What is The Pirates of Penzance?
{{italictitle}} {{Infobox play | name = The Pirates of Penzance | image = Pirates of penzance restoration.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = Poster, ca. 1880 | writer = [[W. S. Gilbert]] (words)<br />[[Arthur Sullivan]] (music) | chorus = | characters = Major-General Stanley<br />Pirate King<br />Frederic<br />Sergeant of Police<br />Mabel<br />Ruth | mute = | setting = Penzance, [[Cornwall]], [[England]], ca. 1879 | premiere = 31 December 1879 (New York)<br />3 April 1880 (London) | place = Fifth Avenue Theatre<br />[[New York City, New York]]<br />Opera Comique<br />[[London, England]] | orig_lang = English | series = | subject = Duty | genre = [[Operetta]] | web = | playbill = | ibdb_id = | iobdb_id = | theatricalia_id = }} [[File:Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance - I am the very model of a modern Major-General (Baker, 1921).mp3|thumb|Major General's Song]] '''''The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty''''' is a two-act [[operetta]] by [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]. It is the fifth of their fourteen operettas. The London premiere was 3 April 1880 at the Opera Comique. It ran for almost a year, closing on 2 April 1881. It had 363 performances. ==American copyright== Gilbert, Sullivan, and their manager Richard D'Oyly Carte arrived in New York in October 1879 to present an authorized version of ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]''. During this time, Sullivan continued work on the team's next operetta, ''Pirates'', and completed it on 28 December. In order to secure the American copyright, the operetta premiered in [[New York City]] at the Fifth Avenue Theatre on 31 December 1879. Sullivan conducted. The operetta was a great success. In order to secure the British copyright, the operetta had been performed at the Bijou Theatre in Paignton, Devon, the day before the New York premiere on 30 December. The singers wore their costumes from ''Pinafore'' (they were performing this operetta in nearby Torquay) and sang from hand-written sheet