Can Pirate Queen Be Salvaged?
Can Pirate Queen Be Salvaged?
Much has been written (mostly negative) about the new Broadway musical production of The Pirate Queen's attempts to stay afloat, even before its April 5 opening. Readers will recall how non-seaworthy I found this show during its Chicago tryouts last fall.
This morning, New York Post's Michael Riedel holds out hope that the notorious salvage operation might be working:
Insiders say the new script is much more action-driven that it was before, and that (Graciela) Daniele has made more fluid a production that had been a static pageant of pretty stage pictures. ([Frank] Galati's still on board, but Daniele's calling the shots.) The show's still heavy on Irish dancing -- you know, happy peasants jumping around without moving their arms -- making The Pirate Queen something of a "Riverdance With Oars." But, by all accounts, this isn't the same show that opened -- and nearly sank -- in Chicago.
Despite those changes, the buzz I continue to hear on the show is far from positive. But there's still more than a week to go before critics can founder the tuner, which is currently drawing a capacity of about 80%, for good. If the $16 million musical sinks, it would become one of the biggest flops in Broadway history.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Swashbuckling On Broadway (February 1, 2007)
SOB Readers Doubt Pirate Queen Will Float (November 21, 2006)
Bailing Out A Sinking Pirate (November 15, 2006)
Critics Assail The Pirate Queen (October 31, 2006)
The Pirate Queen (The SOB Review) – Cadillac Palace Theatre, Chicago, IL (October 30, 2006)
The Pirate Queen Sails Into Chicago Opening Tonight (October 29, 2006)
Pirate Queen to Sail Into Broadway's Hilton Theatre (July 27, 2006)
The Pirate Queen Musical to Sail Into Chicago This Fall (May 15, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Buzz, Chicago, Frank Galati, Graciela Daniele, Musical, Rewrite, The Pirate Queen
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, March 23, 2007
2 Comments:
saw it last night, and it may have been the worst show i've ever seen. if that's a revised "action" script from chicago, you deserve a medal of valor for sitting through it.
4 of the 6 we went with, including myself, left at intermission. chatting with the two that stayed, they said it didn't get any better.
the sets were good as were some of the costumes. most of the show was ridiculous and painfully slow. anyone expecting riverdance caliber dancing will be disappointed. the cliche driven love story is as stale as a cracker from the original ship would be today.
it is awful in every sense of the word, and life is too short to waste.
Wow. So much for re-writes and new direction. And to think that the show you saw last night will be viewed by the critics over the next few days.
Thanks for sharing your experience -- it sounds worse than mine during its Chicago tryout!
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