The Pirate Queen

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2006 Chicago Logo for The Pirate Queen
The Pirate Queen

Music	Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics	Alain Boublil Richard Maltby, Jr. John Dempsey
Book	Alain Boublil Claude-Michel Schönberg Richard Maltby, Jr.
Based upon	Morgan Llywelyn's novel Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas
Productions	2006 Chicago 2007 Broadway

The Pirate Queen is a musical written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, best known for their adaptation of Les Misérables. John Dempsey is the co-lyricist. The Pirate Queen marks the first time Boublil and Schönberg have created a musical with American collaborators. It is based on the life and adventures of the 17th century Irish chieftain and pirate Grace O'Malley, who was one of the last Irish clan leaders to resist the English conquest of Gaelic Ireland.

After a Chicago production, the musical ran on Broadway from March to June 2007. The cast featured Stephanie J. Block as the title character and Linda Balgord, who was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance, as Queen Elizabeth I. The show received harsh appraisals from the critics and had weak sales.

1 History
2 Production
3 Characters and cast
4 Plot
- 4.1 Act 1
- 4.2 Act 2
5 Critical response
6 Awards and nominations
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

In 2005, Playbill, the show was scheduled to premiere in Chicago, and Playbill reported that Colm Wilkinson was in talks to star in the project.^[1] However, when casting was announced, Wilkinson was not included.^[2]

Towards the end of the Chicago run, Miss Saigon co-lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. was brought into the creative team to work with Boublil on revisions to the book and lyrics in preparation for the Broadway opening. Additionally, Graciela Daniele worked on the musical staging.^[3]

[edit] Production

The Pirate Queen debuted at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre on October 3, 2006, and ran through November 26, 2006.

The Broadway previews began at the Hilton Theatre on March 6, 2007, with opening night on April 5. It closed on June 17, 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews.^[4]. Frank Galati directed, with musical staging by Graciela Daniele, Irish Dance choreography by Carol Leavy Joyce, and additional choreography by Mark Dendy. The designers included Eugene Lee (sets), Martin Pakledinaz (costumes) and Kenneth Posner (lighting). Moya Doherty and John McColgan, creators of Riverdance, produced. Additionally, Edgar Dobie and Ronan Smith, of Doherty and McColgan's Riverdream production company, are listed as Executive Producers.

Linda Balgord received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I.

A studio recording of the original Broadway cast, produced by Masterworks Broadway, was released on July 3, 2007.

[edit] Characters and cast

Stephanie J. Block	Grania (Grace O'Malley)
Linda Balgord	Queen Elizabeth I
Hadley Fraser	Tiernan
Marcus Chait	Donal
Jeff McCarthy	Dubhdara
William Youmans	Bingham
Steven Barath	Eoin (on alternate performances)
Christopher Grey Misa	Eoin (on alternate performances)

[edit] Plot

The following text is based partly on the official synopsis included as a playbill insert during Chicago production. Changes were made for the 2007 Broadway opening.

[edit] Act 1

The Prologue begins with a silhouette of a woman at the wheel of a ship. She is Grace O'Malley. When the curtain rises we see that she is a young woman, merely pretending. A young man enters, and Grace hides from him. He is Tiernan, her childhood friend. They begin to swordfight until they get too close. They begin to kiss passionately.

The musical opens in Clew Bay, on the launching of Clan O'Malley's newest ship, The Pirate Queen, captained by Chieftain Dubhdara O'Malley (The Pirate Queen). We see Grace, Chief Dubhdara's daughter, who begs to be allowed to be a sailor on the Pirate Queen's maiden voyage. When he denies her, she laments to Tiernan about the restraints of being a woman during this time (Woman). At a time when women on a ship are considered to bring bad luck, she decides to hide among the crew disguised as a boy. When disaster subsequently strikes on the high seas, she proves her mettle and earns her place as one of the ship's crew.

Ecstatic that she can stay on board, Grace and Tiernan promise each other that they will marry. (Here on this Night). Clan O'Malley goes about its business of pirating the seas and encounters the British War ship (Battle at Sea). During this battle Grace shows her bravery and leadership when she single-handedly saves her fathers life, and kills the English Captain. This action causes Dubhdara to decide to make her the captain of the Pirate Queen. He says, "You, Grace, are the Pirate Queen". Grania becomes famous and feared as a proud defender of her country. In England, Queen Elizabeth I and her confidante, Lord Richard Bingham, weigh the news of this formidable woman. Elizabeth considers herself Queen of Ireland and will have no rival, least of all a woman! She orders Grace O'Malley destroyed (Rah-Rah, Tip-Top).

