Theatre Lawrence will open its 2026 season with “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” a New Orleans-set adaptation of a Gilbert and Sullivan classic that completed a Broadway run in 2025.
The show centers on a young pirate caught between love and duty, a conflict that sends him into increasingly complicated and comedic circumstances.
Theatre Lawrence describes the production as a “swashbuckling musical comedy.” It retains the wit, wordplay and well-known music of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” opera, while placing its story in a new setting shaped by New Orleans music and culture.
“Pirates!” will run Friday, Sept. 11 through Sunday, Sept. 13 and Thursday Sept. 17 through Sunday, Sept. 20 at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive. Opening night is Friday, Sept. 11, and a free post-show talkback is planned after the Sunday, Sept. 13 matinee.
Tickets cost $37 for adults, $34 for seniors 62 and older, and $17 for students 18 and younger. Find times and purchase tickets on the theatre’s ticketing site.
Jessica Franz-Martin is directing the production, with Ric Averill as music director, Louisa Holland as choreographer and Andrea Beyer as stage manager. The full cast is available on Theatre Lawrence’s website.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Connor Sutton/Contributed photo
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
