olsen

Got last minute comps to a preview of the pre-Broadway debut of a new musical, Pirate Queen, by the teams that did Miss Saigon and Les Mis and Riverdance.

In short.....it's about a fiesty Irish woman named Grace O'Malley who bullies her way into command of a ship, and ultimately the Irish resistance to English rule.

I'll say I can't wait to see it grow.

Grace was amazing. Played brilliantly, and the character is really wonderful. A strong, sassy woman who takes what she needs from the world, and leaves the men-folk breathless in her wake. I adored her.

The rest of the characters were rather cartoonish, as was the story. Some plot elements were too fast, some too easy. It feels a little too much like a biography in musical form - I think they need to take a close look at Evita and see how they can make the work of theatre stand on its own.

Dance was jaw-droppingly impressive.....though not yet fully syncronized or clean. It'll be awesome when this comes together. Talk about a cast of triple threats.

Music was good, not always great. There was definately some underscoring borrowed from Les Mis ("Do You Hear the People Sing?"), but I assume that was just filler of the composer's material until they decide on a better underscore.

There was one song that was upside down. Music people will understand what I mean when I say the contour was inverted. The vocal line went high to low on the text "I'll be there." It would be more powerful if it went low to high. Emphasis moved from "I" to "there."

Also some really bad lyric writing at times. "And why, when I'm looking at you, do I start to feel uneasy?" or something even more cumbersome, fit into the space of a five syllable phrase. Flower rhymed as a one-syllable word in ways that made the coming rhymes very obvious, etc.

.....But all in all, I'm excited. It's not great - yet. But I can't wait to see it grow. And I think it will.