Roundabout Theatre Company presented a benefit concert reading of the Tony-winning Gilbert and Sullivan musical The Pirates of Penzance October 17 at Broadway's American Airlines Theatre. Scott Ellis directed with choreography by Warren Carlyle.
Pirates, featuring an adaptation by Tony winner Rupert Holmes, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert, starred Tony winner David Hyde Pierce as Major General, Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo as Pirate King, Tony nominee Lilli Cooper as Ruth, Colton Ryan as Frederic, Samantha Williams as Mabel, and David Abeles as Police Sargeant. Get a glimpse of the star-studded evening in the photo of the evening's curtain call above.
The company also included Eddie Cooper, Cicily Daniels, Jōvan Dansberry, Alex Dorf, Rick Faugno, Leslie Donna Flesner, Curtis Holland, Madison McBride, Ryan Worsing, Gabi Campo, and Katie Lee Hill.
Ellis and Carlyle’s new staging envisions a production that sets sail in the heart of New Orleans, home of the real-life Pirates of the Pontchartrain. The partially staged reading, a first step in a Broadway-aimed revival, also featured jazz, blues, ragtime, and symphonic music arrangements by orchestrators Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters.
The creative team also included scenic designer David Rockwell, lighting designer Donald Holder, and sound designer Daniel Lundberg with dance arrangements by John O’Neill.
Joseph Papp's 1981 Broadway production of The Pirates of Penzance, directed by Wilford Leach and choreographed by Graciela Daniele, was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning three, including Best Reproduction (Play or Musical).
Proceeds support Roundabout Theatre Company’s many programs and initiatives, including Education at Roundabout.