orleans flavor is very much a part of the show's new sound, which features new arrangements by Joseph Joubert. "A lot of the songs are the same, but we've infused jazz on many of the other things - it's a ragtime, dixieland, New Orleans sound. It's tricky because we're trying not to mess it up but we're having fun changing chords here and there and changing the feel of some of these original songs. People will be like, 'Wow! That used to be in 3/4 time but now it's in 4/4 with swing!'"

Despite the changes, Holmes is sure that the heart of the piece remains. "It still remains a wonderful comedy, but we've also been able to bring in a couple of important points for our country at this time," he explained. "And the fact that everyone in the story is some form of an immigrant from somewhere else, and they're all here in New Orleans, and they realize that unites us is that we're all from someplace else."

Carlyle echoed his sentiments. "This musical is perfect. This musical is a joy machine. It's a total joy machine. And when I look at the world, it's a little chaotic. So for audiences to have somewhere to go, I think it's an important thing. And I know for me, this one is saving me right now."

Pirates! The Penzance Musical will begin previews at the Todd Haimes Theatre on April 4, 2025. View the full 2025 Spring Preview!