This is my favourite show of all time. It’s overtaken Wicked, Come From Away, all of them. It’s opened a whole new world for me. Firstly it introduced me to Stephanie J Block and secondly and I’ve now travelled the entire west coast of Ireland and I’ve learnt about Gráinne’s whole life. I’ve read all the books and visited all the sights as well as learning so much more about 16th-17th century England. Not to mention I could listen to the entire soundtrack daily and cry every time. It’s just beautiful.
I loved the musical, but the only thing that bothered me is the bits they left out. Grainne's second husband (Richard Bourke/Richard in Iron), whom she married to gain control of Rockfleet, and it was him, not Domhnall that she kicked out with 'I dismiss thee!'. O Flaherty died at the hands of another Clan, and was known as hot headed. Richard Bourke also died in clan rivalry, while Grainne was in prisonz they were only married about a year and a half, but they remained friends and allies even after she literally locked him out of his own castle. The second thing that bothered me is the children... Eoghan was the oldest, but not the only. She had three total by O Flaherty, and one by Richard Bourke. Eoghan was brutally murdered by the English, Madhbh (named for Grainne's mother, also named Maeve/Margaret), took after Grainne and actually once saved her mother's life. Madhbh was a rebel in her own right, and also married and had several children, much like her mother. Then Muirrdoch (I think I spelled that wrong), the youngest by O Flaherty. Then by Richard Bourke, she had another son, Tioboid, who was said to be her favourite. Eoghan and Tioboid both were born at sea. After Eoghan's birth, the next morning the ship was attacked not by England, but by the Turks, and its said Grainne exchanged the baby for a gun and burst onto the deck with the gun in hand and a bad temper and with a wild jig she either shot them dead or they jumped overboard and fled, terrified of her. Additionally, the bit in the begining when she sneaks onto the ship, she was only about 12 or 13 when she did that, and in her 60s, the same age as Elizabeth, when the two had their meeting which was held in Latin because Elizabeth spoke no Irish Gaelic, and Grainne no English. Finally, she willingly married O Flaherty, and not because she had to. She was 16 when she married him. So yeah, they just cut three children out, and blended the marriages between both husbands together. And it was her son Tioboid who sided with the English, not O Flaherty. Grainne marched up to his doorstep, killed all his men, and pretty much taught him a lesson not to cross his mother, and he did turn back to her side, then.
Stephanie & Hadley were amazing in Chicago... the show just didn't pass mustar. I felt bad b/c it could have been so much better. I'm curious what the Broadway version turned out to be - the changes in rehersal look so much better
"Despite an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences [in Chicago]"?? That's a bit of a lie. I was thrilled to score tickets to the Chicago run, then heartbroken by how boring and tuneless the show was. 2/3 of the audience didn't come back from intermission (No lie). I stuck it out to be polite, but to this day, The Pirate Queen is talked about as the worst pre-Broadway tryout ever inflicted on Chicago, worse even than The Last Ship and The Goodbye Girl.
It probably failed because its nothing but feminist garbage. The staging is impressive, but that's about it. Hard pass unless you like 3-hours of berating and whining.
