The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta in two acts. Music by Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, libretto by Sir William S. Gilbert. After the copyright problems associated with unauthorised performances of HMS Pinafore in the United States, it was resolved that its first American performance should follow its first British performance as soon as possible. Consequently, it was first performed in Paignton, Devon, on December 30, 1879, then in New York on December 31, 1879. The New York performance was the first full performance. The Paignton performance was perfunctory since its purpose was to establish copyright in the UK; the same cast and crew had performed Pinafore the previous night, and they carried onto the stage scripts to read from. The first full performance in the UK was on April 3, 1880, at the Opera Comique. The title of the operetta was enough to instil laughter, as Penzance was so comparatively docile at the time that the very idea of criminal activity in the vicinity was ridiculous.

Pop adaptations

At least three of the songs have been used in whole or in part in other contexts:

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• The Major-General's Song has been used for other fast-singing lyrics, such as Tom Lehrer's song, The Elements (song).
• The chorus for Oh! better far to live and die begins "For I am a Pirate King (hoorah for the Pirate King)", which was adapted some decades later (with only one note varying) as the start of the "Popeye" cartoon theme song.
• The tune for the chorus for With cat-like tread, which begins "Come, friends, who plough the sea..." is better known as the tune for "Hail, hail, the gang's all here..."