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Who Played Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance

Isabel is a role in The Pirates of Penzance, a musical that opened Broadway in 1981.

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.

27 actors have played Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance.

View full cast of The Pirates of Penzance

Performer Production Opened
Jessie Bond Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1879
Kate Neville Regional (UK) The Pirates of Penzance 1879
Lilian La Rue West End The Pirates of Penzance 1880
Louise Barthel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Adele Sanderson Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1926
Bettina Hall Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1927
Frances Baviello Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1931
Frances Baviello Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1933
Elizabeth Nickell-Lean Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Olga Schumacher Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Frances Baviello Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1935
Gertrude Waldron Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Kathleen Naylor Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Maysie Dean Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1939
Ellen Merrill Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1940
Marie Valdez Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1942
Mary Lundon Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1944
Mary Polynack Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1946
Enid Walsh Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1948
Marie Petek Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1949
Enid Walsh Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1951
Shirley Pringle Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1952
Margaret Dobson Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1955
Patricia Ann Bennett Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1976
Karen Hartman Off-Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1979
Lucille Mascia Off-Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1979
Cheryl Hodges Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Maria Guida Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Wendy Wolfe Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Louise Gold West End The Pirates of Penzance 1982

Other Roles in The Pirates of Penzance

Role Production Opened
Edith Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Ensemble Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Frederic Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Isabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Kate Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Mabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Major-General Stanley Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Major-General Stanley's Daughter Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Performer Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Pirate and Policeman Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Ruth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Samuel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
The Pirate King Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
The Sergeant of Police Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981

“Isabel” Also Appears In

Production Type Year
The Pirates of Penzance Off-Broadway 1980
King Henry V Broadway 1958

Photos from The Pirates of Penzance

View all 2 photos from The Pirates of Penzance

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