Avast, Mateys! My Thoughts on THE PIRATE QUEEN

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:49am

I have never seen anything like The Pirate Queen. I've seen a lot of good theater, I've seen a lot of terrible theater. This is neither. The Pirate Queen could be an excellent show. There is a significant amount of potential upon the cavernous Hilton stage. However, all that's there now is a mess, albeit a mostly enjoyable one.

Going in, given all the negative publicity, my expectations were at a surprising low. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. As I stated, it's not good, it's not bad. It's a mixed bag, an amalgamation, of both.

The positive:

The best part of the whole evening has to be the choreography, beautifully done by Gracila Daniele and Carol Leavy Joyce. I've always been a fan of Irish step dancing and PQ didn't let me down. There is remarkable talent on the stage, the ensemble is spellbinding.

Eugene Lee's massive sets fill the space well, Kenneth Posner's lighting is impressive as always, and Martin Pakledinaz's costumes are, for the most part, gorgeous.

Hadley Fraser and Jeff McCarthy are terrific as Tiernan and Dubhdara. Fraser's wonderful voice shakes the room, McCarthy, as always, is excellent. Marcus Chait is perfectly vile as Donal. Aine Cheallaigh is underused as Evleen (the nursemaid?), yet sings beautifully.

Stephanie J. Block emerges as the closest thing Christine Ebersole has to Tony competition. (The award is still in Ebersole's pocket, however.) Block has a massive amount of stage presence, warmth, and a glorious, cavern-filling soprano that makes up for whatever shortcomings she may have acting-wise. She is certainly a talent who will go far in the coming years.

The mixed:
Boublil and Schoenberg's score leaves much to be desired. Many reused melodies, ranging from Do You Hear the People Sing? (The Pirate Queen) to Master of the House (Boys Will Be Boys, the overall highlight of the show, even though it doesn't fit).

The negative:
Linda Balgord and William Yeomans give terrible charicatures of performances. Balgord's Elizabeth comes off as a screechy tyrany, Yeomans' acts like Don Stephenson as Thurio in Two Gentlemen of Verona was his acting coach. I spent most of Act I scratching my head trying to figure out why it looked familiar. That's what it was.

The story is muddled and underdeveloped - we don't really learn why anything is going on. We don't know why Elizabeth and Grace magically come to a truce (I don't think we even know why Elizabeth wants Grace captured to begin with). I honestly wished we saw more of Grace and her crew than the conflict with Elizabeth. Her scenes in Act I destroyed the great momentum and made Act II dreadfully slow. Even some of the language was a bit out of place (read: modern). (Spoiler Example: "you Irish bitch!")

Frank Galati's direction is a mixed bag. He manages to keep the pace going quickly, yet rarely achieves anything spectacular. Still, the first 20 minutes are visually stunning.

A few minor quibbles:
The bald ensemble member, Jerad Bortz, stands out because his head keeps bobbing by. Give the man a wig!
The African-American ensemble member, Michael James Scott, seems completely out of place. He's the only non-white in the company....give him something to do!
Cut the child! Unnecessary character!
Act I is significantly more exciting than Act II. Liven the it up a little bit.
Make Donal's death more climactic - it's considerably anti now.
Dump the bizarre orgy sequences and slow-motion battles.
Love the 80's pop-opera, synthesized orchestrations...but it's 2007.

So there you have it. It was an overall enjoyable evening. I went in expecting nothing and, well, got something interesting in return.

The critics will have a field day with this one, yet, judging by the sold out house on their feet on a Friday night, it'll run for years.

What do I say about that? Godspeed! Updated On: 3/24/07 at 12:49 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:54am

I am not in favor of cutting children.

Since Ebersole is not going to be in the running for other Awards this Season, besides the TONY, Block should clear her shelf.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 1:03am

Curtain- Hahahahaha!

[danhattan]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 5:06am

Yankeefan-

Thanks for the review. I've been anticipating your thoughts on this show. Glad to see you didn't jump on the "This is the worst show in the world" bandwagon. Even if it's not your cup of tea there is still much to like in this production.

I do think there is a lot of not good/not terrible theatre in New York however. For example...I neither hate nor love Mamma Mia. I don't think it's terrible but I certainly don't think it's perfect. And that show will probably outlast all of us. lol

Also, I think you're referring to another ensemble member as the "bald" one. Jerad Bortz wears a few wigs in this show, as seen on castcom.

