Pirates! The Penzance Musical Revival
Pirates! The Penzance Musical - 2025 Broadway History , Info & More
Todd Haimes Theatre (Broadway)
229 W. 42nd St. New York, NY
A new kind of pirate is docking on Broadway. Roundabout Theatre Company will bring a new version of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, The Pirates of Penzance, back to Broadway in 2025. Pirates! The Penzance Musical is a reimagined version of the 1879 operetta.
The Pirates of Penzance was last seen on Broadway in 1981- a production that won three Tony Awards. The classic story epitomizes the Victorian-era operetta and explores themes of duty, love, and honor, coupled with parody of class structures and authority. As a cornerstone of light opera, The Pirates of Penzance has solidified its place as a timeless work that bridges the gap between classical and contemporary musical theater.
What makes this Pirates! different? In this version, the pirate ship docks in New Orleans in this jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic, in an outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair. With the tongue-twisting Major-General, the rabble-rousing Pirate King, newly-imagined young lovers, daring daughters, footloose pirates and fleet-footed police, there's a shipload of musical comedy delights on board to dazzle first-timers and G&S aficionados alike.
The classic tale is brought to life by director Scott Ellis and Warren Carlyle choreographs with a hilarious new adaptation by Rupert Holmes. It is led by Ramin Karimloo, Jinkx Monsoon, David Hyde Pierce, Nicholas Barasch, Preston Truman Boyd and Samantha Williams.
Pirates! The Penzance Musical - 2025 - Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Pirates! The Penzance Musical
‘Pirates!’: Get your booty to this candy-colored musical (Broadway review)
9 / 10
The show’s energy flags a bit in the second act, as the plot gets more convoluted and the 13-person orchestra switches between New Orleans-style and more traditional orchestrations almost at random. And yet, by the final number — a modified version of “He Is an Englishman” from HMS Pinafore with very of-this-21st-century-moment lyrics — we’re right back in that joyful space that fans of Pirates have cherished for over a century. (This is the 27th Broadway revival, though the first since Papp’s in the early ’80s.) Pirates! offers only modest concessions to modern times in look and sound, and instead embraces the old-fashionedness of the material in a way that still holds mass appeal. It’s a pirate’s booty-ful treat. ★★★★☆
Pirates! The Penzance Musical: Bright and Breezy in the Big Easy
8 / 10
Sporting mutton-chop whiskers in his dual role as Gilbert playing Major-General Stanley, David Hyde Pierce rattles through several patter numbers with perfect assurance and depicts the retired soldier with a befuddled dignity droll to behold. Robust and roguish as the Pirate King, Ramin Karimloo shows off his magnificent baritone and the gleaming chest from which it comes. Genial as Sullivan, Preston Truman Boyd amiably appears as the Sergeant of Police whose midnight gambols with the Stanley daughters and his tap-happy flatfoot platoon are highlights of the second act. Nicholas Barasch makes a perfectly ingenuous Frederic and sings the role handsomely opposite Samantha Williams’ flirtatious Mabel. Jinkx Monsoon ably cuts her good-natured Ruth along the mildly goofy lines of Andrea Martin, but gets stuck with one of Katisha’s arias from The Mikado reworked as a not so hot torch song; better had they simply given Ruth a new costume for act two. The members of the ensemble perform with fresh voices and considerable vitality. Finally, any child who witnesses David Hyde Pierce reel off “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” backed by the ensemble cheerily waving blue and white flags during the choruses, will either wake up screaming some night or will recall this sequence for the rest of their lives. Family audiences: Be warned.
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Pirates! The Penzance Musical FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
When Frederic Was A Little Lad
Oh, Better Far To Live And Die
Oh False One, You Have Deceived Me!
What Shall I Do
Climbing Over Rocky Mountains
Stop, Ladies, Pray!
Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast
Poor Wandering One
What Ought We To Do?
How Beautifully Blue The Sky
Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses
Here's a First Rate Opportunity
Hold, Monsters!
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General
Oh, Men Of Dark And Dismal Fate
Oh, Dry The Glistening Tear
Then Frederic
When The Foeman Bares His Steel
Now For The Pirates' Lair!
When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold
Away, Away! My Heart's On Fire
All Is Prepared
Stay, Frederic, Stay!
No, I Am Brave
When A Felon's Not Engaged In His Employment
A Rollicking Band Of Pirates We
With Cat-Like Tread, Upon Our Prey We Steal
Hush, Hush! Not a Word
Sighing Softly To The River
Now What Is This?
My Eyes Are Fully Open
Sorry Her Lot
Pour, O Pour The Pirate Sherry
When Frederic Was A Little Lad
Oh, Better Far To Live And Die
Oh, False One, You Have Deceived Me
Climbing Over Rocky Mountain
Stop, Ladies, Pray!
Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast?
Poor Wandering One
What Ought We To Do?
How Beautifully Blue The Sky
Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses
Hold Monsters
I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General
Oh, Men Of Dark And Dismal Fate
Oh, Dry The Glistening Tear
Then, Frederic, Let Your Escort Lion-Hearted
When The Foeman Bares His Steel
Now For The Pirates' Lair!
When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold
My Eyes Are Fully Open
Away, Away! My Heart's On Fire!
All Is Prepared
Stay, Frederick, Stay!
Sorry Her Lot
No, I Am Brave!
When A Felon's Not Engaged In His Employment
A Rollicking Band Of Pirates We
With Cat-Like Tread, Upon Our Prey We Steal
Hush, Hush! Not A Word
Sighing Softly To The River
Finale
Pirates! The Penzance Musical History
Other Productions of Pirates! The Penzance Musical
| 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 |
| 2024 | West End |
West End |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Pirates! The Penzance Musical - 2025 Broadway Awards and Nominations
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Adaptation | Rupert Holmes |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Warren Carlyle |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical | Nicholas Barasch |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Rick Sordelet |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Christian Kelly-Sordelet |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Joseph Joubert |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Daryl Waters |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISINTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Jinkx Monsoon |
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Ramin Karimloo |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Warren Carlyle |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Joseph Joubert |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Daryl Waters |
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