The Pirates of Penzance was written by Gilbert and Sullivan. The show was one of the last performances given by the D’Oyly Carte operatic society at the Adelphi theater in London, in 1972. Wikipedia’s entry on the musical.
A modern sailor is recruited by the Royal Navy and finds himself on the deck of HMS Impérieuse in 1813, as she sails into battle against overwhelming odds. At stake are $5 billion in gold and the fate of the modern world.