Mystic Country, Connecticut

Enjoy summer theater under the stars this August at Mystic Seaport. For two nights only, Friday and Saturday, August 24-25, the troupe Opera Comique will perform the comic opera HMS Pinafore onboard the full-rigged ship, the Joseph Conrad.

HMS Pinafore was the fourth collaboration of librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). The opera tells the tale of Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran of the Royal Navy, who is due to be betrothed to the First Lord of the Admiralty. Josephine, however, is in love with Ralph Rackstraw, an Able Seaman under her father's command. This opera, with a surprise ending, opened in 1878 and ran for 571 performances. It was Gilbert and Sullivan's first international smash hit, poking fun of the class system and social order.

Tickets are $45 per person and can be purchased online or by calling 860.572.5322. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Charles W. Morgan restoration project.