Pirate Queen- it's a good show.- Page 2

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:58am

Nah, the ending was the least of the problems, for me. It was simple, but sweet... and really, the only way it could logically have ended if it was going to go the happy ending route.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:11am

I hope to see it and I hope that lawyers in NY spend the cash like I did to take clients to the PQ!!!!!

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:41am

B3TA07- Would you care to elaborate on "Retire it, Wanna Be".
Exactly what is it you are deducing that I want to be?

You didn't think that was maybe directed at Wanna Be a Foster? The same Wanna Be a Foster you were responding to in the same post?

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 2:43am

^Thanks. Not even I knew what she was talking about.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 8:12am

I enjoyed your review Queenbee2, and I agree with your fundamental point. Pirate Queen is now an entertaining way to spend a few hours in a theater, a good solid show, but not something great. The cast is indeed brilliant, and all the technical elements are first rate. In Chicago I felt Pirate Queen was a complete trainwreck (an opinion I frequently stated) so they have indeed made great progress.

The producers have done an excellent job promoting the show, and there seems to be a very positive audience response, so this could be one of those shows that runs for years to the horror of theater snobs everywhere.

I think what is holding Pirate Queen back from greatness is the weakness of the basic story. At this point their slogan could be "When surrender wasn't enough, she tried begging." In the novel Grania is a brave, daring gambler who defies the British to the very end and is a force for Queen Elizabeth to reckon with. The last 30 minutes of this production are all about defeat and acquiescence.

[danhattan]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:24am

"The last 30 minutes of this production are all about defeat and acquiescence."

Tech- While I now feel like we're old friends, I have to disagree with you once more. I love the last 30 minutes of this show just as much as I do everything before it. For me the ending isn't about defeat at all. These two women are ruling in a world where women had absolutely no respect. They spent their lives trying to be seen as "men" Just as powerful, leading with war and heavy hands. But in the end they change. When they meet face to face for the first time they decide to rule as women. They put aside everything and actually sit down and through negotiations resolve a conflict. To me it's incredibly powerful. And having a close family member in this mess of a war we're in makes this story really hit home for me. All of these many years later our country is STILL having a hard time with the concept of a female President.

I like the new ending of The Pirate Queen...especially the last words. This may have changed as they are in previews but the night I went they looked at the audience and proclaimed..."May there peace in our land." I didn't take this as defeat, I took it as hope. I'm sorry to sound preachy but I believe there is so much to take away from The Pirate Queen. It's been a great deal of time since I was so politically moved in a MUSICAL! At the end I had tears in my eyes and as they said those words, I tought to myself "Amen."

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:43am

The title of this thread smacks of desperation. It's like someone saying "oh please see it! it's really good, honest!"
Updated On: 3/17/07 at 09:43 AM

[fachedaluna]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:52am

99.9 percent of your comments are beautifully written.

Thanks everyone for your encouraging statements, the good with the critiques. This past week I have only been reading (since I was bashed so often...just a statement. Please do not take this offensively. LOVE LOVE LOVE in my heart)the board opinions on PQ. I must say, that the tone of the messages are much more civil.

Thanks again...was nice to read!!!!!


PS: QB2...you can start as many threads as you like. Mr/Ms Wanna Be A Foster can just skip reading your posts and write his/her comments somewhere else. This person must be going through some type of hormone upset...much too grumpy. I am truly concerned about Foster. Please, someone give him/her a loving hug.
Updated On: 3/17/07 at 09:52 AM

[Steve2]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:58am

queenbee2,
Ignore Wanna Be a Foster, he is not the board police although he thinks he is.
Also note that B3TA07's comment "Retire it, Wannabe" was directed at him and not you.

Keep posting.
Updated On: 3/26/07 at 09:58 AM

[fachedaluna]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:34am

BUMP

[queenbee2]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:40am

danhattan-

I agree with you. The new ending is a powerful statement in its simplicity. The prayer for peace couldn't be more timely, and while I had thought they might try to come up with a "flashier" ending, the power of those words of peace seems quite appropriate, especially with the current world climate.


