What happens when you take a classic Victorian operetta, toss it into the heart of New Orleans, and give it a shot of jazz, drag flair, and full-throttle Broadway pizzazz? You get “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” a spirited, genre-blending reboot of Gilbert & Sullivan’s beloved “The Pirates of Penzance” that’s as bold as it is bonkers, and might be the most fun you’ll have on Broadway this spring.
Presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company, which hasn’t mounted a musical revival in over two years, “Pirates!” is both a return and a cannonball-sized splash. With direction by Scott Ellis and wildly inventive choreography by Warren Carlyle, a full orchestra, and an ensemble bursting at the seams, the production feels like a Mardi Gras parade crossed with a late-night piano bar and a theater geek fanfiction fever dream.
Rupert Holmes (“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”) provides the book, which cleverly roots the production in a bit of theatrical history: “Pirates” really did debut in the U.S. in 1879 to preserve Gilbert & Sullivan’s copyright. Here, Holmes imagines W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan presenting the show in New Orleans instead of New York, prompting updates to the dialogue, arrangements, and characters. It’s historical fiction with a wink, and it mostly works, especially with David Hyde Pierce doing double duty as a droll Major-General Stanley and Gilbert himself.
The original patter and operetta style are present but transformed, morphing into Dixieland, swing, Caribbean beats, and jazzy scatting, with new lyrics and fresh arrangements. A few tunes from other Gilbert & Sullivan operettas sneak in, while a handful of “Pirates” numbers are trimmed away.
Choreographically, it’s a full-blown carnival. Carlyle stages the iconic “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” as a color guard fantasia, complete with flag-twirling precision. “The Policeman’s Song” taps its way into a raucous Broadway showstopper. Elsewhere, a hoedown breaks out, a Cossack dance adds surprise flair, and a climactic pirate sword fight channels “Pirates of the Caribbean” with swashbuckling bravado.
Ramin Karimloo is perfectly cast as the Pirate King, channeling just enough Kevin Kline bravado while bringing his own sultry charm and baritone brawn to the role. Jinkx Monsoon, in a gender-subverting, smoky-voiced take on the middle-aged nurse Ruth, milks every moment for laughs and soul. With lounge singer swagger and comic timing, Monsoon transforms Ruth into a backstage diva meets Bourbon Street cougar. Nicholas Barasch brings sincerity and surprising strength to the role of the boyish Frederick, and Samantha Williams turns the ingénue Mabel into a commanding, sultry force that is less damsel, more diva.
Sure, some of the newly added dialogue celebrating immigration and personal liberty feels shoehorned in to address the current political moment, but when the execution is this dazzling, who’s complaining? As Broadway musicals go this spring, most have been more fizzle than fireworks, and “Pirates!” is the rollicking exception. It’s fresh, fearless, and full of flair. Gilbert & Sullivan purists may bristle, but for the rest of us, the exclamation point in the title is well deserved.
Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., roundabouttheatre.org. Through July 27.
