Lamplighters Sets Sail for New Season on Pinafore

Queen Victoria ruling the waves on which the H.M.S. Pinafore sails

The Lamplighters Music Theatre has created a Web page for its 2025–26 season; but, as of this writing, only one production has been listed. The work to be performed will be H.M.S. Pinafore. While this was not the first collaboration of composer Arthur Sullivan setting witty texts by W. S. Gilbert, it was their first major success, first presented in 1878. The plot amounts to a confrontation between “stalwart British tars” that “sail the ocean blue” and dimwitted “titled” aristocracy. The latter is best personified by Sir Joseph Porter, who sings the biographical ditty “When I was a lad.”

There will be three performances of this production in San Francisco. The run time will be one hour and 50 minutes, including a twenty-minute intermission. There will be given two matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 16, and Sunday, August 17, with an evening performance at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The venue will be the Blue Shield of California Theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which is located at 700 Howard Street on the northwest corner of Third Street. Ticket prices range from $75 to $95 with a $10 discount for seniors and groups of ten or more. There is also a $35 rate for children, students, and educators. Tickets may be purchased in advance online through City Box Office event pages. Each performance has a separate Web page, which may be reached through the hyperlinks attached to the above dates. As of this writing, there appears to be no information about subscription rates.