Editing H.M.S. Pinafore (section)

==Productions==
[[File:Pinaforeplaybill.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Poster illustration from original 1878 production]]
''Pinafore'' opened on 25 May 1878 at the [[Opera Comique]], before an enthusiastic audience, with Sullivan conducting.<ref>Ainger, pp. 157–158</ref>{{refn|After opening night, the company's musical director, Alfred Cellier, conducted most of the performances. [[Eugène Goossens, père|Eugène Goossens]] conducted the piece in late July and August 1878, while Cellier was assisting Sullivan at the promenade concerts at Covent Garden.<ref>"Theatres", ''The Era'', 21 July 1878, p. 8; 28 July 1878, p. 8; and 4 August 1878, p. 8</ref>|group= n}} Soon, however, the piece suffered from weak ticket sales, generally ascribed to a heat wave that made the Opera Comique particularly uncomfortable.<ref>Bond, Jessie. [http://gsarchive.net/books/bond/004.html "The Life and Reminiscences of Jessie Bond", Chapter 4], John Lane, 1930, accessed 10 March 2009</ref><ref name=Bradley116>Bradley (1996), p. 116</ref> The historian Michael Ainger questions this explanation, at least in part, stating that the heat waves in the summer of 1878 were short and transient.<ref>Ainger, p. 160</ref> By mid-August, Sullivan wrote to his mother that cooler weather had arrived, which was good for the show.<ref name=Jacobs122/> In the meantime, the four partners of the Comedy Opera Company lost confidence in the opera's viability and posted closing notices.<ref name=Jacobs122>Jacobs, p. 122</ref><ref>Joseph, p. 17</ref> Carte publicised the piece by presenting a matinee concert performance on 6 July 1878 at the enormous [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]].<ref>''The Times'', 6 July 1878, p. 1 announced that Eugène Goossens would conduct.</ref>

In late August 1878, Sullivan used some of the ''Pinafore'' music, arranged by his assistant [[Hamilton Clarke]], during several successful promenade concerts at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] that generated interest and stimulated ticket sales.<ref>Ainger, p. 162</ref> By September, ''Pinafore'' was playing to full houses at the Opera Comique. The piano score sold 10,000&nbsp;copies,<ref>Jones, p. 6</ref> and Carte soon sent two additional companies out to tour in the provinces.<ref>Stedman, p. 163</ref>

Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan now had the financial resources to produce shows themselves, without outside backers. Carte persuaded the author and composer that a business partnership among the three would be to their advantage, and they hatched a plan to separate themselves from the directors of the Comedy Opera Company. The contract between Gilbert and Sullivan and the Comedy Opera Company gave the latter the right to present ''Pinafore'' for the duration of the initial run. The Opera Comique was obliged to close for drain and sewer repairs, and it was renovated by E. W. Bradwell, from Christmas 1878 to the end of January 1879.<ref>[http://gsarchive.net/pinafore/reviews/op_com1878-80/era790209.html "Opera Comique"]. ''The Era'', 9 February 1879, reprinted at ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', accessed 8 July 2010</ref> Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte believed that this break ended the initial run, and, therefore, ended the company's rights. Carte put the matter beyond doubt by taking a six-month personal lease of the theatre beginning on 1 February 1879, the date of its re-opening, when ''Pinafore'' resumed. At the end of the six months, Carte planned to give notice to the Comedy Opera Company that its rights in the show and the theatre had ended.<ref name=Stedman170>Stedman, pp. 170–171</ref><ref>Ainger, pp. 165–167 and 194–195</ref>

Meanwhile, numerous versions of ''Pinafore'', unauthorised by its creators, began playing in America with great success, beginning with a production in [[Boston]] that opened on 25 November 1878.<ref name=Bradley116/> ''Pinafore'' became a source of popular quotations on both sides of the Atlantic, such as the exchange:

<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">"What, never?"
"No, never!"
"What, ''never?''"
"Well, hardly ever!"<ref>Lawrence, Arthur H. [http://gsarchive.net/sullivan/interviews/lawrence.html "An illustrated interview with Sir Arthur Sullivan"] Part 3, from ''The Strand Magazine'', Vol. xiv, No.84 (December 1897), accessed 10 March 2009</ref><ref>Ainger, p. 166</ref></poem>

