Find out how critics are reacting to this revival of Gilbert & Sullivan’s best known work.
Variety: “Monsoon is a triumph. Broadway should be honored to have her gracing the boards, as she is sure to be canonized as one of the all-time comedy greats. She makes a meal out of a cameo role, which the creative team have wisely expanded.”
New York Times: “Despite such mismatches between the original and the remake, “Pirates!” is still a feather in the tricorn of the Roundabout Theater Company, which produced and nurtured it. Operettas don’t last 146 years just because they’re good. (I love Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Ruddigore” too, but have never seen it except at camp.) Longevity like that requires faith not only in the past but also in the future.”
New York Post: “Director Scott Ellis’ boisterous romp is not groundbreaking in the way the Joseph Papp-produced 1980 revival was, but it has the same irreverent spirit — and perpetually ridiculous tale.”
Time Out: “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.”
Theatre Mania.com: “Rather than a slave of duty, Pirates! is the servant of too many masters: Gilbert & Sullivan, Dixieland jazz, milquetoast liberalism, and the tourism lobby New Orleans & Company, which “kindly sponsored” this production. The recipe is for a jambalaya of disparate flavors that come together in delicious harmony. The finished product is operetta as political compromise, in which everyone gets a little taste of what they want, but never enough to be truly satisfied.”
Deadline: “Karimloo, who more often plays serious types, brings a nice bit of comic undertones to the Pirate King, and Monsoon is an absolute hoot as the needy, conniving pirate nanny. All handle their vocal duties well, but Barasch, who made his Broadway debut at 10 in the 2009 revival of West Side Story, is the ringer here. His performance of the show opener “Good Morning” gets things off to a rousing start, and his numbers with Karimloo and Monsoon are high points.”
New York Stage Review: “Providing just around two hours of silly joy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical would make Gilbert and Sullivan proud. They might object to some of the changes, but they would surely approve of the pleasure it’s providing to modern-day audiences.”
New York Theater.me: “One might say something similar about Jinkx Monsoon, a two-time winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race who made her Broadway debut two years ago playing Matron “Mama” Morton in “Chicago,” the first drag queen to do so. She now seems a great comic fit for Ruth, who spends the early part of the show trying to hoodwink Frederic, who has never met any other woman, into thinking she’s a great beauty. This works, until Frederic meets Mabel Stanley (Samantha Williams) and the other young daughters of Major General Stanley.”
The Wrap: “But my patience for being toyed with ran out at the top of Act 2 when Hyde Pierce sings “The Nightmare Song” from “Iolanthe.” I had no idea what was going on until the musical skidded into familiar turf with “A Paradox,” which is clearly from “Pirates.” It helps that Karimloo, Monsoon and Barasch sing the classic song with great panache. The show ends with “He Is an Englishman” from “HMS Pinafore,” which has been retitled “We’re All From Someplace Else” to make it an ode to immigrants. Good will does not always translate into good entertainment.”
New York Theatre Guide: “Most of Pirates! follows the original plot until the end, where the revelation that they’re all immigrants, rather than aristocrats, brings everyone together. It’s pretty sappy, but no more so than G&S’s original ending, and Pierce’s matter–of-fact delivery elicited cheers and applause in my audience. Thoughtfully and lovingly updated for a modern audience, there’s something for everyone in this production. There’s a sense that the cast is having so much fun that they would do this every night even without an audience. We’re just lucky they decided to sell tickets.”
To book tickets visit: https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/2024-2025/pirates-the-penzance-musical