Pineapple Poll which the central character is named Poll Pineapple. The Gilbert and Sullivan opera "H.M.S. Pinafore" (especially its character Little Buttercup) was also based, in part, on this story. Cranko introduced new characters (Mrs Dimple) and gave Poll an admirer to enable a happy ending. Mackerras arranged the score of "Pineapple Poll" from the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire, as well as Sullivan's comic opera "Cox and Box" (written with F. C. Burnand), and Sullivan's "Overture di Ballo". Music from all of the extant Gilbert and Sullivan operas is included, except for "Utopia Limited" and "The Grand Duke". "Pineapple Poll" premiered on
Pineapple Poll in the repertoire of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. It has also been recorded many times. Mackerras and his family were Gilbert and Sullivan fans. As a youth, at the all-male St Aloysius College in Sydney, he played Kate in "The Pirates of Penzance", Leila in "Iolanthe" and Ko-Ko in "The Mikado". In 1941–42, while at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, he played the oboe for the J. C. Williamson Company during one of their Gilbert and Sullivan seasons. He was also a rehearsal pianist for the Kirsova ballet company, where he became familiar with the successful ballets based on