A Short History of The Pirate Queen

The Pirate Queen is infamous for its short run on Broadway and, despite a score with standout moments, has become largely unappreciated. Particularly when compared to the other works of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michael Schönberg. The original cast was made up of actors who continue to work today. Stephanie J. Block played the titular role alongside Hadley Fraser in his Broadway debut, with an ensemble including Michael James Scott and Nick Adams. Original reviews were mixed to negative and productions are scarcely seen today. Recently, the Original Broadway Cast Recording, which has been out of print for years, has become available again online. In hour of its recent availability, the following is a short history of the musical and its productions.

The musical was adapted from Morgan Llywelyn novel, Grania – She King of the Irish Seas[1]. The idea to develop a musical based on the life of Grace O’Malley came from producers of Riverdance, Moya Doherty and John McColgan. They reached out to Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, composers of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon. In a documentary filmed during the musical’s development, Doherty explained her decision to pursue the composer and lyricist. She stated that, ‘Les Misérables is my favourite musical of all time and that is a musical that makes you laugh and makes you cry. And, I know during one of our early meetings with Claude-Michel, we said that, we said, “We want to cry”. He said, “I will make you cry”’[2]. Schönberg composed the music with Boublil writing the lyrics and book. John Dempsey was brought on as the co-lyricist for the English lyrics.

The First Production

The creative team for the original production was full of award winners and nominees. This was an impressive team who had all previously experienced substantial success in theatre, including director Frank Galati, choreographer Mark Dendy and aerial designer Paul Rubin. Alongside Block and Fraser, the cast included Jeff McCarthy as Grace's father and clan leader Dubhdara, Linda Balgord as Queen Elizabeth I, William Youmans as Sir Richard Bingham and Marcus Chait as Donal O’Flaherty.

The first production was staged at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, running from 3rd October to 26th November 2006. This was an out-of-town try-out for Broadway. Indeed, a casting announcement for the Chicago run dubbed the production, ‘a pre-Broadway, World Premiere engagement’[3]. Promotional material and reviews have commented on the scale of The Pirate Queen in Chicago, which in retrospect seems to be significant in the musical’s demise. This was a musical, ‘on an unprecedented scale. The producers had chosen an epic from another time, another world,’[4] as stated in the documentary. Already at this stage, the cast size was substantial. It was reported that, ‘Producers Moya Doherty and John McColgan, known for Riverdance, aren't doing the show small: The cast numbers 42 as of the Chicago opening.’[5] In an effort to stage O’Malley’s world at sea, the production utilised aerial and stage effects. As seen in the documentary, set designer Eugene Lee joked that, ‘I can spend so much money on that last effect it would make you crazy’[6]. Meanwhile, Galati discussed the desired impact of the production: ‘It’s gusty and windy and full of tempest and love and longing. All of those aspects of the human adventure are a part of this musical force’[7]. The intention seems to have been to replicate the impressive stagecraft in the vein of Miss Saigon’s helicopter or The Phantom of the Opera’s chandelier crash. These moments have become iconic and synonymous with the shows and it is likely that the creatives would have aimed for the same effect in The Pirate Queen’s pirate ship set.

Whilst audience reactions were reported to have been positive[8], reviews of the Chicago production were mixed. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune noted, ‘a lack of clear commitment to the kind of legitimate, sophisticated, and, above all, complex musical that has marked Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's glorious careers to date.’[9] For Variety, Steven Oxman stated that, ‘the plotting and characterizations are sorely lacking. The show creates a couple of potentially strong female roles in Grania (Stephanie Block) and her English counterpart, Queen Elizabeth I (Linda Balgord). But nobody here quite knows what to do with them beyond sticking them with stock male figures straight out of melodrama. Until they come face to face late in the show, both these characters have been awaiting a foil with enough personality to bring them to life.’[10] However, this pre-Broadway production presented the opportunity to address improvements to be made in the musical’s development. Oxman stated that, ‘Boosting superficial elements can help shows that seek to be escapist entertainments, but the more ambitious “Pirate Queen” is in trouble unless its love story can find true romance.’[11] It seems that in Chicago, the creatives put a significant emphasis on the aesthetics of the production and underplayed the human elements, such as the relationship between Grace and Tiernan.