[[File:PinFirstNightProg.jpg|right|thumb|Opening night programme cover]]
In February 1879, ''Pinafore'' resumed operations at the Opera Comique.<ref>Stedman, p. 165</ref> The opera also resumed touring in April, with two companies crisscrossing the British provinces by June, one starring [[Richard Mansfield]] as Sir Joseph, the other [[W. S. Penley]] in the role. Hoping to join in on the profits to be made in America from ''Pinafore'', Carte left in June for New York to make arrangements for an "authentic" production there to be rehearsed personally by the author and composer. He arranged to rent a theatre and auditioned chorus members for the American production of ''Pinafore'' and a new Gilbert and Sullivan opera to be premiered in New York, and for tours.<ref name="Ainger169"/>

Sullivan, as had been arranged with Carte and Gilbert, gave notice to the partners of the Comedy Opera Company in early July 1879 that he, Gilbert and Carte would not be renewing the contract to produce ''Pinafore'' with them and that he would be withdrawing his music from the Comedy Opera Company on 31 July.<ref name=Ainger169>Ainger, p. 169</ref><ref>Jacobs, p. 126</ref><ref>Rees, p. 89: Sullivan wrote to [[John Hollingshead]], saying: "You once settled a precedent for me which may just at present be of great importance to me. I asked you for the band parts of the ''Merry Wives of Windsor''&nbsp;... and [you] said, 'They are yours, as our run is over.&nbsp;...' Now will you please let me have them, and the parts of ''[[Thespis (opera)|Thespis]]'' also at once. I am detaining the parts of ''Pinafore'', so that the directors shall not take them away from the [[Opera Comique|Comique]] tomorrow, and I base my claim on the precedent ''you'' set."</ref> In return, the Comedy Opera Company gave notice that they intended to play ''Pinafore'' at another theatre and brought a legal action against Carte and company. They offered the London and touring casts of ''Pinafore'' more money to play in their production, and although some choristers accepted their offer, only one principal player, Aeneas Joseph Dymott, accepted.<ref name=Rollins6/> They engaged the [[Imperial Theatre, London|Imperial Theatre]] but had no scenery. On 31 July, they sent a group of thugs to seize the scenery and props during Act II of the evening performance at the Opera Comique.<ref>Ainger, p. 170</ref> Gilbert was away, and Sullivan was recovering from an operation for kidney stones.<ref>Jacobs, pp. 124–125</ref> Stagehands and cast members managed to ward off their backstage attackers and protect the scenery, although the stage manager, [[Richard Barker (stage manager)|Richard Barker]], and others, were injured. The cast went on with the show until someone shouted "Fire!" George Grossmith, playing Sir Joseph, went before the curtain to calm the panicked audience. The police arrived to restore order, and the show continued.<ref name=Stedman170/><ref>[http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-opcom.html "The Fracas at the Opera Comique"], ''The Theatre'', 1 September 1879, reprinted at the Stage Beauty website, accessed 6 May 2009. See also "The Fracas at the Opera Comique", ''The Era'', 10 August 1879, p. 5 and "The Fracas at the Opera Comique", ''The Leeds Mercury'', 13 August 1879, p. 8</ref><ref name=C&B/> Gilbert sued to stop the Comedy Opera Company from staging their rival production of ''H.M.S. Pinafore''.<ref>Ainger, p. 171</ref> The court permitted the production to go on at the Imperial, beginning on 1 August 1879, and it transferred to the [[Olympic Theatre (London)|Olympic Theatre]] in September. [[Pauline Rita]] was one of a series of Josephines.<ref>[http://gsarchive.net/pinafore/reviews/rival/times1879.html "The Theatres"]. ''The Times'', 22 September 1879, reprinted at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 8 July 2010</ref> The production received good notices and initially sold well but was withdrawn in October after 91&nbsp;performances.<ref name=Rollins6/> The matter was eventually settled in court, where a judge ruled in Carte's favour about two years later.<ref>Ainger, p. 175</ref>

After his return to London, Carte formed a new partnership with Gilbert and Sullivan to divide profits equally after the expenses of each of their shows.<ref>Stedman, p. 172</ref> Meanwhile, ''Pinafore'' continued to play strongly. On 20 February 1880, ''Pinafore'' completed its initial run of 571&nbsp;performances.<ref>Ainger, p. 184; Rollins and Witts, p. 6</ref> Only one other work of [[musical theatre]] in the world had ever run longer, [[Robert Planquette]]'s [[operetta]] ''[[Les cloches de Corneville]]''.<ref>Gillan, Don. [http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/th-longr.html "Longest Running Plays in London and New York"], StageBeauty.net (2007), accessed 10 March 2009</ref><ref>''Who's Who in the Theatre'', Fourteenth edition, ed. Freda Gaye, p. 1532, Pitman, London (1967) {{ISBN|0-273-43345-8}}</ref>

