The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew
  • Recommendations

Status

Released

Release Date

Jun 21, 1985

Runtime

2h 4m

Genres

Comedy, Family, Music

User Score

60%

Original Title

The Pirates of Penzance

Production Companies

CBC, Stratford Festival

Director

Norman Campbell

Description

Brent Carver stars as the swashbuckling Pirate King in the famous Stratford Festival's rollicking production of the Gilbert & Sullivan classic that pits British bobbles against unlikely pirates on the Cornish coast. Sullivan regarded this operetta - a hit ever since its first production in New York in 1879 - as the best comedy he composed. He even said of his collaborator, "The libretto is ingenious, clever, wonderfully fun in parts and sometimes brilliant in dialogue - beautifully written for music, as is all Gilbert does." Indeed, audiences will find the music every bit a match for the lyrics, with the genius of the score lying in its parody of grand opera. Filmed in 1985 at the world-famous Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario.