Pirate Queen Tickets

The life and adventures of the 16th century Irish chieftain and pirate Grace O'Malley, who was one of the last Irish clan leaders to resist the English conquest of Gaelic Ireland make up the background of the musical, The Pirate Queen. It is written by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil with John Dempsey as the co-lyricist. This is the first time they have created a musical with American collaborators.

On October 3, 2006, The Pirate Queen debuted at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre and ran through November 26, 2006. . The Pirate Queen Broadway run began by previews at the Hilton Theatre on March 6, 2007 with opening night on April 5. Tony Award winner Frank Galati is the director and Moya Doherty and John McColgan are the producers. Edgar Dobie and Ronan Smith are the Executive Producers. The author of the original publication 'Granuaile: Ireland's Pirate Queen', Anne Chambers is the Consultant to the Show and writes background historical notes both for the Show's official website and for the performance program. The Pirate Queen musical opens in Clew Bay. Clan O'Malley's newest vessel, captained by Chieftain Dubhdara O'Malley (All Aboard the Ceol Na Mara) is being launched and hidden among the crew is Dubhdara's young daughter, Grania (My Grace). Though women on a ship are considered to bring bad luck, Grania proves her mettle and earns her place as one of the ship's crew.

Clan O'Malley goes about its business of pirating the seas, destroying many an English ship in the process (Battle at Sea) and Grania and Tiernan fall in love (Here on this Night) amidst the chaos. Grania is now famous as a proud defender of her country but as Queen Elizabeth I considers herself Queen of Ireland and will have no rival, she orders Grace O'Malley destroyed (Rah-Rah, Tip-Top / Go Serve Your Queen). As England's oppression grows, warring Irish clans are forced to unite and Grania is forced to marry Donal O'Flaherty. She accepts her father's unspoken wish (The Choice is Yours). She and Donal are married (The Wedding Ring), while Tiernan soliloquizes on his continuing love for Grania (I'll Be There). Grania and Donal travel to meet Dubhdara who is badly wounded by an English blade (Trouble at Rockfleet) and later dies (Dubhdara's Farewell / Sail to the Stars).

Act of The Pirate Queen 2 opens with birth of Grania's son, Eoin (Son of the Irish Seas) amidst war. Grania 'dismisses' Donal publicly for his cowardice officially dissolving their marriage (I Dismiss You). Donal runs off to take his revenge and invades Clew Bay and arrests Grania. Tiernan kills Donal and escapes with Eoin (The Christening).

Tiernan offers the English a trade -- his freedom for Grania's (Surrender/Each in Time). She accepts and is freed. Devastated by the destruction of Ireland during her imprisonment (Lament), she takes matter into her own hands, meets with Queen Elizabeth and hammers out a truce. Grania and Tiernan find themselves reunited at last. (May Long We Sail the Sea). Some changes in The Pirate Queen theater are expected before the 2007 Broadway opening.