"An absolute hoot from beginning to end. It is musical company, it is pantomime, it is burlesque, it is camp and above all, it's a tonic"
D A Cole, Amazon UK.

"When I first heard this recording, I thought I'd died and gone to G&S Heaven". "This is not though for the purist. It is an 'enhanced' Pirates of Penzance similar to that done by Joseph Papp in the USA in the early 1980s. Unlike the Papp version however, there are no cuts to Sullivan's original score; there are just enhancements".
Donald J.Gregory (Gilbert And Sullivan Discography)

This is pure musical theatre with some pantomime elements ...
... it is NOT an operetta for the G&S purist!

Simon Gallaher's Essgee Entertainment has brought Gilbert and Sullivan into the twenty-first century through modern orchestrations, tighter funnier scripts, a fabulous 'megamix' finale, and the unique funky female chorus in three part harmony.

Gilbert and Sullivan wrote the most popular operettas in the history of English theatre. They are probably even more famous than Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and certainly as English as bacon and eggs or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Indeed, their fame is so great, it rests as securely on their initials as on their names. To anyone who loves music theatre, 'G&S' means melody, irreverence, wit and fun.

Essgee Entertainment has thoroughly updated this version of The Pirates Of Penzance allowing today's theatregoer a fresh look at these classics. Almost all the original songs and tunes are included though and despite the 'pop feel' of many of the chorus numbers the most beautiful solos are untouched. The end product is true to the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan, but much more accessible for today’s audiences.

SYNOPSIS

Our story begins as Frederic, a young man with an unswerving sense of duty, is about to reach his 21st birthday and conclude his long apprenticeship to the infamous Pirates of Penzance. His good-hearted but hard-of-hearing nursemaid Ruth reveals that she has made a most disastrous mistake. When Frederic was just a boy she misunderstood her employer's directive and apprenticed him to a pirate instead of a pilot, as intended. Frederic tells the Pirate King (a dashing figure who never preys on orphans since he himself has had the misfortune to be one) that his freedom will be devoted to exterminating all pirates and that it would be better for the pirates to leave before midnight when his indentures are over. The pirates depart immediately and Frederic is left alone with Ruth, the only woman he has seen in years. Ruth pleads with Frederic to take her with him, but her case is lost when a bevy of very young, attractive women appear.

Frederic appeals to the girls to overlook his pirate apparel and his past profession, but no one will listen until the beautiful Mabel appears. Frederic and Mabel fall in love instantly. The pirates return and Mabel warns them that their actions will not go unpunished since her father, the guardian of all of these young ladies, holds the exalted rank of Major-General. The Major-General is forced to pretend that he is also an orphan in order to win their sympathy. Although he fools the Pirate King, the Major-General cannot rest easy with his troubled conscience.

Meanwhile, Frederic is launching an attack on the pirates with the cowardly assistance of the police. But Ruth and the Pirate King interrupt him with a most ingenious paradox - Frederic was born in leap year on the 29th of February and, in terms of actual birthdays, is only 5 instead of 21. Frederic, slave of duty that he is, rejoins his former associates, and the police are left to attack the pirates on their own.

The Pirates seize the Major-General and the police are quickly defeated. But the Sergeant of Police charges them to yield 'in Queen Victoria's name' and the pirates cannot resist this overpowering appeal.

Ruth then reveals that the pirates are actually 'noblemen who have gone wrong'. Mabel and Frederic are happily united forever with the unqualified blessings of the Major-General.
~
"Man, was this ever FUN - there's a reason this thing was a huge smash in its native Australia. Essgee Entertainment's approach may be a radical departure from traditional performances, and it may, at first glance, seem to dumb down material that was dumbed down to begin with, but, truth be told, behind its winking façade is a show that is very true to the spirit of G&S's work.

The score - from "Pour, Oh Pour the Pirate Sherry" to "Climbing Over Rocky Mountain," from "Poor Wandering One" to "I Am The Very Model…" - arrives intact. The synthesized pop arrangements are jarring, yes, but only until you get the hang of the show's so-kitschy-it's-cool rhythm. After that, they're downright catchy.

But what really buckles my swash is the amount of fun the performers are clearly having. It's infectious. And just when you think the energy level has gone through the roof, the cast rockets it into the stratosphere with an astonishingly unbridled finale that derails the show in the best possible way. All the favourite songs get a reprise, those Fabulous Singlettes take the stage in cabaret gowns, and Jon English as the Pirate King literally swings over the audience and brings back two pretty ushers, whose unscripted, mortified reactions will leave you aching with laughter. Good grief, I'm exhausted."
Production DVD reviewed by Bryan Pope in DVD Review.