===Taking ''Pinafore'' to the United States===
[[File:HMSPinafore2.png|thumb|left|Advertisement for a (probably unlicensed) American production of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'']]
Approximately 150&nbsp;unauthorised productions of ''Pinafore'' sprang up in the United States in 1878 and 1879, and none of these paid royalties to the authors. Gilbert and Sullivan called them "pirated", although the creators did not have any international copyright protection.<ref name=Prestige>Prestige, Colin. "D'Oyly Carte and the Pirates: The Original New York Productions of Gilbert and Sullivan", pp. 113–148 at p. 118, ''Gilbert and Sullivan [http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/handle/1808/5875 Papers Presented at the International Conference] held at the [[University of Kansas]] in May 1970'', Edited by James Helyar. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries, 1971</ref><ref name=Jones7/><ref>Allen (1979), p. 2</ref> The first of these productions, opening at the [[Boston Museum (theatre)|Boston Museum]] on 25 November 1878, made such a splash that the piece was quickly produced in major cities and on tour by dozens of companies throughout the country. Boston alone saw at least a dozen productions, including a juvenile version described by [[Louisa May Alcott]] in her 1879 story, "Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore".<ref name=Boston>Kanthor, Harold. "H.M.S. Pinafore and the Theater Season in Boston 1878–1879", ''[[Journal of Popular Culture]]'', Spring 1991, vol. 24, no. 4, Platinum Periodicals, p. 119</ref> In New York, different productions of the piece played simultaneously in eight theatres within five blocks of each other and in six theatres in Philadelphia.<ref>Goodman, Andrew.  ''Gilbert and Sullivan at Law'', pp. 204–205, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (1982), {{ISBN|0-8386-3179-7}}</ref> A production by Gorman's Philadelphia Church Choir Company, orchestrated by [[John Philip Sousa]] and starring [[Louis De Lange]] as Sir Joseph, played on Broadway and toured in the U.S. throughout 1879; Sousa's orchestration was also used in Australasia.<ref>Kuykendall, James Brooks and Elyse Ridder. [http://jamesbrookskuykendall.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pirating-Pinafore_-Sousas-1879-Orchestration.pdf "Pirating ''Pinafore'': Sousa's 1879 Orchestration"], ''Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association'', June 2022, pp. 501–517 doi: 10.1353/not.2022.0040</ref>

These unauthorised performances took many forms, including [[Victorian burlesque|burlesques]], productions with men playing women's roles and vice versa, spoofs, variety acts, [[Minstrel show]] versions,<ref name=Boston/> all-black and Catholic productions, German, [[Yiddish]] and other foreign-language versions,<ref name=Jones7>Jones, p. 7</ref> performances on boats or by church choirs,<ref name=Stedman169>Stedman, p. 169</ref> and productions starring casts of children.<ref name=Bradley116/><ref name=Boston/> Few purported to play the opera as written.{{refn|James C. Duff claimed falsely that his "faithful" January 1879 production in New York used performing materials that he had personally secured from the author and composer.<ref>[http://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/gilbert-and-sullivan/details?Print=31&image=00-6082b Theatre programme for ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' and ''My Uncle's Will''], Standard Theatre, 25 January 1879, reprinted at Rochester.edu, accessed 16 July 2014</ref>|group= n}} Sheet music arrangements were popular, there were ''Pinafore''-themed dolls and household items, and references to the opera were common in advertising, news and other media.<ref name=Jones7/> Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte brought lawsuits in the U.S. and tried for many years to control the American performance copyrights over their operas, or at least to claim some royalties, without success. They made a special effort to claim American rights for their next work after ''Pinafore'', ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', by giving the official premiere in New York.<ref>Rosen, Zvi S. [https://ssrn.com/abstract=963540 "The Twilight of the Opera Pirates: A Prehistory of the Right of Public Performance for Musical Compositions"], ''Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal'', Vol. 24, 2007, pp. 1157–1218, 5 March 2007, accessed 6 May 2009</ref>

Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte met by 24 April 1879 to make plans for a production of ''Pinafore'' in America.<ref>Ainger, p. 168</ref> Carte travelled to New York in the summer of 1879 and made arrangements with theatre manager [[John T. Ford]]{{refn|Ford had been one of the few managers who had paid Gilbert and Sullivan any kind of fee for performing ''Pinafore'' in America, and his reward for a small gesture was great.<ref>Stedman, p. 169.</ref>|group= n}} to present, at the [[Fifth Avenue Theatre]], the first authorised American production of ''Pinafore''.<ref name=Ainger169/> In November, Carte returned to America with Gilbert, Sullivan and a company of strong singers, including [[J. H. Ryley]] as Sir Joseph, [[Blanche Roosevelt]] as Josephine, [[Alice Barnett]] as Little Buttercup, [[Furneaux Cook]] as Dick Deadeye, [[Hugh Talbot]] as Ralph Rackstraw and [[Jessie Bond]] as Cousin Hebe.<ref name=Jacobs129>Jacobs, p. 129</ref> To these, he added some American singers, including [[Signor Brocolini]] as Captain Corcoran.<ref name=Ainger182>Ainger, pp. 182–183</ref> [[Alfred Cellier]] came to assist Sullivan, while his brother [[François Cellier|François]] remained in London to conduct ''Pinafore'' there.<ref>Jacobs, p. 127</ref>

''Pinafore'' opened in New York on 1 December 1879 (with Gilbert onstage in the chorus) and ran for the rest of December.<ref name=Jacobs129/> After a reasonably strong first week, audiences quickly fell off, since most New Yorkers had already seen local productions of ''Pinafore''.<ref>Stedman, p. 174</ref><ref name=Jacobs129/> In the meantime, Gilbert and Sullivan raced to complete and rehearse their new opera, ''The Pirates of Penzance'', which premiered with much success on 31 December.<ref>Jacobs, p. 132</ref> Shortly thereafter, Carte sent three touring companies around the United States East Coast and Midwest, playing ''Pinafore'' alongside ''Pirates''.<ref name=Ainger182/><ref name=Stedman175>Stedman, p. 175</ref>

===Children's production===
[[File:Grattanpin.jpg|thumb|1880 programme for Carte's ''Children's Pinafore'']]
The unauthorised juvenile productions of ''Pinafore'' were so popular<ref>Wills, Matthew. [https://daily.jstor.org/topsy-turvy-children-in-adult-roles/ "Topsy-Turvy: Children in Adult Roles"], ''[[JSTOR|JSTOR Daily]]'', November 15, 2022</ref> that Carte mounted his own children's version, played at matinees at the Opera Comique beginning on 16 December 1879.<ref>Kanthor, Hal. [http://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/gilbert-and-sullivan/details?Print=29 Links to programme for Carte's "Children's Pinafore"] and [http://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/gilbert-and-sullivan/details?Print=37 link to poster for a Boston children's ''Pinafore''], both at ''Gilbert and Sullivan: From London to America'', online exhibition at University of Rochester Libraries, accessed 27 January 2017</ref> [[François Cellier]], who had taken over from his brother as Carte's music director in London, adapted the score for children's voices.<ref name=C&B>Cellier and Bridgeman, chapter entitled [http://gsarchive.net/pinafore/html/making_pinafore.html "The making of ''H.M.S. Pinafore''"], reproduced at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 10 March 2009</ref> Between its two Christmas seasons in London, the children's production went on a provincial tour from 2 August 1880 to 11 December 1880.<ref name=Rollins7/>

Carte's children's production earned enthusiastic reviews from the critic [[Clement Scott]]<ref>Scott, Clement. [http://savoyoperas.org.uk/pinafore/childpin.html "Our Play-Box. ''The Children's Pinafore''"], ''The Theatre'', 1 January 1880, new [3rd.] series 1: pp. 38–39, accessed 10 March 2009</ref> and the other London critics, as well as the audiences, including children.<ref name=Stedman175/><ref>[http://gsarchive.net/pinafore/reviews/childrens/801226era.html "The Children's ''Pinafore''"], ''The Era'', 26 December 1880, reprinted at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 6 October 2011</ref> However, Captain Corcoran's curse "Damme!" was uncensored, shocking such prominent audience members as [[Lewis Carroll]],{{refn|Carroll had unsuccessfully sought to collaborate with Sullivan on an adaptation of ''Alice in Wonderland''. This was not the first time that he had written a review expressing outraged indignation against Gilbert and Sullivan. He had objected to their treatment of the clergy in ''The Sorcerer''.<ref>Williams, p.84</ref>|group= n}} who later wrote: "a bevy of sweet innocent-looking girls sing, with bright and happy looks, the chorus 'He said, Damn me! He said, Damn me!' I cannot find words to convey to the reader the pain I felt in seeing those dear children taught to utter such words to amuse ears grown callous to their ghastly meaning&nbsp;... How Mr. Gilbert could have stooped to write, or Sir Arthur Sullivan could have prostituted his noble art to set to music, such vile trash, it passes my skill to understand".<ref>Carroll, Lewis. "The Stage and the Spirit of Reverence", ''Theatre'' magazine, 1 June 1888, reprinted in ''The Lewis Carroll Picture Book'', pp. 175–195, Stuart Dodgson Collingwood (ed.), London: T. Fisher Unwin (1899)</ref><ref>Jacobs, p. 123</ref>

