 "Pinafore" opened at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on December 1, 1879, and Talbot was cast in the leading tenor role of Ralph Rackstraw.The opening night review of "Pinafore" in "The New York Times" commented , "The Ralph Rackstraw, Mr. Hugh Talbot, has a light, pleasant tenor voice, which was not thoroughly under his control last evening, and he is also the best actor who has appeared here in the character".On 31 December 1879, he created the role of Frederic in "The Pirates of Penzance".