Contract law is such a bitch. Consider Frederic, “the slave of duty,” who was apprenticed as a boy not to a pilot, as his father directed, but to a pirate (his nursery maid, who was hard of hearing, evidently had power of attorney). A youngster of innate honor, Frederic has suffered the agonies of the damned associating with all those loopy career criminals. Approaching the age of 21, he can’t wait to go straight. But oops. His indentures expire on his 21st birthday—which falls on February 29th. It’ll be a long wait. Frederic et al. are the madcap creations of the lyricist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan. If you’re new to their cult, fail at your peril to miss The Pirates of Penzance! (I would not say the same of The Mikado or Patience.) In point of fact, G&S were themselves very much plagued by pirates—pirates who put on shows and pay no royalties. To establish American copyright protection, the operetta had to premiere in America, and so it did, in New York on New Year’s Eve, 1879. (Intellectual-property law! Such a headache.) So, that’s one reason for Americans to love Pirates more than any other G&S folderol, but more importantly, there’s the score, chockablock with hummable tunes set to delirious lyrics, crowned by wildly imaginative ensembles that would have tickled the ear of Donizetti. The sweet-voiced boy-next-door David Portillo sings Frederic. Reginald Smith, Jr. is the Pirate King, buttons bursting with the thrill of adventures. Thomas Glass, as Major-General Stanley, is charged with the prestissimo tongue-twisters of the obligatory G&S “patter song.” Vanessa Becera gets to warble her heart out as Frederic’s beloved Mabel, while Katherine Goeldner mopes after him as his nursemaid, Ruth. The director-choreographer Seán Curran’s spiffy production casts anchor in Seattle after seasons in Atlanta (2016), San Diego (2017), Atlanta again (2022), San Antonio (2024), and the Glimmerglass Festival (2024). That, hearties, is a track record. —Matthew Gurewitsch