===Subsequent productions===
After the opera became successful in London, Richard D'Oyly Carte quickly sent touring companies into the British provinces. At least one D'Oyly Carte company, and sometimes as many as three, played ''Pinafore'' under Carte's aegis every year between 1878 and 1888, including its first London revival in 1887. The opera was then given a rest, returning to the touring repertory between 1894 and 1900 and again for most of the time between 1903 and 1940.<ref>Rollins and Witts, pp. 7–164</ref> Gilbert directed all the revivals during his lifetime, and after his death, the [[D'Oyly Carte Opera Company]] had exclusive performing rights to the Savoy operas until 1962. It continued to hew closely to Gilbert's directions throughout that period, as recorded in Gilbert's prompt books, and it also required its licensees to follow them closely.<ref>Bradley (2005), p. 27</ref>

[[File:Pin15 1.jpg|upright|left|thumb|[[Ruth Vincent]] as Josephine in 1899]]
Until 1908, revivals of the opera were given in contemporary dress, with ladies' costumes executed by couture houses such as [[Redfern (couture)|Redfern]].<ref name=rw>Rollins and Witts, Appendix, p. VII</ref> After that, designers such as [[Percy Anderson (designer)|Percy Anderson]], [[George Sheringham]] and [[Peter Goffin]] created Victorian costume designs.<ref name=rw/><ref>Mander, pp. 102–105</ref> The 1887 set was designed by [[Hawes Craven]].<ref name=rw/> In the winter of 1940–41, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's scenery and costumes for ''Pinafore'' and three other operas were destroyed by German bombs during [[World War II]].<ref>Rollins and Witts, p. 165</ref> The opera was revived in London in the summer of 1947.<ref>Rollins and Witts, pp. 165–172</ref> It was then included in the D'Oyly Carte repertory in every season from then on, until the company's closure in 1982.<ref>Rollins and Witts, pp. 172–186, and supplements</ref> The D'Oyly Carte company performed ''Pinafore'' before [[Queen Elizabeth II]] and the royal family at [[Windsor Castle]] on 16 June 1977, during the queen's Silver Jubilee year, the first [[Royal Command Performance|royal command performance]] of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera since 1891.<ref name=Bradley116/>

The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company did not allow any other professional company to present the Savoy operas in Britain and the Commonwealth until the copyrights expired at the end of 1961, although it licensed many amateur and school societies to do so, beginning in the 19th century.<ref name=copyright>[http://gsarchive.net/gondoliers/doc_67/67docprod.html l "The 1968 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company Production of ''The Gondoliers''"], reprinted from theatre programme of 29 January 1968, ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', Retrieved on 11 March 2009</ref> Other professional productions since the copyrights expired have included [[Tyrone Guthrie]]'s 1960 production from [[Stratford Shakespeare Festival|Stratford, Ontario]], seen on Broadway in 1960 and in London in 1962<ref>It played in London together with ''Pirates'' at [[Her Majesty's Theatre]]; Mander, p. 154 and "''H.M.S. Pinafore'' and ''The Pirates of Penzance''", ''Theatre World'' (UK magazine), March 1962, pp. 15–20</ref> and a New Sadler's Wells Opera Company production first seen on 4 June 1984 at [[Sadler's Wells Theatre]],<ref>[http://gsarchive.net/pinafore/nswo/nswo87.html Photos, cast and crew information for the New Sadler's Wells Opera] production in 1987, collected at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 10 March 2009</ref> which was seen also in New York.<ref>[[Richard Traubner|Traubner, Richard]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/15/theater/music-a-pinafore-sails-in-on-a-fresh-breeze.html?pagewanted=all "A ''Pinafore'' Sails In on a Fresh Breeze"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 15 January 1989, accessed 10 March 2009</ref> [[Scottish Opera]], [[Welsh National Opera]] and many of the other British opera companies have mounted productions, as did the reconstituted D'Oyly Carte Opera Company between 1990 and its closure in 2003.<ref name=Bradley3>Bradley (2005), chapters 3 and 4, ''passim''</ref> In recent decades, the [[Carl Rosa Opera Company]] has produced ''Pinafore'' several times, including in 2009,<ref>"Dido; Aeneas/ Acis; Galatea", ''The Times'', 28 March 2009</ref> [[Opera della Luna]] has toured it repeatedly,<ref name=OdL>"Fun on the high seas", ''The Press and Journal'', 22 April 2010</ref> [[English National Opera]] presented it in 2021,<ref>Maddocks, Fiona. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/06/the-week-in-classical-hms-pinafore-english-national-opera-coliseum-12-ensemble-kings-place-review "The week in classical: ''H.M.S. Pinafore''; 12 Ensemble – review"], ''The Guardian'', 6 November 2021</ref> it is regularly given by the [[National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company]],<ref>Bratby, Richard. [http://www.theartsdesk.com/opera/hms-pinafore-national-gilbert-sullivan-opera-company "''HMS Pinafore'', National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company"], ''The Arts Desk'', 10 August 2015</ref> and other British companies continue to mount the piece.<ref name=Bradley3/>

