Pirates! The Penzance Musical by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Adaptation by Rupert Holmes. Directed by Scott Ellis. Choreography by Warren Carlyle. Music direction by Joseph Joubert. Set design by David Rockwell. Costume design by Linda Cho. Lighting design by Donald Holder. Sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman. Hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe. Orchestrations by Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters. Dance arrangements by John O'Neill. Music coordinator Michael Aarons. Makeup design by Ashley Ryan. Fight directors Rick Sordelet and Christian Kelly-Sordelet. Associate choreographer Sara Edwards. Voice coach Kate Wilson.
Cast: Preston Truman Boyd, David Hyde Pierce, Nicholas Barasch, Rick Faugno, Tommy Gedrich, Alex Gibson, Dan Hoy, Ryo Kamibayashi, Nathan Lucrezio, Tyrone I. Robinson, Jinkx Monsoon, Ramin Karimloo, Kelly Belarmino, Cicily Daniels, Ninako Donville, Afra Hines, Tatiana Lofton, Shina Ann Morris, Bronwyn Tarboton, and Samantha Williams.
Theater:Todd Haimes Theatre
Tickets: RoundaboutTheatre.org

Samantha Williams and Nicholas Barasch Photo by Joan Marcus

If you think that sounds a bit odd, you are not mistaken, and you have not misunderstood. For it's goodbye to Penzance (does anyone really know where that is without looking it up?) and hello to the land of jambalaya, crawfish pie, and file gumbo.

Not that it matters all that much, but you will be provided with an explanation as to the change in locale by none other than Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Sullivan themselves. They have their reasons, and it is their show, after all. So New Orleans it is, where the swashbuckling Pirate King (a decidedly swashbuckling and hunky Ramin Karimloo) drops anchor and allows his bumbling band of buccaneers to take a break from the daily grind of pillaging and plundering in order to check out the ladies, all of whom it would seem are the daughters of Major-General Stanley (David Hyde Pierce).

This raucously reimagined version of Pirates has been happily mangled by Holmes, who has provided a new book, tinkered with lyrics, and created musical adaptations and additions, such as when the Stanley daughters regale us with a number called "We're Sashayin' Through the Old French Quarter." This is decidedly not your parents' G&S, especially if your parents fell in love with the previous Broadway revival, the 1980 Joseph Papp production that walked off with three Tony awards. But, you know, that one was not your grandparents' Pirates. And the local production that they loved was not the same as the very first New York presentation. And hurrah for that, and hurrah for the major general!

No, really. Hurrah for the major general, because he is being portrayed by David Hyde Pierce, the sole cast member who seems to be in on the joke by bravely straddling the two Pirates versions, the one Gilbert and Sullivan set loose on the world on New Year's Eve of 1879 (in New York, as it happens), and the one that has been mucked about by Holmes, possibly best known for having previously taken on Charles Dickens by finishing the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood and turning it into an audience-participatory whodunit.

Nicholas Barasch, Ramin Karimloo, and David Hyde Pierce Photo by Joan Marcus

The rest of the cast seems perfectly happy to live fully within the topsy-turvy world that Holmes has created, one which presents some of the songs close to a traditional way, and others as they have been modified. (Alas, the New Orleans jazz vibe is generally underutilized and saved for special occasions). Standouts among the rest of the cast are Nicholas Barasch as the accidental pirate apprentice Frederic; Jinkx Monsoon as Frederic's former nursemaid Ruth, who tries to convince him to marry her; Samantha Williams as Frederic's true love Mabel; and Preston Truman Boyd as the easily intimidated police sergeant

By the way, "The Nightmare Song" is not the only one that has been stitched into Pirates from other G&S shows. There is another from Iolanthe, two from H.M.S. Pinafore, and one from The Mikado. Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, these hijacked songs are some of the best of the evening. The Pinafore numbers provide rousing ends to Act I and Act II, while the song from The Mikado becomes the show's 11 o'clock number for Jinkx Monsoon, a song which occurs in the middle of Act II (so maybe a 10:15 number?).

There is very little "sashayin'" happening here, with director Scott Ellis and choreographer Warren Carlyle keeping things moving and leaping about at a brisk and lively gait. Costume designer Linda Cho has opted for a mix of cartoonishly bright primary colors and Caribbean-inspired pastels, a palette also used by set designer David Rockwell, who has provided everything from the suggestive to the elaborate and detailed. Lots of fun swordplay, as well, with two fight directors on hand to keep everyone safe.

The stitching together of the old and new doesn't always work. A deeper commitment to New Orleans jazz arrangements would help with the balance, and a final Holmesian reminder that "we're all from someplace else" gives us a contemporary truism that jarringly pulls us out of the 19th century feel that has been generally maintained. But there's so much joy and fun in Pirates! The Penzance Musical, these quibbles should not keep you away from this altogether delightful production.