Ireland finds itself in turmoil. As England's oppression grows, warring Irish clans are forced to unite. Clans O'Flaherty and O'Malley meet and decide to join together. Although Grace is still in love with Tiernan, she is to be married to Donal O'Flaherty, heir to Clan O'Flaherty, as a way to unite the clans. Tiernan is heartbroken at the news. Grace is equally devastated that she must give up everything she has fought for: Tiernan and the Sea. Nevertheless she accepts it as her duty to her country, and accepts the marriage union (The Choice is Mine). She and Donal are married (The Wedding). Tiernan soliloquizes on his continuing love for Grace, and vows to always be her protector (I'll Be There).

Donal proves himself to be a womanizing, cowardly scoundrel (Boys'll Be Boys), and his marriage to Grania is a stormy affair. About a year into their marriage, the English attack Rockfleet, where Grace and the rest of the Clan O'Flaherty reside, while the men were off fighting in Belclare (Trouble at Rockfleet). The women, led by Grace, defeat the English soldiers by seducing them and then killing them. However, we find out that the English also attacked Clew Bay and that Dubhdara was badly wounded by an English blade, and Grania, Donal, and the clan travel to see him (A Day Beyond Belclare) before his death.

Meanwhile, Bingham returns to England, defeated and in disgrace. However, when Queen Elizabeth suggests that she may marry the man who defeats Ireland, allowing him to produce an heir, Bingham becomes determined to bring down Grace O'Malley once and for all (Go Serve Your Queen). On his deathbed, Dubhdara names Grace as his successor, despite the fact that she is a woman. As Dubhdara dies, Grace accepts her new role as Chieftain of the Clan O'Malley (Sail to the Stars).

[edit] Act 2

Amidst continued war with the English, Grace gives birth to a son, Eoin (It's a Boy). Donal's cowardice in one crucial battle proves the breaking point for Grace. In the tradition of the Brehon Law, she "dismisses" him publicly, officially dissolving their marriage (I Dismiss You). Tiernan and Grace privately reflect on their feelings for each other (If I Said I Loved You), and in the end kiss and reunite. Emasculated and shamed, Donal colludes with Lord Bingham, betraying the Clan O'Malley and Ireland itself. Clew Bay is invaded on the day of Eoin's christening (The Christening and Let a Father Stand By His Son). Grace is arrested. In the melee, Tiernan kills Donal and escapes with Eoin.

Seven years pass. Grace is jailed, and all of the other Irish Chieftains surrender their crowns to England. Tiernan, whose feelings for Grace have never changed, offers the English a trade -- his freedom for Grace's (Surrender). Elizabeth finds herself affected by this turn of events and she grants Tiernan's request. She reflects on her own life as a woman in power, as Grace, locked in prison, reflects on her life in shambles. They both conclude that it is a woman in love who has all. (She Who Has All). Grace is freed to care for her child, and Tiernan is imprisoned in her place. Reunited with her child, Grace's joy is tempered by the realization of how Ireland has changed during her imprisonment. The country has grown desolate, her lands are ravaged, her people are hungry, and injustice reigns (Lament).

Grace takes fate into her own hands (The Sea of Life) and returns to England to confront Queen Elizabeth. Granted an audience, these two powerful women -- one reigning queen and another without a crown -- find themselves face to face (Woman to Woman), in a private conversation unheard by eager courtiers (Behind the Screen). The most unexpected truce is hammered out between them, freeing Clew Bay from the worst of English rule. Tiernan is granted his freedom and Lord Bingham falls into disgrace (Grace's Exit). Grace and Tiernan find themselves reunited at last. Unencumbered now by war and previous alliances, they can finally pledge themselves to each other and pray for extended peace in Ireland (Finale).

[edit] Critical response

Ben Brantley, reviewing in The New York Times, wrote that the show compares unfavorably with the composers' Les Miserables and that it registers as a relic of a long-gone era, but praised the performances of Block and Balgord.^[5] The Variety reviewer wrote: "all-plot, no-heart new show is persuasively sung by a valiant cast, yet it never forges an emotional connection with the audience."^[6]

The show received no Tony Award nominations and faced steadily declining grosses and high weekly running costs.^[7] When the show closed, it was reported by The New York Times that it had lost "at least $16 million."^[8]