Claim: Donald Adams has starred as The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan's opera.
Evidence: Adams also began to fill in for the ageing Darrell Fancourt, who missed an increasing number of performances, as the Pirate King in Pirates, Colonel Calverley in Patience, the Earl of Mountararat in Iolanthe, the title role in The Mikado and Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in Ruddigore. Adams played the roles of Cox in Cox and Box, the Usher in Trial by Jury, Dick Deadeye in Pinafore, the Pirate King in Pirates, Lord Mountararat in Iolanthe, the title role in The Mikado, Sir Roderic in Ruddigore, Sergeant Meryll in Yeomen, and Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers, as well as acting as a director for the company. The Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its official premiere in the United States. 
Pirate King Donald Adams Donald Adams The Pirates of Penzance was the only Gilbert and Sullivan opera to have its official premiere in the United States.