THEATRE REVIEW: PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL – A RIOTOUS, RAUCOUS ROMP
A HILARIOUS NEW ORLEANS-STYLE REVIVAL THAT SWASHBUCKLES WITH STYLE
Ahoy and alleluia! The Pirates of Penzance has been reborn on Broadway as Pirates! The Penzance Musical—and it’s a joyously unhinged delight. Relocated from the sleepy English coast to the jazz-soaked streets of New Orleans, this gloriously goofy reimagining trades wigs and wigs out, trading lace doilies for ragtime sass and rum-soaked revelry.
Director Scott Ellis and adapter Rupert Holmes have taken Gilbert and Sullivan’s 145-year-old operetta and dialed the absurdity up to eleven. There’s nothing restrained about it—and that’s its greatest strength. From the purple-and-gold parade of costumes to the over-the-top character work, this is a production that revels in its own ridiculousness.
The cast is game and gleeful. David Hyde Pierce is comedy royalty as the dithering Major General, delivering “I Am the Very Model…” with pristine diction and impeccable timing. He’s pure joy. Jinkx Monsoon as Ruth is riotous and unhinged in all the right ways, playing up the role’s camp potential with fearless flair.
Nicholas Barasch, often a scene-stealing sidekick, here proves himself a leading man with charm to spare. His Frederic is sweet, sharp, and vocally assured. And Ramin Karimloo, while not quite the comic center, lends Broadway-star presence and operatic boom as the Pirate King, swashbuckling across the stage with rope-swinging swagger.
The creative liberties taken—such as inserting two songs from H.M.S. Pinafore—are a mixed bag. But the earnest finale twist into “We’re All From Someplace Else” lands like a wet musket. Let’s be honest: Pirates doesn’t need a message—it needs a wedding and a conga line.
If there’s one real disappointment, it’s the choreography by Warren Carlyle. Instead of elevating the energy, it feels numbing—more “more is more” than meaningful. The dances blur into chaos, lacking wit, variation, and shape. In a show so driven by comic precision, the choreography too often feels like filler instead of punchline.
That said, the heart of this revival lies in its infectious energy, tight ensemble, and knockout vocals.
VERDICT: A WILD, WACKY, AND WONDERFULLY SUNG GOOD TIME. PIRATES! IS BROADWAY ESCAPISM AT ITS MOST JOYOUS—EVEN IF THE DANCES SWING AND MISS, THE SHOW STILL SAILS GLORIOUSLY.