The extraordinary initial success of ''Pinafore'' in America was seen first-hand by [[J. C. Williamson]].<ref name=Boston/> He soon made arrangements with D'Oyly Carte to present the opera's first authorised production in Australia, opening on 15 November 1879 at the Theatre Royal, [[Sydney]]. Thereafter, his opera company played frequent seasons of the work (and the subsequent Savoy operas) until at least 1963.<ref>Review of ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' in the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 17 November 1879; and Morrison, Robert. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/williamson.htm "The J. C. Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company"], the Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 12 November 2001, accessed 10 June 2016</ref> In the U.S., the piece never lost popularity.<ref name=Boston/><ref name=Bradley117/> The [[Internet Broadway Database]] links to a non-exhaustive list of 29 productions on Broadway alone.<ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/hms-pinafore-4143 IBDB links to Broadway productions of ''Pinafore''], Internet Broadway Database, accessed 9 March 2017</ref> Among the professional repertory companies continuing to present ''Pinafore'' regularly in the U.S. are [[Opera a la Carte (US)|Opera a la Carte]], based in California, [[Ohio Light Opera]] and the [[New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players]], which tours the opera annually and often includes it in its New York seasons.<ref>Smith, Steve. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/arts/music/09pina.html "All Hands on Deck for Absurd Relevance"], ''The New York Times'', 9 June 2008, accessed 10 March 2009</ref> ''Pinafore'' is still performed around the world by opera companies such as the Royal Theatre, [[Copenhagen]]; Australian Opera (and [[Essgee Entertainment]] and others in Australia); in [[Kassel]], Germany; and even [[Samarkand]], Uzbekistan.<ref>Bradley (2005), chapter 4</ref>

The following table shows the history of the D'Oyly Carte productions (excluding tours) in Gilbert's lifetime:

{|class="wikitable"
! Theatre !! Opening date !! Closing date !! Perfs. !! Details
|-
|rowspan=2|[[Opera Comique]]||25 May 1878||nowrap|24 December 1878||rowspan=2 align=center|571||rowspan=2|Original run in London. (The theatre was closed between 25 December 1878 and 31 January 1879.)<ref name=Rollins6/>
|-
|31 January 1879||20 February 1880
|-
|[[Fifth Avenue Theatre]], New York||1 December 1879||27 December 1879||align=center|28||Official American premiere in New York, prior to the opening of ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]''.<ref name=Ainger182/>
|-
|nowrap|Opera Comique||nowrap|16 December 1879||20 March 1880||align=center|78||rowspan=2|Company of juvenile performers, matinees only. (This company went on a provincial tour from 2 August to 11 December 1880.)<ref name=Rollins7>Rollins and Witts, p. 7</ref>
|-
|Opera Comique||22 December 1880||28 January 1881||align=center|28
|-
|[[Savoy Theatre]]||12 November 1887||10 March 1888||align=center|120||First London revival.<ref name=Rollins11>Rollins and Witts, p. 11</ref>
|-
|Savoy Theatre||6 June 1899||25 November 1899||align=center|174||Second London revival. Played with ''[[Trial by Jury]]'' as a forepiece.<ref name=Rollins18>Rollins and Witts, p.18</ref>
|-
|nowrap|Savoy Theatre||14 July 1908||27 March 1909||align=center|61||Second Savoy repertory season; played with five other operas. (Closing date shown is of the entire season.)<ref name=Rollins22>Rollins and Witts, p. 22</ref>
|}