The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway Tickets

By: W. S. Gilbert, adapted by Rupert Holmes
Songs by: Arthur Sullivan
Director: Scott Ellis
Choreography: Warren Carlyle
Producer: Roundabout Theatre Company
Cast list: Ramin Karimloo (as The Pirate King), David Hyde Pierce (as W.S. Gilbert/Major General), Jinkx Monsoon (as Ruth), Nicholas Barasch (as Frederic), Preston Truman Boyd (as Sullivan/Police Sergeant), Samantha Williams (as Mabel Stanley)
Sets: David Rockwell
Costumes: Linda Cho
Lighting: Donald Holder
Sound: Mikaal Sulaiman
Other info: Music direction by Joseph Joubert, orchestrations by Joubert and Daryl Waters dance arrangements by John O’Neill

Frederic, 21, marks the end of his apprenticeship with a celebration among a band of pirates and the Pirate King. Soon, Frederic encounters the young Mabel, the daughter of the Major-General, and quickly falls in love.

The pirates subsequently return to shore to seize the young women with plans to wed them forcibly. The Major-General, their father, arrives and protests against his daughters' coerced marriages. In a desperate bid to save them, he falsely claims to be an orphan, which resonates with the pirates who, being orphans themselves, agree to release their captives.

Back at home, the Major-General wrestles with guilt over his deceit, while his daughters attempt to console him. The police sergeant arrives and, aided by Frederic, announces plans to apprehend the pirates. Frederic sees this as an opportunity to make amends for his pirating past. However, complications arise when it is revealed that Frederic, born on February 29 in a leap year, is technically only 5 years old. Bound by his sense of duty, Frederic is compelled by the Pirate King to return to piracy.

Before parting ways, Frederic confides in Mabel about his predicament, and they pledge fidelity to each other until his eventual return.

Will the young lovers last? Gilbert and Sullivan's classic operetta features a cast of colorful characters and a bouncy, buoyant, and swashbuckling score beloved since its debut over a century ago. Now, the production gets an update with a new setting, take on the characters, and orchestrations to infuse a New Orleans flair into the show.

What to watch for

• Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle (After Midnight) choreographs the hilarious new adaptation by Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), featuring musical direction by Joseph Joubert (Caroline, or Change) and orchestrations by Joubert and Daryl Waters (Memphis).
• Roundabout Theatre Company is known for its splashy revivals of beloved musicals; some recent ones include She Loves Me and Kiss Me, Kate.
• David Hyde Pierce has long been a musical comedy staple, appearing in Curtains and Here We Are along with on TV in his Emmy-winning turn as Niles Crane on Frasier.
• The venue, the Todd Haimes Theatre, is named after the theater's last artistic director, who passed away due to complications from cancer in 2023. He won the Lucille Lortel Outstanding Lifetime Achievement.