Ahoy! New season sets sail!

Ahoy, ahoy! Welcome to the maiden voyage of our 50th Anniversary Season! This fun new adaptation of a classic show is such an appropriate way to begin the year-long celebration of the vision and creativity that have been the hallmarks of Theatre Lawrence from the beginning.

You may think you know The Pirates of Penzance, but you’ve never experienced it to the jazzy rhythms and harmonies of New Orleans’ French Quarter. This adaptation also pulls songs from a few other Gilbert and Sullivan shows, beefing up some of the characters along the way.

The script pulls inspiration from real-life events. Due to U.S. copyright law at the time, unauthorized productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s earlier show, H.M.S. Pinafore, were being produced in the United States before they brought the London production over. So, in 1879, they actually staged the premiere of Pirates in New York to help establish American copyright protection for the show before its London production. That episode served as the springboard for the conceit of this adaptation.

Scott Ellis, who directed this 2025 adaptation on Broadway, said they weren’t trying to diminish or modernize the script because there was something fundamentally wrong with the source material, or because it was dusty and outdated. He said, “My hope is that when they [audiences] walk out of the theatre, they go, ‘Oh, that’s Gilbert and Sullivan? Huh, that was actually really fun!’”

That is something we have strived for at Theatre Lawrence in everything we do throughout our 50 years. Working with members of our community, we hope to excite others to discover (or rediscover) that theatre is not some dusty, elitist luxury. Theatre, and particularly community-based theatre, is inspiring, accessible, and really fun.

We are so honored to have been sharing that fun with our community for 50 years, and we are thrilled that you are here to start off a year-long celebration of this remarkable legacy.

Enjoy the show!

Jamie Ulmer
Executive Director