“HMS Pinafore,” with its farcical captain and crew, sails to the Moravian Academy stage, 7:30 p.m. March 4, 5; 2 p.m. March 6, Dyer Auditorium, Moravian Academy, 4313 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township.

Gallant sailor Ralph Rackstraw falls in love with Captain Corcoran’s daughter, Josephine, but is forbidden to marry her, as he is just a lowly British tar. Little Buttercup, Corcoran’s former nanny, loves the Captain, but she is below his social rank. Can love between different social classes prevail under Britain’s conventional social order?

“From the beloved team of Gilbert and Sullivan, ‘HMS Pinafore’ brings farce to the high seas, or at least a dock at Portsmouth. A soaring score, witty rapid-fire lyrics, romance and hilarity ensue on the silliest ship in the Queen’s Navy,” says Director Jarrod Yuskauskas, Moravian Academy theater department chair.

Assisting Yuskauskas are Choreographer Deena Linn, Music Director Dr. Yvonne Robinson, Technical Director Rob Riker and Orchestra Conductor Dr. Rich Fanning.

With music by Arthur Sullivan and lyrics by William S. Gilbert, the popular comic operetta premiered at London’s Opera Comique in 1878.

Musical numbers include “We Sail the Ocean Blue,” “A British Tar,” “Little Buttercup” and “Never Mind the Why and Wherefore.”

Tickets (Limited in-person, streamed): www.moravianacademy.org/