A Reworked PIRATES! For Our Time — Review

How do you prefer your Gilbert and Sullivan? 

Traditionalists may balk at Roundabout Theatre Company’s lightly reinvented Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a jazzy, Caribbean-infused take that relocates the enduring G&S classic to New Orleans. This new adaptation by Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) mostly tinkers with the original, adding some inconsequential French Quarter trappings and a metatheatrical framing device that proves needless—if, also, harmless. 

For audiences less expert on the source material, myself included, these changes mostly glide by innocuously. At times, a stray lyric or bit of dialogue did hit the ear oddly. But outside of a cringey closing number (more on that later), the adjustments are neither enhancing nor crippling. This still feels like Pirates in all its buoyant charm and bottomless heart.  

More than that—it is Pirates staged with wonderfully energetic aplomb by director Scott Ellis, wittily choreographed by Warren Carlyle and expertly performed by a dream ensemble. In keeping Gilbert & Sullivan’s shrewdly crafted text, this Pirates! is very serious about being seriously ridiculous, and a joyful trip to musical theater heaven is the result. 

An incompetent pirate crew, led by the wild Pirate King (Ramin Karimloo), dock in New Orleans to celebrate his ward Frederic’s 21st birthday. But when Frederic (Nicholas Barasch) falls for local girl Mabel Stanley (Samantha Williams), daughter of the controlling Major-General Stanley (David Hyde Pierce), complications quickly ensue. 

Karimloo serves up a plate of prosciutto ham as the Pirate King, belting and mugging to hilarious effect. Barasch is a wonder as Frederic, in gorgeous voice and fully committed to the character’s immense sincerity. Surprisingly, only the typically genius Jinx Monsoon (as Ruth, Frederic’s hopeless nanny) struggles, hitting some laughs but letting others slip by—Jinx can sing it, but her Ruth lacks a clear emotional grounding. 

Ellis’ embrace of over-the-top silliness is a breath of fresh air, and his creative team fully understands the assignment. David Rockwell’s brightly colored sets, cheap but not cheap-looking, are a delight. Linda Cho’s frilly costumes look fabulous. Charles G. LaPointe’s wacky wigs are invaluable—not to mention Major General Stanley’s wildly oversized mustache and mutton chops, which feel like whole characters in and of themselves. 

The Major General is played, of course, by the undeniable David Hyde Pierce, a stage master at the height of his powers. Every line reading, every intonation, every blink of the eyes, each is here an individual lesson in perfectly-pitched comedic restraint. Pierce’s “Modern Major General” is such a thrill, a totally astonishing barn-burner, you practically want to throw an engraved Tony into the man’s arms right there and then. 

Pirates stumbles at the end with a clumsy reworking of “He Is An Englishman,” plucked from H.M.S. Pinafore and rewritten with the new refrain, “We’re All From Someplace Else.” No-one could argue the message, but Pirates is simply not a message piece, and this ham-fisted effort at modern resonance has no place amidst W.S. Gilbert’s lyrical sophistication. 

Good comedy is gravely difficult, and in this case the task nearly gets screwed by an excess of modern tinkering. But in spite of overcomplicating its own task, this Pirates still triumphs. 

‍Pirates! The Penzance Musical is now in performance at Roundabout Theatre Company’s Todd Haimes Theatre on West 42nd Street in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit here.