Hurrah For The Pirate King!
Hurrah For The Pirate King! is something rather unique; it’s a children’s show, but with an operatic twist. Presented by Absolute Children’s Opera (part of Absolute Opera), the 45-minute production brought together the elements that make for a fun family stage offering, as well as some tremendous singing.
Synopsis
We were introduced early on to the Pirate King, played by Roy Lock (who had also starred, spectacularly so, in Matinee Musical Classics and Music Of The Night as part of the ongoing Liverpool Theatre Festival), the ruler of his own Pirate’s Cove lair. After introducing himself through song, he explained his desire to go on another adventure, but this time he would need a crew, that being the live audience of kids, mums and dads, who happily sang, danced and hummed along, as well as copying the Pirate King’s actions that marked their initiation into his team, such as saluting the Captain, climbing the rig and washing the deck.
The purpose of his adventure was to locate the Magical Unicorn Diamonds, with the possibility of meeting the Mystical Unicorn herself along the way. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing (get it?), as firstly he would have to speak to the Queen Of The Cats on Cat Island in order to find out where exactly the Diamonds were situated. There were further obstacles for him and the crew to navigate as I’ll explain shortly, and how would he and the crew be able to achieve their goal with the presence of his arch rival Colonel Crab?
Analysis
This was as fun and entertaining for the kids as one would expect. There was plenty of audience interaction, with frequent opportunities to join in with the songs, amongst them his self-titled tune I Am The Pirate King, Do Your Ears Hang Low (which was audio-only), Baby Shark (an inflatable shark was one of the two obstacles that The Pirate King mentioned), There’s A Hole In The Bottom Of The Sea (ditto) and That’s The Life For Me, as well as the drinking song which we heard on Thursday in the other Absolute Opera productions.
With a range of inflatable items and appropriate pirate music, as well as realistic props and authentic music (one of the event staff even had a toy parrot on his shoulder!), there was plenty for the younger attendees to enjoy, with extra items such as a bubble machine thrown in for good measure. For the adults, meanwhile, the final third of the show would have stood out the most as Roy Lock demonstrated his incredible operatic singing talents as he performed Hushabye Mountain and, most notably, Nessun Dorma.
Summary
The idea of a children’s show mixed with opera sounds fresh and intriguing, and it was achieved to great success here with Hurrah For The Pirate King! Look out for this show in 2021 as it is more frequently-performed across the North-West and beyond.
