"Posing a What if? question" - RuPaul’s Drag Race fame Jinkx Monsoon comments on their take on the Pirates! The Penzance Musical

RuPaul’s Drag Race fame Jinkx Monsoon and renowned American actor David Hyde Pierce have come together to star in the reimagining of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s classic operetta The Pirates of Penzance, bringing fresh flair to the story of a band of pirates and their whimsical adventures.

Appearing in an exclusive interview with BroadwayDirect, published on March 25, Jinkx and David shared several details on their 2025 play, to be held at The Roundabout’s Todd Haimes Theatre.

Jinkx revealed that the creative team has taken a “What if?” approach to the 19th-century operetta, relocating the story to New Orleans.

In a unique twist, the play will also feature Gilbert and Sullivan as characters, imagining a world where the legendary duo debuted The Pirates of Penzance in New Orleans rather than its original American premiere location in New York.

"Now we’re taking that moment of history and posing a “What if?” question. What if they had chosen to perform it first in New Orleans and beat anyone else to the punch before anyone could rip them off? And, essentially, Gilbert and Sullivan are characters in our musical," the RuPaul’s Drag Race star said.

---

RuPaul’s Drag Race fame Jinkx Monsoon and actor David Hyde Pierce share details about their adaptation of the Pirates! The Penzance Musical

In the interview with BroadwayDirect, RuPaul’s Drag Race fame Jinkx Monsoon noted that they were taking a unique take on the 19th century's Pirates! The Penzance Musical.

Jinkx shared that when Gilbert and Sullivan first wrote and premiered Pirates of Penzance in the 1800s, they had written and premiered H.M.S. Pinafore, which they never got a license for.

Due to not having copyright for their play, other people started ripping off their work.

So, not to let that happen, the creators first secured a copyright for Pirates of Penzance in America, and premiered it in the US before taking it to London.

"So, in an effort to not let that happen again, they came to America, did productions of The Pirates of Penzance, workshopped it, and then premiered it in London after securing a copyright in America. They were able to make money off of Pirates. That actually happened," the RuPaul’s Drag Race star said.

Jinkx added that they were including that incident in their play.

However, they were taking a "What if" scenario into play, imagining what would have happened if Gilbert and Sullivan had premiered their play in New Orleans and "beat anyone else to the punch before anyone could rip them off."

Essentially, the RuPaul’s Drag Race star noted that Gilbert and Sullivan were characters in their musical.

The 2025 adaptation features the original creators setting up their pirate-based play in New Orleans and calling it The Pirates of New Orleans because they’re premiering it in New Orleans.

Later in the interview, David shared his thoughts on introducing Gilbert and Sullivan to a new audience.

He noted that, when he was growing up, the creators of the play were deeply embedded in the cultural terrain, but that connection has largely faded over time.

The Pirates! The Penzance Musical star added that when he hosted Saturday Night Live during the Frasier years, the opening song the production wrote for him was a Gilbert and Sullivan parody song with the guys in sailor suits.

Moreover, he pointed out that in the 1980s, the Wilford Leach production of Pirates also tried to vitalize Gilbert and Sullivan's work by introducing new elements.

Like that, David hoped that their new adaptation would reintroduce the original creator's work and legacy to a modern audience.

"I think in that Wilford Leach production of Pirates in the ’80s it was the same thing: They said, “This stuff is great! Let’s give it a new spark to bring it to a new audience.” And I think that’s what we’re trying to do with this," he said.

David continued:

"The fundamental original show is there for people to see — the most beautiful music and tunes, some slightly or largely reinterpreted. But you get the story, comedy, and amazing characters. I hope our show has people tapping and singing their way out of the theatre, but also thinking, “Who are these people, Gilbert and Sullivan?”"

---

RuPaul’s Drag Race season 17 episodes are released every Friday on MTV.