Cabaret & Concert NewsThe Pirate Queen Concert, Starring Rachel Tucker, Plays London Coliseum February 23Drew Baker directs the presentation of the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönbergmusical.
By
Andrew Gans
February 23, 2020
Rachel Tucker
Monica Simoes
A charity gala performance of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s The Pirate Queen is presented February 23 at the London Coliseum to benefit Leukaemia UK.
The company is led by Olivier nominee Rachel Tucker (Come From Away, Wicked) as Grace O'Malley, Hannah Waddingham (A Little Night Music, Monty Python’s Spamalot) as Queen Elizabeth I, Earl Carpenter(Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera) as Dubhdara, widowed father of Grace, Daniel Boys (The Boys in the Band, Avenue Q) as Lord Bingham, confidante and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, Britain’s Got Talent winner Jai McDowall, Matthew Pagan (Collabro), Steph Parry (Mamma Mia!, 42nd Street), and Emma Norman (Sweeney Todd).
Featured ensemble members include Pearce Barron, Jamie Birkett, Trudi Camilleri, Sabrina Carter, Shaun Dalton, Adam Dawson, Callum Heinrich, Jade Johnson, Harry Mills, Charlotte Payne, Sophie Reeves, and Jak Skelly with company members Skye Adams, Thomas Ball, Jeremy Batt, Mary-Jean Caldwell, Sinead O Callaghan, Christopher Cameron, Jordan Castle, Alfie Doohan, Charlie Ellerton, Judicel Eslao, Nicola Espallardo, Amy Everett, Lois Morgan Gay, Aidan Harkins, Siwan Henderson, Hannah-Grace Lawson, James Mateo-Salt, Scarlett Maltman, Ethan Tanner, Harry Winchester, and Cristian Zaccarini.
Drew Baker directs the evening, featuring designs by Ben M. Rogers and associate direction by Max Reynolds. Tom Gribby produces. The principal casting consultant is Harry Blumenau.
The Pirate Queen has music by Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil, Richard Maltby, Jr., and John Dempsey, and a book by Boublil, Schönberg, and Maltby, Jr. Based on the novel Grania—She King of the Irish Seas by Morgan Llewelyn, it chronicles the life of Grace O’Malley, an Irish Chieftain and notorious pirate. To protect her people and save her one true love, O’Malley must confront the one woman more powerful than her—her fierce rival, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
The musical debuted on Broadway in 2007 starring Tony winner Stephanie J. Block. The concert marks its London debut.
