PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 5:08pm

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 9:53pm

4 stars from TimeOut

Pirates! The Penzance Musical

4 out of 5 stars

Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance gets a merry Louisiana makeover.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/pirates-the-penzance-musical-broadway-review-penzance-gilbert-sullivan-david-hyde-pierce-rupert-holmes

Feldman wrote the review a la Gilbert and Sullivan

"The modern world is full of stress, so go and have a party, brah,
And shake it like a necklace made of gaudy beads at Mardi Gras.
Enjoy this Broadway hybrid that is tuneful and poetical:
A most delightful model of a modern operettical. "

(before the pedants come to quibble that operettical is not a word in English, he coins it in the first line of the review. Read the whole thing.)

Updated On: 4/24/25 at 09:53 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 9:59pm

NY Stage Review

PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL: NOT FOR PURISTS, BUT FUN FOR EVERYONE ELSE

By Frank Scheck

★★★★☆ Rupert Holmes delivers an entertaining, New Orleans-flavored adaptation of the classic Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

https://nystagereview.com/2025/04/24/pirates-the-penzance-musical-not-for-purists-but-fun-for-everyone-else/

 

PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL: BRIGHT AND BREEZY IN THE BIG EASY

By Michael Sommers

★★★★☆ David Hyde Pierce, Jinkx Monsoon and Ramin Karimloo sail away in a Gilbert & Sullivan showboat

https://nystagereview.com/2025/04/24/pirates-the-penzance-musical-bright-and-breezy-in-the-big-easy/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:01pm

Green in NYT: Not a Critic's Pick

Theater

Review: Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Pirates,’ Now in Jazzy New Orleans

A Broadway remake of the operetta, starring David Hyde Pierce, moves the plot to the Big Easy, where good times roll, even if some jokes don’t quite land.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/theater/pirates-penzance-musical-review.html

"Though jolly enough, the latest Broadway incarnation, which opened on Thursday at the Todd Haimes Theater, trusts neither the material nor us as much as it might. Clumsily but accurately retitled “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” and transported to post-Reconstruction New Orleans, it is also significantly altered in tone. Except for the central performance by David Hyde Pierce, marvelously underplaying the tongue-twisting Major-General, the production has a sweaty quality, bordering on frenzy, that’s hopelessly at odds with the cool wit of the original."

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:02pm

Variety:

‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ Review: David Hyde Pierce and Jinkx Monsoon Lead a Rollicking, Riotous Reimagination of Gilbert and Sullivan on Broadway

https://variety.com/2025/legit/reviews/pirates-the-penzance-musical-review-broadway-1236377063/

"This revival soars in large part due to its fantastic cast, especially Pierce, Barasch, Monsoon, and Ramin Karimloo, playing the Pirate King. Pierce and Karimloo embrace their characters’ operatic origins, but transform them into musical comedy icons. Pierce displays his unparalleled talent for subtlety and nonchalance, rattling off the infamously difficult polysyllabic rhyming patter of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” — a true masterclass in comedy — and also delivering a host of witty puns with metatheatrical eyebrow raises to the audience (since he is technically playing Gilbert playing the Major-General, amused at his own cleverness). Karimloo gives a muscular performance, chest ablaze, hamming it up and flawlessly executing athletic stunts. Barasch is clearly having a blast as the adorably dutiful Frederic, though he sometimes gets lost in the murky waters between operetta and musical theater. "

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:04pm

The Wrap

‘Pirates!’ Broadway Review: David Hyde Pierce Steals a Show That’s Only Half Ship-Shape

A radically retooled “Pirates of Penzance” makes a rocky voyage to New Orleans

Regardless of the role, David Hyde Pierce plays basically the same nebbish guy, and always, he's simply marvelous on stage.

https://www.thewrap.com/pirates-the-penzance-musical-broadway-review/

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:04pm

Theatermania

Review: Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a Jambalaya With Too Many Cooks

David Hyde Pierce, Ramin Karimloo, and Jinkx Monsoon star in the heavily revised Broadway revival from Roundabout Theatre Company.

https://www.theatermania.com/news/review-pirates-the-penzance-musical-a-jambalaya-with-too-many-cooks_1773596/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:05pm

Chicago Tribune/NY Daily News

Review: ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ is a delightful bit of Gilbert and Sullivan, back on Broadway

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/24/review-pirates-the-penzance-musical-is-a-delightful-bit-of-gilbert-and-sullivan-back-on-broadway/

 

" Holmes, best known for writing “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” gives the show a fresh and loving applied coat of paint, even writing Gilbert and Sullivan themselves into the experience, taking a leaf from Jamie Lloyd’s little homage to Andrew Lloyd Webber in the current “Sunset Blvd.” But Ellis also has delivered an old-school analog pleasure in a Broadway season much seduced by digital temptation.