Yankeefan- thanks for taking the time to post, but I can assure you, there is no "despErate" agenda here (I assume you meant "desPERation"). I happen to like the show. Sorry. And the point of the thread title was comparing the difference between the word GOOD to the word GREAT, which I had hoped the show might be and have clearly stated it isn't yet.

-QB

Updated On: 3/17/07 at 10:40 AM

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:52am

" When they meet face to face for the first time they decide to rule as women. They put aside everything and actually sit down and through negotiations resolve a conflict."

Queenbee2, this is just what I'm not getting from the end of the show. A negotiation implies that each party has something to gain and something to lose. All I see is a defeated, downtrodden Grace going to plead for her people, and Elizabeth deciding to be nice.

Perhaps the best way for me to express this is that the show has not captured the Grace O'Malley portrayed in "Grania She King of the Irish Seas". That woman was mischevious, daring and couldn't resist indulging in a little piracy even when it endangered her entire clan. The settlement between Elizabeth and Grania in the novel made sense to me. In the show it doesn't.

What do you think is holding Pirate Queen back from greatness, Queenbee2? Is there anything you would change in these last weeks of previews to rectify this?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 10:55am

QB - I never professed to be a good speller, especially at 9:40 in the morning.

So despite my embarrassment (is that right?), I must say that your enthusiasm for the show is refreshing. I had plans to see it today, but I didn't want to go slip sliding on the ice.

I do have plans to see their first Wednesday matinee, though. Updated On: 3/17/07 at 10:55 AM

[queenbee2]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:32pm

Yankee- spelling is overrated anyway. LOL
I hope you enjoy it on Wednesday, and look forward to hearing your thoughts. Did you see it in Chicago?

Tech- what would I change to make it great? Well, I'm not sure I'd make it great, but one thing I would do to fix the ending and make it more theatrical, I wrote after seeing the show in Chicago. For those who don't want spoilers, don't read on.

I always thought one of the flaws of the show was determining who was the antagonist. And I think that is something that should be much more clear. I've come to the realization that for me, Donal is the antagonist, at least of the love story. He is the main thing that stands between Grace and Tiernan being together. So why do they kill him off with 20 some minutes left in the show? The christening, in my mind, all the way through Father/Son and into the Irish massacre/fight between Tiernan and Donal is the most theatrically satisfying section of the show. It looks gorgeous, sounds gorgeous, and delivers a high level of theatricality and drama. So when it end, I feel the energy and tension drops out of the piece. I think I would try to find a way to make that happen later in the show.

And I would have to find a better way to start off the top of the show. No idea yet, but let me think on it. It just doesn't hook us the way it needs to.

Any thoughts?

-QB

[WordedGrace]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 1:40pm

Yawn...same comments over and over again.. It's still going to tank... And if you don't like my comments don't look at em...Post the same thing over and over again...everyone who disagrees about this show can say the same thing over and over again.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 3:50pm

I think, ultimately, the screen is used to leave motivation, reasoning, and negotiation open-ended to the audience's imagination. For all we know, the producers insist on it being that way to keep the honesty of no one's true knowledge of the character's negotiations a part of the story. Or it is a cop-out for the writers, who are too intimidated by the idea of tackling what was said.

I doubt it's the latter, actually.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 4:02pm

QB - nope.

I didn't see it out of town, I don't have many expectations for it, I have no vested interest in its success or failure.

In short, I am the perfect, unbiased audience member.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 6:06pm

"And I would have to find a better way to start off the top of the show."

It's too late to make any big structural changes to Pirate Queen before its New York opening. I think the opening is much better now than it was in Chicago, where that 12/8 theme just repeated endlessly. I would prefer to see the show begin the way the novel does, with Grania already the captain of a pirate ship. (There still isn't anything in this show that remotely qualifies as piracy.) There's a wonderful scene early in the book where Grania's crew captures a small vessel and she lets the captain wager his cargo on a roll of the dice.

