PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 12:00am

Arrrrrrrgh you ready for the final musical revival of the 2024-25 Broadway season?

Pirates! The Penzance Musical docks its ship at the Todd Haimes Theatre tomorrow (April 4). A reimagined version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta The Pirates of Penzance, here the antics get spiced up with a fresh New Orleans flair. The cast is led by David Hyde Pierce as Gilbert and the “modern” Major General Stanley, alongside Ramin Karimloo as the Pirate King; also featured are Jinkx Monsoon, Nicholas Barasch, Preston Truman Boyd, and Samantha Williams.

Pirates! boasts a new adaptation by Rupert Holmes, choreography by Warren Carlyle, and direction by Scott Ellis; opening night is April 24 for a limited run through July 27.

“Gilbert & Sullivan’s 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.”

Who’s jazzed?!

[trentsketch]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 10:33am

Really curious about this one. An updated Pirates could be great and I like the decision to go for that New Orleans jazz style. Plus, the cast? Are you kidding me? 

[nealb1]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:07am

Really looking forward to seeing it next month.  It's one of my favorite shows, and what a great cast!  I have the cd & dvd of the 1994 Australian revival of the show.  It was changed up a bit, pumping up the volume and making it just a whole lot of fun!  

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:12am

The Essgee Trilogy of campy reimagined G&S are fantastic. I’m glad to hear someone else knows them.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:25am

The EssGee work should be required viewing during anyone’s early-stage musical theatre immersion. Fantastic re-interpretations and performances across the board.

Conversely, during the recent rehearsal video, I couldn’t understand any of the rewritten lyrics Ramin was singing. It seemed like I was trying to decipher parody lyrics of something that was already comedic in its prior lyrics. Like working twice as hard, if that make sense. Will be interesting to see if this production works. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 11:30am

Hope it's good, but Pirates of Penzance is probably my favorite work in the G&S canon. Granted, the recording of the score I love the best is by the Joe Papp production, which G&S fans often view in abhorrance for its modernization and reorchestrations (sorry, traditionalists, I think they sound great). So maybe I'll like this free adaptation as well. But...hmm...I'm not sure.

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 1:20pm

From the rehearsal video discussed above, it looks like they're adding in "the Nightmare Song" from IOLANTHE into the show for David Hyde Pierce, which I am zero percent mad at - as written, the Major General doesn't get a lot to do in act two.  

 

And, also, I LOVE the Joe Papp pirates. I think Sullivan would have too. (Not sure about Gilbert, who seems like he would resist re-interpretation of his work in a particularly insufferable way.) G&S deserves a better reputation than it has, but it works best when you embrace the fact that the vast majority of their work are satirizing a society that has drastically changed in the last century and we should re-examine them. Pirates is basically timeless because it's satirizing romantic tropes in, essentially, bodice-ripper romance fiction, and Joe Papp was the first to realize that it works best when it is just short of being a cartoon. From what I have seen of the show's publicity, this production understands that as well. 

Updated On: 4/3/25 at 01:20 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 2:01pm

People rarely give the Papp production the credit it deserves for essentially CREATING the sound of 1980s stage musicals: the large orchestration interspersed with electric guitars, the quirky synthesizers and electric pianos, and the use of looped and sampled SFX in production design (the "marching feet" in Foeman).

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 2:08pm

PIRATES! features a 15-piece orchestra conducted by Joseph Joubert, who also co-orchestrated this revival with Daryl Waters.

• 2 Keyboards
• 2 Reeds
• 2 Trumpets
• Trombone
• French Horn
• Drums / Percussion
• Bass
• Guitars / Banjo
• 2 Violins
• Viola
• Cello

[Kad]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:02pm

I wonder if they will follow the Papp production and interpolate "My Eyes Are Fully Open" from Ruddigore as well. It'd be an awfully fun little comic trio to see Karimloo, Monsoon, and Barasch do.

Updated On: 4/3/25 at 03:02 PM

[GirlFromOz68]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:03pm

nealb1 said: "Really looking forward to seeing it next month. It's one of my favorite shows, and what a great cast! I have the cd & dvd of the 1994 Australian revival of the show. It was changed up a bit, pumping up the volume and making it just a whole lot of fun!"

My parents took my sister and I to see the first run of the Victorian State Opera production with Jon English, Simon Gallagher and Marina Prior in the early 80s at the old Regent Theatre in Sydney ( I've never forgiven the then NSW government for allowing that beautiful old Theatre to be demolished not long after) and it was so much fun!!  That was Marina Prior's first big show. Jon English was so good as the Pirate King.

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:30pm

I think the thing I am most curious about is what they're going to do with Ruth. the central joke of her character is that she's 47 and in love with a 21 year old, which plays...less well when you cast a trans actress in her 30s. So I am hoping they do something else with her? Maybe? 

[TheQuibbler]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:58pm

ChairinMain said: "I think the thing I am most curious about is what they're going to do with Ruth. the central joke of her character is that she's 47 and in love with a 21 year old, which plays...less well when you cast a trans actress in her 30s. So I am hoping they do something else with her? Maybe?"

