INTERVIEW: Waterfront Museum hosts new pirate-themed musical
Photo: The Royal Pyrate features Maggie Likcani and Danny Hayward. Photo courtesy of Danny Levine / Provided by Emily Owens PR with permission.
The Royal Pyrate, a new show with music and lyrics by Jason Landon Marcus, sets sail beginning tonight, Aug. 16, at the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn. For New York theatergoers, the musical is a special treat and a rare occasion. Watching a pirate-themed show on the water makes for a perfect atmosphere.
The musical’s book comes courtesy of Chas LiBretto, and Emily Abrams serves as the director. The show, presented by Polyphemus Productions, tells the story of a love affair inspired by real-life characters. Set more than 300 years ago, the musical focuses on Sam Bellamy, a pirate whose ship was eventually sunk off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Mary Hallet, who is accused of being a witch in her local town in colonial New England.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with LiBretto to learn more about the show. His recent work includes Poisonville, Song of Rage and Melville on the Shore. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What kind of research did you have to conduct to create this musical?
In some ways, we’ve been doing research for this musical our whole lives. Pirates are so deeply baked into the popular culture, and we were raised on this stuff, from Treasure Island, to the Disneyland ride, to The Secret of Monkey Island, Muppet Treasure Island, Tim Powers’ On Stranger Tides, and more recent material like Our Flags Mean Death, all super fun. Pirates are inescapable, and this stuff was a touchstone for us in getting started.
But, of course, Black Sam Bellamy and Mary Hallet were real people whose actions still resonate to this day, and the wreckage of the Whydah, Sam’s flagship, was discovered off the coast of Cape Cod in 1980 by Barry Clifford. We traveled to Cape Cod multiple times in the early days of the show’s development, walking the paths of the Great Island, where the smugglers kept their tavern hidden before they left to face their pirate destiny.
We also read a lot of books (Peter Linebaugh, Greg Grandin, Elizabeth Reynard, Colin Woodard). The writer whose influence most touched the show, though, is Marcus Rediker, a historian whose work on maritime history really opened the door for us to explore Bellamy’s politics. Pirates were political actors with a deep and personal understanding of their place in and then outside of society. Also worth mentioning is Joseph Berger’s Cape Cod Pilot, a Depression-era Cape Cod guidebook/folklore collection commissioned by the WPA [Works Progress Administration] that preserved a treasure trove of lore about Mary Hallet we couldn’t find anywhere else.
Why do you think this story still has resonance in 2025?
Many of the sailors of 1715 were veterans of the War of Spanish Succession, whose employment vanished with that war’s end. Many had had their eyes opened to the deep unfairness of the world — the brutality of early capitalism, of slavery, colonialism and the genocide of Indigenous populations in South and Central America. Pirates like Bellamy were deeply committed to building new societies and finding new ways of structuring communities. Some of this manifested in democratic structures for their crews, in abolition when they encountered slavery, in rebellion against Navy fleets, and astonishingly, in providing healthcare and workers’ comp to their fellow workers.
In 2025, we are … grappling with and trying to fight back against a rising tide of fascism, police violence, economic inequality, and the assault on the rights and identities of the most vulnerable among us. There is a realization by many that the systems and institutions in place will not protect us and that, in fact, they are not designed to. The leaders we elect are owned by corporations, banks, criminals and foreign governments. Corruption is being normalized everywhere we look, and what the people want no longer seems to matter, if it ever did. Sam and Mary’s story is a story of radicalization, of solidarity, of building alliances, of taking a moral high ground and of the importance of protecting our communities from lawless tyranny.
Does the unique surroundings of the waterfront provide inspiration for the show?
The Waterfront Museum and the surrounding area of Red Hook really is a romantic spot for a show, but in particular a show whose story is so married to the sea. We did a workshop concert there last summer, and there’s a really magical experience watching audience members walk aboard and see what a full experience David (the captain) has created right on the docks of Red Hook. So, yes, plenty of inspiration, and if you’re prone to seasickness, inspiration to pack some Dramamine. You might get a shot of rum before you come aboard, too.
What are the lessons to be learned from Mary Hallet and how she was treated back in time?
Mary Hallet’s baby died an accidental death the winter of 1716, while Sam Bellamy was away at sea, searching for a treasure he hoped they could use to build their future together. Goodie Mary was unmarried, and by all accounts, a well-read and outspoken person for her times. She was accused of witchcraft by a demagogic preacher, imprisoned in the village jail, and then exiled to the cold and windswept shore of Cape Cod to live out her days in isolation.
The parallels her story holds for the times in which we live feel, at times, overwhelming. The America of today has opened a new front in its ongoing war on women and motherhood with the Supreme Court’s reversal on Roe v. Wade, as well as the Trump administration’s assault on the rights of anyone who isn’t a straight, white man. Mary Hallet’s story is a tale of resistance and revolt, but a large part of her journey is also, in her grief, finding the grace to forgive those in her community willing to acknowledge and atone for their cruelties.
Are you nervous before a world premiere? Excited? Terrified?
Well, we’re still a few weeks out as we write this, so we’re still feeling pretty excited! It’s a great cast, some of whom were with us for last summer’s workshop at the Almanack Arts Colony on Nantucket [Massachusetts] and at the Barge after that. There’s a familiarity and camaraderie to the ensemble (Maggie Likcani, Danny Hayward, Korie Lee Blossey, Lauren Molina, Charley Layton, Charlie Bennet, Jim Bertini, Tais Tslivagi, Ellie Goodman, and the guiding hand of our director, Emily Abrams) that makes rehearsals feel like family gatherings and like we all are embarking on a journey together.
We’re excited! If the skies turn gloomy and the winds pick up, perhaps then the terror will come. We’re really trying to preserve a sense of fun in the way we build the show, though. It’s political, sure, but The Royal Pyrate is also really funny and family-friendly. It’s pirates!
Do you hope for a longer life beyond Aug. 31?
We’re planning for it! Producers, get at us!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Royal Pyrate, with a book by Chas LiBretto, plays Aug. 16-31 at the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Click here for more information and tickets.
