The Pirate Queen Reviews — Page 4

you guys did kinda set yourselves up for this. Still, I hope it gets at least one good review.

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courtnyj - I'm not here to defend the show or attack those who didn't like it. Songanddanceman, if I've ever come across as "pouncing" it was never my intention.

The reviews are what they are. I don't think even the biggest supporters will be surprised by mixed reviews. They can write whatever they want, it wont take away from how much I've enjoyed following the process or my admiration for the tireless energy, blood, sweat, and tears, (AND TALENT!) they've all put into creating the show.

Updated On: 4/5/07 at 10:23 PM

Brantley is Negative:

"Many and exhausting are the physical activities that occupy the long hours of “The Pirate Queen,” the loud and restless musical that opened last night at the Hilton Theater.

Sword fights, frolicsome jigs, flag hoisting, rope pulling, stately processions, mincing minuets and hearty river dancing (with ship paddles, no less): such circulation-stimulating exercises occur regularly in this singing costume drama of love and patriotism on the high seas — sometimes, it seems, all at the same time.

Yet everything ultimately blurs into what feels like the aimless milling of a crowd on a carnival midway. The operating theory behind “The Pirate Queen” would appear to be taken from an appropriately ocean-themed bit of zoology: if, like a shark, it never stops moving, then it will stay alive. The optimism is misplaced."
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Grace’s journey of the heart takes place in breathless double time, and it’s often hard to tell how many years have elapsed between scenes. The special-event pageantry of Eugene Lee’s sets, Martin Pakledinaz’s costumes and Kenneth Posner’s lighting rarely clarifies the plot. And Mr. Galati’s staging tends to step on what should be breathtaking climaxes or curtain lines. (I was never sure in the death scenes when, or even if, characters had really died.)

Ms. Block works hard to give a truly felt, realistic performance, and she sings attractively in her quieter moments. (Under pressure, this Pirate Queen turns into a Celine Dion screecher.) But the production keeps undercutting her, both by haziness of focus and a slow drift toward campiness.

The show’s queen of camp is, as she should be, its Queen Elizabeth, played by Linda Balgord. (William Youmans, as her conniving courtier, gives her a run for her money with an interpretation that brings to mind Vincent Price at his snarkiest.)

Ms. Balgord, who played Norma Desmond in the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” appears to be continuing that performance here, which is kind of enjoyable when you’re starved for distraction.

Mr. Pakledinaz has given her an increasingly deluxe and unwieldy series of queenly gowns, which wind up being high points of visual wit — or, for that matter, of any wit. It says a lot that the most compelling question posed by this fuzzy musical is, “What will Elizabeth wear next?”




http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/theater/reviews/06pira.html?ref=arts

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Updated On: 4/5/07 at 10:24 PM

again, with some creative editing there are some quotes there

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"Ms. Block works hard to give a truly felt, realistic performance"

Almost every time I see a review of Block in any performance, the critic mentions that she is "working" or "trying." It seems to me that if she held back a little, she would turn in consistently phenomenal performances. She's a great performer who I think has a tendency to try a little TOO hard. Not to undermine her or her talent (trying TOO hard is much better than not trying at all) but I really wish she would find a show/role that showcased her talents to the greatest effect. I really think shes a great performer and a wonderful singer.

Some of our bitchy remarks may sound ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than some of the rabid posts that have been made by the defenders of the show, and that's the point.

And I'm with Taz on this one - I don't relish shows getting bad reviews.I don't like to see such hard work go for naught. And there is (probably) a lot of talent and hard work that went into that show. But the kind of idolatry that doesn't allow for any other point of view? Well, yes, some of you have set yourselves up for it.

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Ah, a good old Brantley pan. Watch. Clive Barnes'll love this.

Just a guess, but the adding of the adjective "working" may have something to due with her recent illness.

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Brantley is spot on - picked out all the criticisms.

bardolator

yep i just looked back over my posts and i don't call anyone a fangirl

so i will have a sorry and a box of chocolates please hehe x

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eekk.

'Pirate': Not really musical theater's finest 'arrrr!'
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Before such hits as Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening, it seemed the story-and-song-driven musical was in danger of being replaced by camp-fests that mocked commercial musical theater.
Now The Pirate Queen (* out of four) has sailed along to remind us why: because by the 1990s, the commercial musical had pretty much devolved into a tuneless, witless spectacle.

Queen, which opened Thursday at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, is the latest bloated opus from Alan Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, the duo behind Les Misérables and Miss Saigon; and the best thing that can be said about the new show is that it makes their previous ones seem like models of grace. Teaming with Riverdance producers Moya Doherty and John McColgan — and Richard Maltby Jr., who collaborated with Boublil and Schonberg on the book, and Boublil and John Dempsey on lyrics — they've constructed a visual and sonic assault that leaves no audience-pleasing trick untapped.

This package is wrapped in a faux-populist, pseudo-feminist story line, revolving around 16th-century pirate chieftain Grace O'Malley, an Irish lass whose skill and fortitude in battle were matched, we're assured, by her passion as a lover and mom. Because of a political situation beyond her father's control, Grace is promised to a louse who can't handle a strong gal like herself. We know this because he sings, "I'll be rough when she needs it/Rough as seas ever were/Up to now she's been steering/Now it's time to steer her."

If those lines make you cringe, wait till you meet the English interlopers. We know the Brits are morally inferior because they dress and speak grandly, and their songs sound like Gilbert and Sullivan rejects, as opposed to the Celine Dion throwaways crooned by the Irish. But Queen Elizabeth I feels for Grace; after all, they're both women leading men, and they both have red hair that's nicely offset by their costumes — glittery hoop gowns for Elizabeth; for Grace, earthier garb in flattering shades of green and blue.

Step-dancing-soaked production numbers provide more distraction, while the Celtic-flavored score offers forgettable showcases for the vibrato-drenched singing of the principals, led by Stephanie J. Block as Grace.

The cast deserves better, as do the tourists and casual fans whom The Pirate Queen aims to seduce. I'd advise the latter to catch a community-theater staging of an old musical instead. You'll spare yourself 2½ hours of tedium — and I'm not talking about the commute.

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Updated On: 4/5/07 at 10:49 PM

The reviews are what they are. I don't think even the biggest supporters will be surprised by mixed reviews. They can write whatever they want, it wont take away from how much I've enjoyed following the process or my admiration for the tireless energy, blood, sweat, and tears, (AND TALENT!) they've all put into creating the show.

Mixed reviews??? It was pretty much universally trashed, love.

I also wonder where all those who would start a PQ love thread per minute back in the day are now? Holding a vigil outside the theatre?

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