Editing The Pirates of Penzance (section)

===Original production and aftermath===
[[File:Grossmith as Gen Stanley.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[George Grossmith]] as General Stanley, wearing [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Wolseley]]'s trademark moustache]]
''Pirates'' premiered on 31 December 1879 in New York and was an immediate hit.<ref name=Jacobs129/> On 2 January 1880, Sullivan wrote, in another letter to his mother from New York, "The libretto is ingenious, clever, wonderfully funny in parts, and sometimes brilliant in dialogue – beautifully written for music, as is all Gilbert does. ... The music is infinitely superior in every way to the ''Pinafore'' – 'tunier' and more developed, of a higher class altogether. I think that in time it will be very popular."<ref>Jacobs, p. 133</ref> Shortly thereafter, Carte sent three touring companies around the United States East Coast and Midwest, playing ''Pirates'' and ''Pinafore''.<ref name=Ainger182/><ref name=Stedman175>Stedman, p. 175</ref> Sullivan's prediction was correct. After a strong run in New York and several American tours, ''Pirates'' opened in London on 3 April 1880, running for 363 performances there.<ref>Bradley (1982), pp. 86–87</ref> It remains one of the most popular G&S works.<ref name=grove/><ref name=Smith>Smith, Tim. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bal-ae.li.opera16jul16,0,4347538.story "A consistent ''Pirates of Penzance''"],{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} ''The Baltimore Sun'', 16 July 2009</ref> The London sets were designed by [[John O'Connor (painter)|John O'Connor]].<ref name=rwApp>Rollins and Witts, Appendix, p. VII</ref>

The critics' notices were generally excellent in both New York and London.<ref name=NYTrev>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B06E4DA1131EE3ABC4953DFB766838B699FDE&scp=6&sq=%22Pirates+of+Penzance%22&st=p "Amusements; Fifth-Avenue Theatre"]. ''The New York Times'', 1 January 1880, p. 5</ref><ref name=Comiquerev>"Opera Comique", ''The Era'', 11 April 1880 p. 5</ref> The character of Major-General Stanley was widely taken to be a caricature of the popular general [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Sir Garnet Wolseley]]. The biographer Michael Ainger, however, doubts that Gilbert intended a caricature of Wolseley, identifying instead General Henry Turner, uncle of Gilbert's wife, as the pattern for the "modern Major-General". Gilbert disliked Turner, who, unlike the progressive Wolseley, was of the old school of officers. Nevertheless, in the original London production, [[George Grossmith]] imitated Wolseley's mannerisms and appearance, particularly his large moustache, and the audience recognised the allusion. Wolseley himself, according to his biographer, took no offence at the caricature<ref>See Ainger, pp. 181–182, and Kochanski, Halik. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rppyEHJfWhwC&pg=PA73 ''Sir Garnet Wolseley: Victorian hero''], p. 73, London, Hambledon Press, 1999. {{ISBN|1-85285-188-0}}</ref> and sometimes sang "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" for the private amusement of his family and friends.<ref>Bradley (1982), p. 118</ref>