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Pirate Queen's Buried Treasure


Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 4:15 PM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:08 PM

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IT certainly hasn't been smooth sailing for the ambitious Broadway production of The Pirate Queen produced by John McColgan and Moya Doherty.

It has managed to stay afloat despite the nearly universal pans from the professional critics while entertaining a number of people who have seen it and given standing ovations to the cast.

From my own informal sampling and I have seen it twice myself I sit squarely in the middle on its achievements plus and minus. The cast, though, has been well-chosen in my opinion, and does the very best with what they have to work with which seems to be the bone of contention for the critics who had a field day floating through the flaws in the material.

In particular, from the musical side of things the choice of sean

nos singer Aine Ui Cheallaigh, piper/whistle player Kieran O'Hare and fiddler Liz Knowles appear to be the hidden assets that give the play some of the Irish authenticity and dramatic impact.

Actually, to say that Ui Cheallaigh is hidden in any way is misleading because her character Evleen commands the stage at times of high significance like the death of Grace O'Malley's father Dubhdara at the close of the first act.

Back in Ireland she is the principal of an Irish language school in An Rinn in the Waterford Gaelthact, and she has a masters in medieval chant from the University of Limerick, so she was uniquely qualified to offer probably the first song in Irish on the Broadway stage that anyone can recall.

A native of Belfast, Ui Cheallaigh returned to her Ring roots where her mother is from and has taught for 20 years there. In 1992, Gael-Linn released her CD Idir Dha Chomhairle (In Two Minds) which reflects the bi-lingual sensibilities of the Irish, and it first brought her to Bill Whelan's notice when he looked for Riverdance performers, and she appeared in the first production at the Point in Dublin.

Riverdance producers McColgan and Doherty sought her out again for The Pirate Queen, and it gave her a good opportunity for a career break from teaching and to explore other possibilities while shining in the glow of the bright lights of Broadway.

Ui Cheallaigh is regarded as one of Ireland's foremost sean nos and Irish singers, and her beautiful crystal clear voice is unforgettable in this play and beyond.

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