H.M.S. Pinafore

About the show

Aboard HMS Pinafore, Captain Corcoran’s daughter Josephine loves Ralph Rackstraw, a lower-class sailor, while her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter. Ralph and Josephine plan to elope, but Dick Deadeye reveals their plan. Little Buttercup then discloses that she accidentally switched two babies years earlier: Ralph is the Captain’s child, and Corcoran was born to a lower rank. Their identities and ranks are exchanged, allowing Ralph and Josephine to marry; Corcoran marries Buttercup, and Sir Joseph settles for Cousin Hebe.