H.M.S. Pinafore, Gilbert and Sullivan’s first international hit, is a timeless fable of two young lovers that is set on the high seas. The lowly sailor Ralph and the captain’s daughter Josephine are kept apart by their social classes. Concealed identities and bureaucratic bumbling create a tangle that the creative magic of Gilbert and Sullivan resolves in the most entertaining way. The New York Times credited the Opera’s lasting appeal to Gilbert’s “unmatched linguistic genius and Sullivan’s generous supply of addictive melodies.”