Future Shows

The Pirates of Penzance

October 30 – November 22, 2026

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present The Pirates of Penzance, for four weekends, from October 30 to November 22, 2026.

This production will be directed by Joe Andrews, with music direction by Dr. Randal Buikema.

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is mounting a perennial favorite with a new twist. Transposed to America’s Old West, The Pirates of Penzance maintains its supremely buoyant score, sense of adventure, and improbable paradoxes, but the action plays against the backdrop of the California-Nevada border during the Gold Rush. The pirates are sentimental bandits, the police are sheriffs and deputies, and love and duty win the day, of course!

Frederic, a prairie pirate’s apprentice, falls head-over-heels in love with Mabel, one of many daughters of Major-General Stanley. Frederic is due to be released from his apprenticeship as a prairie pirate on his 21st birthday, but there’s a snag … of course. Although very much in love, his dedication to duty is unshakeable. Can he find a way to live happily-ever-after with Mabel?

Embark on a delightful journey with The Pirates of Penzance, where we unravel the captivating (and modestly adapted) storyline of this timeless comic opera.

The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fifth collaboration, following their extraordinarily successful production of H.M.S. Pinafore. The Pirates of Penzance opened simultaneously in England and America. The opera premiered on December 31, 1879 at the Fifth Avenue Theater in New York with Sullivan conducting, but a single performance had been given on the previous day at the Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton, England, to secure the British copyright. Finally, the opera opened on April 3, 1880, at the Opéra Comique in London, where it ran for 363 performances, having already been playing successfully for over three months in New York.

The Grand Duke

February 26 – March 21, 2027

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present The Grand Duke, for four weekends, from February 26 to March 21, 2027

The Grand Duke, Gilbert and Sullivan’s final collaboration, tells the delightful story of a theater company plotting to take political power in the Duchy of Pfennig Halbpfennig. The plot hinges on the misinterpretation of a law regarding “statutory duels,” which are fought with playing cards and result in “legal deaths.” Ludwig, the company’s comedian, spearheads the rebellion against the miserly Grand Duke Rudolph, takes power and, on the way, becomes engaged to four different women. The story features sausage rolls, theater contracts, ghosts, large bottles of champagne and a game or two of roulette!

In The Grand Duke, Gilbert lampoons the frugality and phoniness of the wealthy classes and nobility, while also taking aim at governmental leaders with some particularly pointed political satire. Sullivan’s beautifully varied score includes lilting Viennese waltz music as well as Offenbach inspired French melodies.

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is particularly pleased to present its own revised version of The Grand Duke. While this operetta is considered one of the most challenging of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas to stage, the Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera has presented its revised version three times in the past very successfully, to appreciative audiences who’ve wondered why The Grand Duke is not presented more often. We believe that the audiences for our 2027 production will say the same!

All performances will be at the Conn Theater, at Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1900 Nicollet Avenue South, in Minneapolis. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30 pm. The Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2:00 pm.

If you would like to be notified about when to order tickets, we invite you to add your name to our mailing list. This way, we will know how to contact you! We never sell our mailing list to other parties.