Arkelk2010-Then, perhaps it is time for you to take a music appreciation course or two or three. This is one of a triad of Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas (the forerunner of Broadway/stage musicals). Many of the puns and double entendres have had to be updated because the originals don't make much sense to us today (their works are dated to between 1871-1896). Opera, ballet, operrettas. comic operas, musicals, etc., are best appreciated when one has a solid background in music. You might be interested in the fact that the late Jon English was a rock star and these three musicals (Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, and the Mikado) are among his last performances.