TMoTM S04E06: Pirates!

November 22, 2025   Programming

Gilbert & Sul­li­van’s The Pirates of Pen­zance; or, The Slave of Duty pre­miered on Decem­ber 31, 1879, where it was well received by both audi­ences and crit­ics. Yet even as far back as that open­ing, the show has been a har­bin­ger of change — blur­ring the lines between light com­ic operetta and musi­cal com­e­dy. The recent Broad­way re-imag­in­ing Pirates! The Pen­zance Musi­cal pushed those bound­aries even further.

In this episode of The Mag­ic of The Musi­cal, Host Cale­do­nia Sky­tow­er explores this Gilbert & Sul­li­van classic’s remark­able his­to­ry and its role in mak­ing the once vaunt­ed exclu­sive realm of the “savo­yard” acces­si­ble over 140 years after its premiere.

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