The Pirates of Penzance National Tour Schedule & Production History

The Pirates of Penzance Show Information

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.

Di Yam Gazlonim

Pirates!

Opening:	June 03, 1981
Closing:	unknown
Production Type:	Revival
Run Type:	Open Run
Market:	US Tour
Intermissions:	1
Show type	Operetta
Other titles:	The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty (full title)

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
2025	Broadway	Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Production Broadway

The Pirates of Penzance - 1981 US Tour Awards and Nominations