The multi-talented Jinkx Monsoon, currently wowing audiences in her annual Holiday Extravaganza with BenDeLaCreme, will return to Broadway next Spring with top billing as Ruth in Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a reimagined, lovingly adapted production of The Pirates of Penzance. She joins the previously announced cast of Ramin Karimloo (Pirate King) and David Hyde Pierce (Gilbert/Major General Stanley). After breaking box office records and making history as the first drag queen to play Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago, this marks Jinkx’s first Tony-eligible role and first time originating a role on Broadway.
In this jazzy take on the Gilbert & Sullivan classic, a pirate ship docks in New Orleans in this
outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and French Quarter flair. With the tongue-twisting Major-General, the rabble-rousing Pirate King, newly imagined young lovers, daring daughters, footloose pirates and fleet-footed police, there’s a shipload of musical comedy delights on board to dazzle first-timers and G&S aficionados alike.
Of her role, Jinkx says, “Ok— first of all, Ruth. If ever there were an unexpected role for me to sink my teeth into… she has EVERYTHING I could want in a character, not to mention a chance to play her from a completely new perspective. The chance to revitalize the classics is something special I am honored to be asked to do.”
This is part of a landmark year for Monsoon. She’ll kick off 2025 by playing Reno Sweeney at Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Anything Goes: In Concert this January, and will make her Carnegie Hall debut with a sold-out concert on Valentine’s Day: Jinkx Monsoon: Live at Carnegie Hall directed by BenDeLaCreme. Earlier this year, she became the first drag queen + trans woman to play Audrey in off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors (opposite Corbin Bleu as Seymour) and blew audiences away with her scene-stealing Doctor Who villain performance as ‘Maestro’ on Disney+.
Pirates! The Penzance Musical will begin previews on Friday, April 4, 2025, and open officially on Thursday, April 24, 2025. This is a limited engagement through June 22, 2025 at the Todd Haimes Theatre. Tickets for Pirates! The Penzance Musical are currently available by calling 212.719.1300, online at roundabouttheatre.org, or in person at the Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd Street).
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