H.M.S. Pinafore - Adaptations

Adaptations

H.M.S. Pinafore has been adapted many times. W. S. Gilbert wrote a 1909 children's book called The Pinafore Picture Book, illustrated by Alice Woodward, which retells the story of Pinafore, in some cases giving considerable backstory that is not found in the libretto. Many other children's books have since been written retelling the story of Pinafore or adapting characters or events from Pinafore.

Many musical theatre adaptations have been produced since the original opera. Notable examples include a 1945 Broadway musical adapted by George S. Kaufman, called Hollywood Pinafore, using Sullivan's music. This was revived several times, including in London in 1998. Another 1945 Broadway musical adaptation, Memphis Bound!, was written by Don Walker and starred Bill Robinson and an all-black cast. In 1940, the American Negro Light Opera Association produced the first of several productions set in the Caribbean Sea, Tropical Pinafore. An early Yiddish adaptation of Pinafore, called Der Shirtz (Yiddish for "apron") was written by Miriam Walowit in 1952 for a Brooklyn, New York Hadassah group, and they recorded 12 of the songs. In the 1970s, Al Grand was inspired by this recording and urged the Gilbert and Sullivan Long Island Light Opera Company to perform these songs. He later translated the missing songs and dialogue, with Bob Tartell, and the show has been toured widely under the name Der Yiddisher Pinafore. The group have continued to produce this adaptation for over two decades, in which "He is an Englishman" becomes "Er Iz a Guter Yid" ("He is a good Jew").

Essgee Entertainment produced an adapted version of Pinafore in 1997 in Australia and New Zealand that has been much revived. Another musical adaptation is Pinafore! (A Saucy, Sexy, Ship-Shape New Musical), adapted by Mark Savage. It was first performed at the Celebration Theater in Los Angeles, California on 7 September 2001, directed by Savage, where it ran with great success for nine months. It then played in Chicago and New York in 2003. In this adaptation, only one character is female, and all but one of the male characters are gay. An original cast recording was issued in 2002 by Belva Records. Pinafore Swing is a musical with music arranged by Sarah Travis. It premiered at the Watermill Theatre in England in 2004 in a production directed by John Doyle. The adaptation, set in 1944, changes the characters into members of a band entertaining the sailors on a World War II troop ship in the Atlantic. The reduced-size acting cast also serve as the orchestra for the singing roles, and the music is infused with swing rhythms. Numerous productions in recent decades have been set to parody Star Trek or Star Wars.