How ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’ got jazz-ified for Broadway

Discover the New Orleans-inspired, reimagined Broadway revival of The Pirates of Penzance starring Ramin Karimloo, Jinkx Monsoon, and David Hyde Pierce.

Ahoy, matey! Pirates! The Penzance Musical has launched on Broadway, starring Ramin Karimloo, Jinkx Monsoon, and David Hyde Pierce and giving a newly jazzy look and sound to W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s 1879 operetta The Pirates of Penzance.

The storyline about duty, love, and bumbling buccaneers is essentially intact, though Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), who adapted the script, tweaked some characters and plot turns. As far as the setting goes, there’s been a sea change. The locale has shifted from England to New Orleans, where a jazzy, rollicking party vibe rules.

“We tried to make it into a modern major Mardi Gras,” said Holmes, who seized Big Easy inspiration every step, and swashbuckle, of the way.

“You don't often see people listening to Gilbert and Sullivan and tapping their toes and clapping along,” he continued, adding he’s seen that reaction during this show. “It’s a jazzy score. Love duets sound like they’re from the most recent rom-com you’ve seen. The music sounds so up-to-date. It takes to New Orleans coloration so well.”

The revival began as a 2022 benefit concert for Roundabout Theatre Company, which now presents the Broadway production at its Todd Haimes Theatre. Joseph Joubert is the musical director, co-orchestrator, and conductor, for whom it took “a combination of musical things” to transform the sound of Pirates, he said.

Tweaking a song’s instrumentations, tempo, rhythm, and bass line — which helps drive the groove — work together “to make it feel more New Orleans,” said Joubert, adding that his father’s roots are in Louisiana. “It’s nice to have that connection and try to infuse it in this Pirates of Penzance.”

You might describe the sound lifting off the stage as a jazzy musical jambalaya. Pierce (Frasier, Curtains), who plays Major-General Stanley and W. S. Gilbert, describes the show’s sound as “kickass. We’re singing amazing songs, some of the best songs ever written for theatre, and they’re jazzed up in a brand-new way,” he said.

Karimloo (Funny Girl, Anastasia), who plays the charismatic Pirate King, echoed that sentiment. “We have a great new orchestrations for a lot of the music,” he said. “We also brought in some other Gilbert and Sullivan songs.”

The Pirates of Penzance has been on Broadway 26 previous times, most recently in 1981 with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt. Main characters include the charismatic pirate leader, an infatuated nursemaid (Monsoon), and young lovers Frederic (Nicholas Barasch) a pirate apprentice, and Mabel (Samantha Williams), the Major-General’s daughter. The pair's romance is hindered by the fact that Frederic is a leap-year baby.

If the plot were any sillier, you’d have to walk the plank as a penance. But that’s intentional — it’s light opera, after all. “There’s a love story at the core, and it's also about the absurdity of war and division,” said Barasch.

Choreographer Warren Carlyle (The Music Man, Hello, Dolly!), who conceived the show with Holmes, Joubert, and director Scott Ellis, is all jazz hands when it comes to the musical makeover for this production.

According to Carlyle, the jazz infusion goes beyond just what audiences hear during the show; it's also what they see. His choreography is influenced by the freestyle, unpredictable nature that makes jazz so stirring and striking.

Working with that musical material, he said, gave him “permission to go crazy with dance,” he said. “This is a really fun one. There's a ton of rhythm.”

Like her castmates, Monsoon (RuPaul's Drag Race, Chicago) welcomed exploring rhythms, melodies, and harmonies without rigid structure. Adding jazz to the mix “added an entire new flair and freshens up Gilbert and Sullivan,” she said.

Just ask Pierce. “Part of the reason for finding this New Orleans jazz infusion was to give it a new spin for people who were familiar with the music and for people who weren’t,” he said. “The original music is great, and New Orleans music is great. When you fuse those two things together, it's awesome.”

Get Pirates! The Penzance Musical tickets now.

Gillian Russo contributed reporting to this story.