The Pirate Queen Arrives on Broadway

After Chicago, more cast and creatives joined the established production team for the Broadway run at the Hilton Theatre. The young actors portraying Grace's son Eoin were replaced and Jeff Williams was cast as a swing and to understudy Chieftain O'Flaherty. Richard Maltby Jr. was brought on and worked on the English lyrics and book. Previously, he had adapted Boublil’s French lyrics when they worked on Miss Saigon together[12]. According to Variety’s review of the Broadway production, ‘Richard Maltby Jr. was tasked with strengthening the book and lyrics, Graciela Daniele with beefing up the musical staging, reportedly pushing the already hefty pricetag north of $16 million.’[13] Daniele’s new involvement seems to have been to enhance the relationships between the characters. In the documentary, she explained that, ‘I felt like the story wasn’t clear enough for me. I thought it was extremely important that we should meet Grace and [Tiernan]…and give her a little physical scene in which one gets to know them and then one roots for this woman as soon as possible’[14]. Clearly, Daniele aimed to enhance the emotional core of the musical. The Irish setting was also highlighted as an area to enhance. Producer Doherty stated that, ‘I think the other big element that we felt didn’t reach its potential in Chicago was the Irishness of it essentially, the Irish dance element’[15]. More dancing was added due to feedback from Chicago audiences: ‘Absolutely everybody said they wanted more dancing’[16]. Daniele, by her own admission, endeavoured to make the dancing more organic so, ‘that it wouldn’t feel like a very presentational, like Riverdance is’[17]. The documentary also noted that, ‘Another enhanced element of the storyline is the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and her right-hand man Richard Bingham’[18]. This may have been an attempt to expand Queen Elizabeth I’s characterisation whilst also developing Bingham from the ‘stock male [figure] straight out of melodrama’, as he was received by Oxman. The most significant addition to the musical in terms of its music was evidently the song ‘Woman’. ‘Woman’ was written for the Broadway production as Grace’s ‘I Want’ number and was reprised in Act Two, ‘but now it's a lullaby, and she actually sings what the joy is of being a woman and this new sensation of giving birth and breast-feeding and finding that love’[19], as described by Block. This song continues to be performed by Block in concerts and is now the most recognisable number in the show.

The move to Broadway did not receive the desired response from audiences or critics. There was some success at the Drama Desk awards with a nomination for Linda Balgord[20]. As reported by Robert Ignatius Letellier in Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II, ‘following poor popular response, [The Pirate Queen] closed in New York on 17 June 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews, resulting in a loss of almost $18 million, ranking it among the largest commercial failures in Broadway history.’[21] The epic musical style seems to have been at the heart of its negative reception. David Rooney stated in Variety that the musical was, ‘just outmoded’[22]. He praised the cast but further criticised the musical as being, ‘all-plot, no-heart… [which] never forges an emotional connection with the audience.’[23] This lack of ‘emotional connection’, which Daniele aimed to enhance in the storytelling, suggests that elements which critics such as Oxman recognised as flawed failed to be improved upon substantially enough. Audiences evidently struggled to connect with the love story. As such, the emotional centre was found to be unconvincing; a damning response to a musical. Critic Andrea Carpenter celebrated the design of the production, praising the, ‘atmospheric backdrops for the sea and the sky, which firmly sets the look and feel of the production.’[24] Queen Elizabeth I’s costumes were described as, ‘lavish and appropriately large while the box-bottomed dresses of the giggling courtiers just add the right fanciful touch.’[25] Yet, Carpenter critiqued the musical’s feminism and the relationship between Grace and Queen Elizabeth I. She noted a missed opportunity, stating that, ‘The Queen is as anti-female as the rest of the characters (a point which is laboured home in the first act) giving us no signals as to what will eventually link our two heroines. And later, in one of many quick plot turnarounds, the Queen agrees to Grace’s demands only because she recognises that the Grace has the love of a good man.’[26] This lack of connection between the characters, in a moment clearly meant to comment on their similar experiences, suggests that the musical’s climax was underwhelming. Ultimately, the show failed to meet expectations. Yet, the Broadway production was not to be the end of The Pirate Queen’s journey.

Life Post-Broadway

In 2009 and 2010, two productions of The Pirate Queen were staged in Japan. Margaret Vermette, author of the book The Musical World of Boublil and Schönberg, has discussed the productions on her website. She stated that, ‘The Japanese première of The Pirate Queen played between 28 November and the 25 December 2009 at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo before transferring to the Umeda Arts Theatre, Osaka from 1 January to 11 January 2010. It was produced by the renowned theatre company Toho.’[27] The set featured a, ‘complete prow of the ship and a complex set of masts, rigging and sails [and the] use of a revolve enable[ing] the ship to turn on the stage’[28]. Unlike the Chicago and Broadway productions, musicians were utilised for specific moments on stage, ‘either on their own…or as an integral part of the cast, playing a fiddle at the wedding’[29]. These productions seem to have been significantly better received by the Broadway production. In an article published by the Independent in 2010, it was stated that The Pirate Queen, ‘has become big in Japan...it's been filling theatres in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka.’[30] Despite the evident success of the Japanese productions, it would be a few years until the next production of the musical was staged.

