Gilbert and Sullivan’s lively and charming comedy centers on Frederic, a young orphan accidentally apprenticed to a bumbling yet boisterous crew of pirates. Determined to leave their life behind, he falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Though Frederic’s sincerity wins her heart, complications arise when the Pirate King uncovers the Major-General’s lie about being an orphan—a trick used to protect his daughters and fortune. This revelation sparks an “ingenious paradox” that threatens both the romance and the fate of the famously “modern Major-General.”