At Quintessence Theatre, catchy tunes and witty banter share the stage with a preposterous story in a joyous revival of “The Pirates of Penzance.” In the nearly 150 years since its 1879 premiere, the Gilbert & Sullivan classic has not lost its shine.

Gilbert’s libretto is full of satirical bite, a sequence of events that mock the norms of the Victorian moral order. At the same time, this sensibility takes shape within a new approach to musical theater that also laughs at the conventions of classical opera.

In the opening act, pirates moor at Penzance, a port town off the coast of Cornwall, where the Pirate King salutes the moral superiority of brigands (bandits): “Oh, better for to live and die/ under the brave black flag I fly/ than play a sanctimonious part...” (from “I Am the Pirate King”). When the pirates go ashore, they discover Frederic, their young indentured servant, in a romance with Mabel, one of Major–General Stanley’s four daughters.

Act One is slow developing; over the years, productions have struggled to enliven it. Some plump up the comedic aspect of its caricature figures. In this show, director Alex Burns focuses on strong renditions of Gilbert & Sullivan songs (in line with Gilbert’s wish that a production should portray his characters in a straightforward way).

His cast has the vocal talent to pull it off. Kamaluonalani Matthias, an opera singer and teacher, heads the list. Playing heroine Mabel, Matthias sings Sullivan arias that need her coloratura soprano power. Trevor Martin is a sonorous, award–winning baritone whose Pirate King is full of strut. Christina Stroup performs the songs of mercurial pirate–maid Ruth with flair, while Brandon Walters’ Frederic is perpetually winsome.

Christopher Patrick Mullen, a veteran actor from the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and People’s Light cultural center and theater in Malvern, plays Major–General Stanley. Mullen is quietly hilarious as a spineless ignoramus of the officer class. The Major–General is the bridge between the two acts, and Mullen delivers a strong rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” the celebrated, tongue-twisting “Patter song” in “Penzance.”

The opera picks up steam in Act Two, when satire of Italian opera combines with the takedown of Victorian morality. The Mabel/Frederic relationship assumes center stage, a mockery of the melodramatic romances in opera. Like many scenes in “Penzance,” it is so inherently ridiculous that you understand why Gilbert did not want players hamming it up.

Sullivan’s music keeps pace with Gilbert’s spoofing. Under the musical direction of Steven Gross, Pianist Luke McGinnis leads a four-piece orchestra in re-creating the spirit of Sullivan’s music. Some sequences hint at Verdi’s orchestral buildup that, within the context of Gilbert’s libretto, take on a parodic cast.

These two streams of satire combine in the final scenes. Rebellious pirates march on stage to form a chorus. They challenge the authority of Major-General’s rival chorus of minion soldiers with their quaking bobby sticks. As they march and sing, the two choruses do not recognize the other’s presence, mocking the opera convention. The conflict is resolved via a deus ex machina event so delightfully fantastical, I leave it for you to discover.

Some see the 14 comic operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan as an inspiration for the development of the American musical. True, “Pirates of Penzance” premiered in New York, and the Savoy operettas had a popular American following. Gilbert & Sullivan rejected operatic storytelling in favor of an English music hall approach, much as the American musical grew out of vaudeville.

Many American lyricists — Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, among others — were encouraged by the Gilbert & Sullivan use of wit in song. But the connection between the two traditions is arguable. The Savoy operettas have a more cabaret sensibility. And their outstanding feature, notwithstanding the withering attack on Victorian morality, is how gosh darn British they feel!

Quintessence Theatre is located at 7137 Germantown Ave. “Pirates of Penzance” will run through Jan 4. Tickets available at 215-987-4450, or online at Quintessencetheatre.org.