Arts & Entertainment
Pirate Lives! The Musical! Premiers at the Arsenal Center
Swashbucklers set sail with uppercrusters on what promises to be a humorous voyage.
Theater-goers familiar with the works of Noel Coward know that his works often took aim at the foibles of British high society. The Flat Earth Theatre pays “crass homage” to the English playwright by mixing well-mannered, upper-class “bluebloods” with crude, ill-mannered “Blackbeards” – yes, pirates. This odd culture clash can be seen at the Arsenal Center for the Arts beginning this weekend with the
“The title itself is a reference to one of Noel Coward’s more famous works, ‘Private Lives,’" says the show’s producer Jake Scaltreto. “While we don’t draw on any specific plot points in Coward’s work, the entire show is a bit of a send-up to the ‘comedy of manners’ genre.”
Yet at its core, he says, the musical is a good-old fashioned pirate story. “I think our crew could stand toe-to-toe with Jack Sparrow any day of the week. The fish-out-of-water story adds a new comedic element to the pirate formula: What would happen if a bunch of land-lubbers were to somehow find themselves at the helm of a pirate ship?”
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The musical, written and directed by Somerville playwright David Marino, is based on an unscripted improv comedy show he conceptualized several years ago. After having such a great time with the show, Marino decided it deserved to be a full-length musical and turned to Stephen Gilbane to compose the music. Flat Earth, which has already produced works that cover a wide range of genres from comedy to family drama, fell in love with the concept and is now sailing into new territory.
“It's our first musical,” Scaltreto says. “So we’re rising to the challenges associated with that: working with musicians, choreography, vocal ranges, etc. This is possibly our largest undertaking in the five years we’ve been around.”
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Above all, he says, "it’s just a fun time... I mean, who doesn't love singing and dancing pirates?”
Tickets for Pirate Lives! The Musical! are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and $10 for students. Performances will take place in the Black Box Theater beginning Friday, April 20 and continuing through Saturday, April 28. For show times or for more information, visit the Flat Earth Theatre’s website.