The UK premiere of The Pirate Queen was produced in 2015 by amateur theatre group Hounslow Light Operatic Society. The production ran at the Hampton Hill Theatre. In a report of the show, Zena Wigram, writing for NODA, the national body representing amateur theatre in the UK, stated that, ‘While I could see why the critics disliked the original US production, [this UK production] did themselves credit, managing to add emotion to the extremely brief scenes as the plot galloped along’[31]. The following year, ‘Wanting to see it with a fresh perspective, the composers, along with Music Theatre International, handpicked Hale Centre Theatre to mount a regional debut’[32] in Salt Lake City. The production even, ‘rented all of the queen’s wardrobe from the Broadway production’[33], suggesting that the creative team approved of this production and gave it their blessing. Reviewing this production, Tyler Hinton stated that, ‘Gorgeous design and solid performances elevate the musical…Although some of the music drags and the momentum slows down greatly in the episodic second act, the story is fascinating and several songs are stunning.’[34] These productions evidently provided opportunities for the creators to see the show in more understated incarnations than had been seen in Chicago and New York.

2017 saw a production at the Artisan Center Theater in Texas with a double cast. In a review of the production, Joel Gerard criticised the musical, but praised the cast, stating that, ‘The songs aren’t very memorable, the story is fairly boring, and the second act loses focus on the characters. None of this is the fault of the uniformly good actors and the enchanting set design on the stage.’[35] Gerard’s review highlighted the in-the-round set design, describing that, ‘One corner looked like an Irish village…The opposite corner looked like the exterior of a castle…The main thrust of the set was the corner used as the pirate ship…It was an immersive experience’[36]. Evidently, critics of these productions shared criticisms of the musical but found elements to enjoy, particularly the casts. These productions, which would have been staged on a smaller scale to those in Chicago and on Broadway years prior, suggest the potential for community productions of the show. Indeed, as there are few previous productions to be compared to, creatives are freed from expectations of staging or costumes. The Pirate Queen also provides lead roles for women and can allow for a large cast.

In 2020, the London Coliseum staged a charity concert of The Pirate Queen. Rachel Tucker took on the role of Grace alongside Hannah Waddingham as Queen Elizabeth I, Daniel Boys as Lord Richard Bingham and Earl Carpenter as Dubhdara. The event was in aid of Leukaemia UK. Reviews of the concert reflected issues historically found by critics. As published in Broadway World, critic Caroline Cronin stated that, ‘The Pirate Queen, narratively speaking, doesn't live up to those greater works that went before it. The book is simplistic and unclear with very little character development.’[37] Whilst praising the performances, particularly Tucker’s and Waddingham’s, a critic writing for Musical Theatre Review found there to be, ‘a lack of cohesion in the material’[38]. The reviews reflected a reaction to the musical which has been evident since its first production. Namely, that the musical requires further development, particularly in regards to the book and characterisations. Nonetheless, actors frequently deliver stand out performances in the roles.

Ultimately, The Pirate Queen has not yet received the same popularity or critical success as other Boublil and Schönberg pieces. However, it is these natural comparisons which perhaps set the musical up for failure, and continues to do so. As journalist Kenneth Jones stated, ‘But, then, who wants — or expects — something tiny or intimate from the writers who gave us the universal ideas and expansive melodies and themes of Miss Saigon and Les Misérables?’[39] Whilst the musical may not reach the heights of these musicals in its content, there are some stand out moments in the score. The size of previous productions have evidently been to the musical's detriment. Past productions of The Pirate Queen have attempted to re-create the success of the 1980s mega musicals. However, the musical theatre landscape has shifted since the 1980s. In 2007, when The Pirate Queen was running on Broadway, the Best Musical Tony Award winner was Spring Awakening[40], an intimate show with a pop score. Boublil and Schönberg's tale of tensions between Ireland and England seems comparatively broad and detached from what audiences could relate to next to the themes of sexual awakening and depression explored in Spring Awakening. Nevertheless, The Pirate Queen has remained in the musical theatre landscape, most recognisably for its act one solo 'Woman', which has become something of a standard. Whilst it has yet to capture audiences' hearts like Les Misérables or Miss Saigon, with a more intimate production and perhaps some further development, The Pirate Queen may receive a more successful run yet.

Sources

[1] Boublil and Schönberg’s The Pirate Queen: Piano/Vocal Selections (New York: Bouberg Music Ltd., 2007), p. i.

