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Who Played Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance

Major-General Stanley 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.

22 actors have played Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.

View full cast of The Pirates of Penzance

Performer Production Opened
J.H. Ryley Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1879
Richard Mansfield Regional (UK) The Pirates of Penzance 1879
George Grossmith West End The Pirates of Penzance 1880
Ernest Lawford Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1926
Fred Wright Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1927
Frank Moulan Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1931
Frank Moulan Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1933
John Cherry Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1934
Frank Moulan Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1935
Frank Moulan Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1936
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1939
Frank Kierman Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1940
Florenz Ames Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1942
Florenz Ames Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1944
John Dudley Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1946
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1948
Ralph Riggs Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1949
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1951
Martyn Green Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1952
Peter Pratt Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1955
James Conroy-Ward Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1976
Clive Revill US Tour The Pirates of Penzance 1981
George Rose Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
George S. Irving Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Joe Pichette Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Leo Leyden US Tour The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Martin Walsh Broadway The Pirates of Penzance 1981
Ronald Fraser West End The Pirates of Penzance 1982
Andrew Shore West End The Pirates of Penzance 2017

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

“Major-General Stanley” Also Appears In

Production Type Year
The Pirates of Penzance Off-Broadway 1966

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