Role: Ruth

Gilbert and Sullivan's hilarious, hopeful farce follows young Frederic, an orphan who has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but raucous band of pirates. He disavows the pirates' way of life and falls for the beautiful Mabel. Frederic's melodious tones win over the heart of Major-General Stanley's songbird daughter, Mabel, but when the Pirate King discovers that General Stanley has lied about being an orphan to keep the pirates from stealing all of his belongings and carrying off his bevy of beautiful daughters, an "ingenious paradox" may prevent the budding romance and lead to the death of "The very model of a modern Major-General.” (Music Theatre International)

Since serving as Frederic’s nursery maid, Ruth (47) has been the maid-of-all-work of the band of pirates. When Frederic was young, she misheard instructions to apprentice him to a pilot and instead apprenticed him to a pirate. She is the only woman Frederic has seen on the ship and convinces him that she is young and beautiful in an attempt to win his love and protection. He finds out about her deceit and she is banished from the ship, later becoming one of the main villains of the story.