Jinkx Monsoon Joins Ramin Karimloo & David Hyde Pierce In Broadway’s Retitled ‘Pirates! The Penzance Musical’

Greg Evans

13 November 2024 at 3:00 pm·2-min read

Jinkx Monsoon is among the newly announced cast members for Broadway’s upcoming and reimagined Pirates of Penzance production starring the previously announced Ramin Karimloo and David Hyde Pierce.

Retitled Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Rupert Holmes’ jazzy New Orleans-style reinterpretation of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic is being staged by the Roundabout Theatre Company with previews beginning Friday, April 4, 2025, at Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre. The official opening night is set for Thursday, April 24, and the limited engagement will run through June 22.

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Monsoon, who will play Ruth to Karimloo’s Pirate King and Pierce’s Gilbert/Major General Stanley, is a two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner, and made her Broadway debut in 2023 as Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago. In 2024, she played Audrey in the Off Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors opposite Corbin Bleu. Other credits include a Doctor Who debut as the new villain Maestro.

Scott Ellis will direct, with a creative team to include scene design by David Rockwell, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Donald Holder, sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman, and dance arrangements by John O’Neill. Orchestrations will be by Joseph Joubert and Daryl Waters, music direction by Joseph Joubert and choreography by Warren Carlyle.

“We want everyone to know that what you’re going to see is a musical that celebrates the genius of Gilbert & Sullivan while taking some joyous liberties,” Ellis said in a statement. “The Pirates of Penzance actually premiered in several U.S. cities, including New Orleans, which was a big center for piracy. So, since our pirates have now landed in New Orleans, we’re adapting the title to be both familiar and fresh.”

In addition to Monsoon, the cast additions announced today include Nicholas Barasch (Riverdale), Preston Truman Boyd (Broadway’s The Play That Goes Wrong), and Samantha Williams (Broadway’s Caroline, Or Change).

The Pirates! cast also includes Kelly Belarmino, Maria Briggs, Eddie Cooper, Cicily Daniels, Ninako Donville, Alex Dorf, Rick Faugno, Niani Feelings, Tommy Gedrich, Alex Gibson, Afra Hines, Dan Hoy, Ryo Kamibayashi, Tatiana Lofton, Nathan Lucrezio, Shina Ann Morris, Cooper Stanton, and Bronwyn Tarboton.

The Roundabout synopsis: “Gilbert & Sullivan’s pirate ship docks in New Orleans in this jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic, in an outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair. With the tongue-twisting Major-General, the rabble-rousing Pirate King, newly-imagined young lovers, daring daughters, footloose pirates and fleet-footed police, there’s a shipload of musical comedy delights on board to dazzle first-timers and G&S aficionados alike.”

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