STAGE TUBE: On This Day 1/8- PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Welcome to BWW's ON THIS DAY Series celebrating theatrical birthdays, openings and special events that took place on this day in theatre history!

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of The Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

In celebration of this day, we bring you George Rose's performance of 'I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General' from the 1981 revival. Click below to check it out!