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Who Played Edward in The Pirates of Penzance

Edward is a role in The Pirates of Penzance, a musical that opened Broadway in 1934.

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.

5 actors have played Edward in The Pirates of Penzance.

View full cast of The Pirates of Penzance

Performer Production Opened
DeWolf Hopper Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
George J. MacFarlane Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
William C. Gordon Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1926
William C. Gordon Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1927
William Danforth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1931
William Danforth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1933
William Danforth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
William Danforth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1935
William Danforth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Robert Eckles Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1949
Robert Eckles Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1952

Other Roles in The Pirates of Penzance

Role Production Opened
Edith Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Edward Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Ensemble Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Frederic Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Isabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Kate Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Mabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Major-General Stanley Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Richard Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Ruth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Samuel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934

“Edward” Also Appears In

Production Type Year
Pretty Woman Chicago 2018
Richard III West End 2012
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me Broadway 1992
The Philadelphia Story Broadway 1980

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