Tulsa Opera: The Pirates of Penzance
Lorton Performance Center
February 1, 2026
Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance was as much a part of my growing up as Depeche Mode, Donna Summer, and The Gaither Vocal Band. If that sounds like a culturally chaotic childhood, it absolutely was, and I honestly recommend it. There was something about this goofy 1879 operetta’s combination of absurdist comedy, twisty wordplay, and jaw-dropping vocal compositions that sparked some key neural connections in my little kid brain, though the satire of it all—lampooning British aristocracy, Victorian-era pirate mania, cops, opera conventions, unearned authority of all kinds—didn’t hit till later. And while I can’t say for certain whether Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt (the stars of the 1983 film version, which set off my obsession) were my first crushes, they were at the leading edge.
It wasn’t just me who was obsessed. Riding the wave of Joseph Papp’s Tony Award-winning 1981 production of Pirates in New York (adapted for posterity in that film), Gilbert & Sullivan mania was a whole thing in those years. A group called The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Tulsa (later known as Light Opera Oklahoma) took shape and offered regular live performances of these kinds of operettas and musicals right here at home, some directed by a Brit named John Reed, one of the world’s authorities on Gilbert & Sullivan. Tulsa Opera joined the throng, too, presenting The Pirates of Penzance at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center in 1984.
But like the spirits of Pirates’ Frederic and Mabel when they realize they can’t get married (because Frederic, an orphan, is contractually bound to remain a pirate until his 21st birthday but it’s been revealed he was born on a leap year so they’ll have to wait a while; long story), the Gilbert & Sullivan craze eventually flagged. Tastes change, times change; things that once seemed droll can come to seem out of touch. Light Opera Oklahoma last performed Pirates in 2008 and closed its doors for good in 2015. And it took Tulsa Opera 42 years to reach for Pirates again—until this past weekend, when it brought this perfect jewel of ridiculousness back to Tulsa in a production that had the loafer-wearing millennials, the pirate-costumed Gen Z kids, and pretty much everyone else around me in the packed-out Lorton Performance Center cackling with unexpected joy.
It was worth the wait. The plot of this show is insane and frankly too much to get into; suffice it to say there are multiple plans and mix-ups involving Frederic and his nurse Ruth, a band of pirates, a Major-General and his many, many virgin daughters, and a nerveless police force, all of which librettist W.S. Gilbert knots together and splendidly unravels over two rollicking acts. Just when you think all’s well, another spanner goes into the works, so you get a satisfying zig-zag through mayhem and resolution that bounces along on some of the most delightful music ever written.
There’s a lot going on every second of this show, not even counting the thousand-words-a-minute songs, and it would be easy for it all to get muddy. But director Eve Summer brought crystal clarity to Tulsa Opera’s production, helped by a terrific set, flawless stage management with a ton of props, a game-for-anything cast, and an orchestra directed by Cathy Venable that skillfully handled a wild range of dynamic requirements.