In their graves, Gilbert and Sullivan must be turning topsy-turvy with delight."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:06pm

Deadline

‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ Broadway Review: David Hyde Pierce Is The Very Model Of A Musical-Comedy Charmer

https://deadline.com/2025/04/pirates-the-penzance-musical-broadway-review-1236375003/

"Gilbert & Sullivan sticklers might need about 20 minutes to fall under the spell of Roundabout’s Pirates! The Penzance Musical, opening tonight on Broadway at the Todd Haimes Theatre, but for the rest of us the delight is pretty much instantaneous. Reimagined to include, as the production notes state, “Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair,” this spicing up of the beloved 1830 operetta is a charmer. A trifle maybe, but a charmer."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:06pm

3 1/2 stars from NYP

‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ review: Hilarious high-seas hijinks with David Hyde Pierce

https://nypost.com/2025/04/24/entertainment/pirates-the-penzance-musical-review-hilarious-high-seas-hijinks-with-david-hyde-pierce/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:06pm

Daily Beast

‘Pirates!‘: David Hyde Pierce Is a National Treasure

A MAJOR GENERAL

If there is one thing you see on Broadway this season, make it David Hyde Pierce’s deliciously executed rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pirates-the-penzance-musical-review-david-hyde-pierce-is-a-national-treasure/

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:23pm

Solid if not effusive reviews. 

Similar to what I thought when I saw it. 3.5/5 is probably where I’d go for this. Hyde Pierce and Karimloo are the reasons to see it with good support from Barasch and Monsoon. 

[George in DC]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:55pm

It will be interesting to see which category they will fall under for nominations.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 10:58pm

Bravo, Adam Feldman! One of his best write-ups ever. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:00pm

DTLI Consensus: It is the very model of a modern, reworked, musical comedy revival.

11 positive, 2 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative. 

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/pirates-the-penzance-musical/

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:01pm

George in DC said: "It will be interesting to see which category they will fall under for nominations."

Almost assuredly a revival. Although there are modifications to the material, I highly doubt any are considered so substantive that the Tonys would consider this 160-year operetta revisal a “new” musical.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:04pm

quizking101 said: "George in DC said: "It will be interesting to see which category they will fall under for nominations."

Almost assuredly a revival. Although there are modifications to the material, I highly doubt any are considered so substantive that the Tonys would consider this 160-year operetta revisal a “new” musical."

I assume they meant the actors falling in lead or featured

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:04pm

I think they meant the actors. Pierce and Monsoon could go either way in terms of lead or featured (both are above the title, but they stand a much better chance at a nomination in featured).

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:06pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Bravo, Adam Feldman! One of his best write-ups ever."

Wait, this needs to be called out louder. The whole review is in Gilbert-style rhyme. Incredible! 

'The Crescent City’s sass and brass have quite rejuvenated it 
As Joe Joubert and Daryl Waters have reorchestrated it.'

Slow clap. 

[bear88]

Posted: 4/24/25 at 11:19pm

JudyDenmark said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "Bravo, Adam Feldman! One of his best write-ups ever."

Wait, this needs to be called out louder. The whole reviewis in Gilbert-style rhyme. Incredible!

'The Crescent City’s sass and brass have quite rejuvenated it
As Joe Joubert and Daryl Waters have reorchestrated it.'

Slow clap."

Bravo, indeed. It works as an actual review too.

[Ensemble1728379893]

Posted: 4/25/25 at 10:14am

Holdren's review https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-pirates-penzance-musical.html

Negative.

Every so often, some full-fledged Gilbert and Sullivan sparkles through the Ellis and Holmes, and the effect is instantly galvanizing. There it is — the brilliant thing that’s been buried, the real source of life and energy underneath all the plumping, filling, tucking, and squeezing.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 4/30/25 at 10:01am

David Hyde Pierce on Returning to Broadway in ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ and Turning Down the ‘Frasier’ Reboot

https://variety.com/2025/legit/news/david-hyde-pierce-broadway-return-pirates-the-penzance-musical-frasier-reboot-1236382414/