[buddharich]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 8:48am

Thank you, yankeefan, for your thoughtful and interesting post. I now have a clearer picture of what this show is like, what it is about, and what all the fuss is about, too - others have said they didn't like it, but don't say why; your mixed review was much more informative - thanks!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 8:49am

danhattan - Despite the problems, I enjoyed myself.

It's not the worst show in town. It just has problems that, in this late stage of the game, cannot be fixed without a complete retool.

Still, as I said, it's a crowd-pleaser.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 10:20am

I definitely agree with most of your thoughts, and I too had a really good time when I saw it even though I thought it was a wreck. I've learned to enjoy bad theaters as a very special event. My immediate reaction to the kid (because he does virtually nothing) was the same, but then I came to the conclusion that you kind of need him to complete the super-sentimental ending they're going for. I'm torn on the sets. Many of them (usually the ones with the backdrops) make good use of a very deep stage, but some of them accentuate its size in a really bad way. Pieces are too spread out, and there are too many arbitrary ones trying to close up the space -- especially the set for the opening scene.

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 10:20 AM

[WishingWells]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:09am

Yankeefan:

I sooo appreciate your thoughts on this show and you seen to be very openminded about it, by saying that isn't bad, but it isn't good. My friends and I are actually debating on driving (4 hours) to NYC to see PQ (we would get rush tickets). I actually have two questions for you: first, do you think it is worth spending a day to see it. And second, you mentioned you have seen good and terrible theatre. Can you give me an idea of a musical you think is great and one that is terrible so I can judge how PQ fits in. Thanks!!!

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:10am

Thanks for your thoughts. I thought it was an enjoyable night at the theatre. I do wonder what kinds of changes they're making. How much can they do after that kind of out of town run? Are there really going to be things now they didn't see then, apart from tweaky (is that a word?) things? I certainly agree with your "not the worst but not the best" feeling. I would much rather see this than some of the other shows out there today, but there are many better as well. I would really like to see this show again, if just to see Stephanie's performance again, which I thought was brilliant (for what she had to work with).

EDIT: When is their opening night?

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 11:10 AM

[bschneid76]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:17am

Yankeefan--

See, I found the part of the Queen and her right hand man the best part. Maybe that was because the music during their scenes was not similar to the composers previous works. Though I do agree with the rest of your comments. While entertaining was a disappointment. But I am glad I got to see it.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:20am

"I am not in favor of cutting children."

Am I the only one who thought of His Dark Materials when I saw this.

[jv92]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:36am

Oh, I think Block shouldn't clear her shelf just yet. We haven't seen Donna Murphy and she could very easily take the Drama Desk and Outer Crtitcs.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:47am

Hmm, you could be right,
and then there's AUDRA.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 11:58am

Voters tend to be amazed by some high belting (cough Idina cough)

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:12pm

Yeah, but she was doing it in a show that everyone knew was going to be a wild success. I have to wonder if voters would want to give awards to a show that's probably... not. PQ will probably be a crowd-pleaser for as long as it manages to run, but it's not going to be a huge success.

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 12:12 PM

[Popular]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:15pm

Yankee - thanks for your review! It really made me want to see the final NY version even more (if that's possible).

BTW, REALLY cute castcom with Steph and Hadley today. They mention the mixed reactions, and also something about sugar plum fairies? LOL

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:18pm

Hadley reminds me a little bit of Paul Rudd. He's really cute.

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 12:18 PM

[kec]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 12:23pm

Opening night is April 5, and according to a Castcom a couple of days ago, the show is now frozen.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 1:53pm

Hadley is not only cute, he's got an amazing set of pipes to (pirate) boot!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:08pm

What is the name of the kid?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:13pm

In the show or the actors' names? His name in the show is Eoin (pronounced Owen). I don't know the actors' names.

[Popular]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:17pm

Steven Barath
(Eoin, Tuesday, Wednesday Eve., Friday & Saturday Mat)


Christopher Grey Misa
(Eoin, at certain performances)

That's from the official website so I don't know how updated they are exactly about when each boy goes on.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:27pm

I actually don't think the names of the kids on the site are even correct, Popular. When I went I saw neither of those. I think his last name was Fernandez. I don't have my playbill with me or I would look.

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 02:27 PM

[Popular]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:28pm

Yes, there was a boy Justin Fernandez that was in it but Steven replaced him.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/24/07 at 2:30pm

Oh that's interesting. Especially since I saw it just a couple weeks ago (because I could have seen it before that?). Thanks for the update!

Updated On: 3/24/07 at 02:30 PM