Even from her run on Drag Race 12 years ago, the Jinkx Monsoon persona has always been canonically an old woman. I think she’ll be fine, haha. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 4:14pm

This is true. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 5:25pm

Whatever happened to the Nell Benjamin/Gordon Greenberg version that played at Goodspeed and Papermill in 2006 and 2007? 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 5:50pm

Trying to get through my day today and all I could hear in my head was, "There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium..."

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 6:05pm

Matt Rogers said: "Whatever happened to the Nell Benjamin/Gordon Greenberg version that played at Goodspeed and Papermill in 2006 and 2007?"

It also played the Muny and the Huntington.

I remember it just being okay - a totally solid regional production that didn't need a future life. Hopefully the current production will be better than okay...

Updated On: 4/4/25 at 06:05 PM

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 6:12pm

I don't know how this was so completely off my radar but I am suddenly very intrigued.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 7:34pm

Roundabout lists a running time of an even 2 hours, including intermission. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 7:47pm

The world is dark and scary right now, I don't think that its a coincidence we're seeing a lot of shows focusing on being joyful and silly...I think the phrase "joy bomb" or something like it has been used to describe pirates, smash, Just in time, Real Women have Curves and Boop in seperate ads or instagram posts. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 7:48pm

Not going until the end of the month, but I cannot wait. l I love Pirates of P, and I love this cast.   I'm totally intrigued by the concept - hopefully it will not disappoint!

 

Looking forward to hearing early reports!

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 11:26pm

What did we think? 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/4/25 at 11:39pm

I say this as someone who has only ever seen one production of this show something like 20 years ago, so it's not a show I'm entirely familiar with save for some of the more well known music. But I had a blast. The New Orleans concept is a bit half baked and besides a couple N.O. references and some music which was clearly changed to sound like it's from the region, they could have set it anywhere. But this cast is the reason to see the show. Jinkx is a real Broadway leading lady, I'll fight anyone on that. Hilarious as we knew she'd be and just a joy from start to finish. David Hyde Pierce is David Hyde Piercing all over the stage as only David Hyde Pierce can. Some of these lyrics can be a bit tricky but he and everyone else went through them like they'd been doing this for months, props to them.

Nicholas is always wonderful and I thought he was perfectly cast as Frederic and lucky him he got to play along with the divine Samantha Williams' Mabel. I've been a fan of hers for a while now and I love that she's getting to take on a big part like this on Broadway. Her voice is like buttah and I can't wait to go back and see her again.

Oh, Ramin. Oh, my Ramin. If ever a person was perfectly cast (and costumed) in a show it is this man. I will walk the plank for you, my Pirate King. I love that he's doing something where he gets to have fun and be funny because the man is VERY funny and he's having a blast. 

I'm curious if people found fault in this production because of the changes. Again, it's not a show I know well enough to comment on any of that but am very curious to hear thoughts on that. 

[TheOnlyOne2]

Posted: 4/5/25 at 12:32am

Hey, just getting home and had some thoughts about the show. This is one that I have trouble with critiquing. I bought my ticket on day one of sales, and of course have seen the central park version. I have many thoughts but I will reserve some of the things I really didn't like for myself. 

First things first, the opening before the curtain is as clever as you could make it, and it's a perfectly fine device to set up the musicals direction. I sat pretty close, row C so the sound isn't always the best if you want to be close. Of course, the sound mixing will take a little time to figure out. That aside, there were a few times that mics went out, but not enough to really cause a disruption. 

I won't name them, but I left feeling that two of the main roles were lacking tonight. One I hope just finds they're step after after previews, because I know they are capable. Could be some nerves. The other,  I believe is just miscast. Lovely performer, but just not bringing anything truly special to the part thus far. The other times I've seen them I've generally had the same reaction. Perfectly capable, but don't see star power. 

David Hyde Pierce was amazing as usually. Truly a orator of song. I love when an actor successfully sings and acts at the same time.

The first act is in pretty good shape, but the 2nd needs some help. 

The direction of the show that totally missed was "When the Foreman bares his steel". There is zero leaning into the comedic styling of the Great Tony Azito. Infact the song wasn't funny at all. A huge miss, and they would have to do a complete over the scene if they want it to read right. I know that it's such and infamous performance from Azito, but they really should have looked for someone who could really lean into that energy. Not a replicated performance, but very much the same energ and physical comedy. 

Personally, when it came to the singing style, I would have loved to see more operatic placement in some of the songs. Of course Ramin sings in areas with a beautiful more classical placing of his voice. There could be more of that from other actors. I really actually thing in general were missing that from current theater, and we only really see it in revivals of golden age shows.

Definitely go see the show if for David Hyde Pierce, and they add in a number so he has A LOT, to do. Let's hope they can overcome the rest but overall a good, smooth first showing.

[kvnerdman]

Posted: 4/5/25 at 10:08pm

Question for those that have attended the previews... when looking at the seating chart to purchase tickets, Row A in the center orchestra appears to have been removed. It goes from row AA to row B and does not show seats available or unavailable in row A. Can anyone confirm if you choose row AA (front row) do the actors use the row behind you during the show? Just wondering if we would be turning around to view something behind us.