[2] Bobo Lobo, The Making of The Pirate Queen, online video recording, YouTube, 21 December 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKXUpzryok>

[3] BWW News Desk, ‘Leads Announced for 'Pirate Queen'; Plays Chicago in Oct.’, Broadway World (2006), <https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Leads-Announced-for-Pirate-Queen-Plays-Chicago-in-Oct-20060512>

[4] Bobo Lobo, The Making of The Pirate Queen, online video recording, YouTube, 21 December 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKXUpzryok>

[5] Kenneth Jones, ‘The Pirate Queen Sails Into Her Chicago Opening Oct. 29’, Playbill (2006), <https://www.playbill.com/article/the-pirate-queen-sails-into-her-chicago-opening-oct-29-com-135898>

[6] Bobo Lobo, The Making of The Pirate Queen, online video recording, YouTube, 21 December 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKXUpzryok>

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Chris Jones, ‘`Pirate Queen' Runs off Course’, Chicago Tribune (2006), <https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-10-31-0610310205-story.html>

[10] Steven Oxman, ‘The Pirate Queen’, Variety (2006), <https://variety.com/2006/legit/markets-festivals/the-pirate-queen-2-1200512303/>

[11] Ibid.

[12] John Bush Jones, Our Musicals, Ourselves: A Social History of the American Musical Theatre (Lebanon: Brandeis University Press, 2003), p. 373.

[13] David Rooney, ‘The Pirate Queen’, Variety (2007), <https://variety.com/2007/legit/reviews/the-pirate-queen-1200509148/>

[14] Bobo Lobo, The Making of The Pirate Queen, online video recording, YouTube, 21 December 2014, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKXUpzryok>

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Kenneth Jones, ‘Stephanie J. Block and Hadley Fraser Opened in The Pirate Queen April 5, 2007’, Playbill (2020), <https://www.playbill.com/article/sails-unfurled-boublil-and-schonbergs-pirate-queen-opens-april-5-com-139814>

[20] ‘The Pirate Queen’, International Broadway Database (2021), <https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-pirate-queen-426183#Awards>

[21] Robert Ignatius Letellier, Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II (Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), p. 994.

[22] David Rooney, ‘The Pirate Queen, Variety (2007), <https://variety.com/2007/legit/reviews/the-pirate-queen-1200509148/>

[23] Ibid.

[24] Andrea Carpenter, ‘The Pirate Queen’, New York Theatre Guide (2007), <https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/the-pirate-queen>

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Margaret Vermette, ‘January 2010: The Pirate Queen in Japan – Review’, The Musical World of Boublil and Schönberg (2010), <https://musicalworld-boublil-schonberg.com/2010/01/08/the-pirate-queen-japan-january-2009/>

[28] Ibid.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ken Sweeney, ‘Pirate Queen is Treasured in Japan’, Independent (2010) <https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pirate-queen-is-treasured-in-japan-26641937.html>

[31] Wigram, ‘The Pirate Queen’, NODA (2015), <https://www.noda.org.uk/show-reports/the-pirate-queen>

[32] Erica Hansen, ‘Hale Centre Theatre Prepares 'The Pirate Queen' for Regional Debut’, Deseret News (2016), <https://www.deseret.com/2016/2/6/20581881/hale-centre-theatre-prepares-the-pirate-queen-for-regional-debut#brianna-gray-as-queen-elizabeth-left-heather-mcdonald-as-grace-omalley-and-jacob-theo-squire-as-tiernan-in-the-monday-wednesday-friday-cast-of-hale-centre-theatres-production-of-the-pirate-queen-which-runs-feb-12-april-2>

[33] Ibid.

[34] Tyler Hinton, ‘BWW Review: THE PIRATE QUEEN at Hale Centre Theatre is a Lush Premiere’, Broadway World: Salt Lake City (2016), <https://www.broadwayworld.com/salt-lake-city/article/BWW-Review-THE-PIRATE-QUEEN-at-Hale-Centre-Theatre-is-a-Lush-Premiere-20160224>

[35] Joel Gerard, ‘Review: ‘The Pirate Queen’ at the Artisan Center Theater’, OnStage Blog (2017), <https://www.onstageblog.com/reviews/2017/3/30/review-the-pirate-queen-at-the-artisan-center-theater>

[36] Ibid.

[37] Caroline Cronin, ‘BWW Review: THE PIRATE QUEEN, London Coliseum’, Broadway World: UK (2020), <https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/BWW-Review-THE-PIRATE-QUEEN-London-Coliseum-20200224>

[38] ‘The Pirate Queen – London Coliseum’, Musical Theatre Review (2020), <https://musicaltheatrereview.com/the-pirate-queen-london-coliseum>

[39] Kenneth Jones, ‘The Pirate Queen Sails Into Her Chicago Opening Oct. 29’, Playbill (2006), <https://www.playbill.com/article/the-pirate-queen-sails-into-her-chicago-opening-oct-29-com-135898>

[40] ‘The Tony Award Nominations: Nominations / 2007’, Tony Awards (2021), <https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/year/2007/category/any/show/any/>