[Dibbledl01]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 9:44pm

I thought the scene where Elizabeth and Grania met face to face was brilliant and I understood it completely. Especially when Liz says the line "what took 7 years of bloody war we women have negotiated in four hours" (pardon me for not a direct quote) And the page in the Playbill that stated the story and acknowledged the differences between the characters of the show and the real life men and women helped a bit.

I also thought the ending was very sweet. For 7 years this woman had been in prison and away from her homeland and the man she loved and then FINALLY they were together again with her son. Especially when the cast slowly walked out on stage and began to sing "Mayb God bless the bride and groom" u could hear the audience go "yes!! awww! thank God!"

And it's obvious the stage Grania is completely different from the Grania of Irish history. The entire stage story is different from the real tale of Grania. It's for theatrical purposes only, and if the REAL Grania were to be brought to the stage we would be discussing in a thread how pointless the show would be because it would basically just be a bunch of battles with a few games of cat and mouse thrown in. There was never so strong a love story between Grania and anyone in the real history, it's all for the stage, and I personally thought the Pirate Queen was a wonderful show I am glad to see I will be seeing again soon.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:10pm

I say we need to nominate Wanna Be A Foster as the official "thread police" of the board. All those in favor say "aye."

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/17/07 at 11:57pm

Aye, matey!

[fachedaluna]

Posted: 3/18/07 at 12:17am

I second Wanna Be a Foster for "Board Police"

[bwaydoc]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 11:50am

So I saw The Pirate Queen yesterday. I'd had a very stressful week and decided to take the trip up from DC with a couple of friends yesterday to see it - and I was not disappointed. Those 8 hours in the car were totally worth the 2 hours and 40 minutes of the show.

I will admit that there are several things that could use some work, but I would easily go see this show again.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1) The accents - I know they are a recent development, but they really need to be kept consistent. Actors would literally go from one sentence speaking with an American accent to the next one speaking with an Irish accent. Even Hadley Fraser, who has a beautiful British accent, switched between American and Irish. It was very noticeable and definitely needs work to keep it consistent before opening.

2) Tiernan and Donal's fight - I don't know if it's because I was sitting on the extreme side and something like that is really staged to be seen from the center of the theater, but it was really bad. It was so obviously fake that it was laughable. I've seen fights staged live before and know they can be done better than that.

3) The Queen - Her costumes were beautiful but I didn't enjoy Linda Balgord's performance at all. Her songs are all high-pitched, which might have been fine if she had enunciated better, but between the high pitch and her poor enunciation I couldn't understand the majority of what she was saying in her songs.

4) Lord Bingham - I don't know why, but I didn't like William Youmans' portrayal of this character. Throughout the entire show I kept trying to figure out what character he reminded me of in a movie, and I still haven't figured it out yet but I didn't like it. He also spit like no one else whenever he sang. My friends and I, and a few people around us, were actually cracking up during one scene because there was a massive amount of spit whenever he opened his mouth.

5) The songs - While some songs felt like they were borrowed directly from Les Miz I really enjoyed the majority of them. I especially liked "A Day Beyond Belclare" and "Sail to the Stars." They were a wonderful way to end Act I and left me excited for the beginning of Act II. I will most definitely buy the recording when it becomes available.

6) I'm sure this would do better under the Unpopular Opinions I Hold thread, but I'll say it anyway. I enjoyed The Pirate Queen better than Les Miz.

I'm sure there are more things I thought of yesterday that I can't think of today but I'll add them if they come to me. Overall, I had a great afternoon at the theatre, flaws and all. There was much more good than bad about this show and I hope it does well.

[kelzama]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 12:01pm

bwaydoc, Youmans reminded me, in both demeanor and appearance, of the six-fingered man from "The Princess Bride."

[fachedaluna]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 12:03pm

Thanks for your review!!!

I also plan on getting the Cast Recording. I think the music is BEAUTIFUL!!!