big, long and unwieldy

Last night, I headed back to the theatre district to see THE PIRATE QUEEN, the latest offering of the minds behind LES MIS and MISS SAIGON. Truth be told, this show has not received great reviews, and I had purchased an orchestra seat for $35. So, I went to the show hoping for the best....and somewhat prepared for the worst. Um....well....it wasn't great. The thing is, there are some great moments, and some incredibly talented performers, but the show never seems to gel together. Stephanie J. Block and Hadley Fraser star as the lovers, and are the strongest in the cast. Both excellent singers, they seem so comfortable with one another, and with the material, they both rise high above this somewhat mediocre material. Queen Elizabeth, played by Linda Balgord has some wonderful, humorous moments, but overall, I felt that her parts of the show just didn't work. On paper, how they show was developed worked. When in Ireland, the music was very lush and earthy, and some of the singers sang in the Celtic tradition, or sang in the "normal" belty musical theatre style. When the action switched to England, and the Queen's court, the music was suddenly Baroque, and the singing was done very classically. (Now, I am a classical singer, so in many ways this made me super happy!) The idea, I think, was to show the two styles battling it out. Instead, they just seemed to clash with one another, and the classical parts just interrupted the lushness of the belting. (I can't believe I just said that.) At any rate, the show never came together, and I found myself growing bored and restless. Now, a couple of the Producers had previously produced Riverdance, so, there was lots of Irish dancing which was fun.

Final thoughts: Who can go wrong with a Broadway show for $35? I can only hope that the right material will come along for Stephanie J. Block, and she can star in a project where she doesn't have to battle just okay material.

photo credit: www.playbill.com