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Who Played Kate in The Pirates of Penzance

Kate is a role in The Pirates of Penzance, a musical that opened Broadway in 1912.

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.

33 actors have played Kate in The Pirates of Penzance.

View full cast of The Pirates of Penzance

Performer Production Opened
Billie Barlow Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1879
Lena Monmouth Regional (UK) The Pirates of Penzance 1879
Neva Bond West End The Pirates of Penzance 1880
Alice Brady Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Sybil Sterling Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1926
Suissabell Sterling Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1927
Georgina Dieter Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1931
Mabel Thompson Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1933
Frances Baviello Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Maisie Baxter Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Nina Dean Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1935
Dean Dickens Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Elizabeth Nickell-Lean Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Ivy Sanders Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1939
Kathryn Lewis Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1940
Margaret Roy Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1942
Marie Valdez Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1944
Lenore Parker Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1946
Joan Gillingham Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1948
Beverly Janis Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1949
Joyce Wright Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1951
Mary Roche Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1952
Joy Mornay Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1955
Caroline Baker Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1976
Sandra Walker Off-Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1977
Catherine Lankford Off-Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1979
Claudia O'Neill Off-Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1979
Bonnie Simmons Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Marcie Shaw Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Susan Goodman Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Valerie Piacenti Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Bonnie Langford West End The Pirates of Penzance 1982
Angharad Lyddon West End The Pirates of Penzance 2017

Other Roles in The Pirates of Penzance

Role Production Opened
Edith Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Edward Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Ensemble Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Frederic Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Isabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Kate Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Mabel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Performer Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Richard Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Ruth Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912
Samuel Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1912

“Kate” Also Appears In

Production Type Year
If/Then Broadway 2014
Annie US Tour 2014
Honestly Abe - The Musical Off-Broadway 2012
Seminar Broadway 2011
Good People Broadway 2011
Come Fly Away Broadway 2010
Legally Blonde Broadway 2007
We're Still Hot Off-Broadway 2005
The Wild Party Off-Broadway 2000
The Wild Party Broadway 2000
Jekyll & Hyde Broadway 1997
Sylvia Off-Broadway 1995
Dancing at Lughnasa Broadway 1991
Broadway Bound Broadway 1986
The Pirates of Penzance Off-Broadway 1980
Annie Broadway 1977
Old Times Broadway 1971
Half a Sixpence West End 1963
Oklahoma! Broadway 1943
The Yeomen of the Guard Broadway 1915

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