The Review!!

Theater Review | How I Became a Pirate
Swashbuckling musical light, playful
Saturday, October 24, 2009 3:01 AM
By Margaret Quamme

For The Columbus Dispatch

File photo
Emily H. Cipirani as Jenny Jacobs and Scott Willis as Captain Braid Beard in the Columbus Children's Theatre production of How I Became a Pirate.How I Became a Pirate is a simple, satisfying musical, as breezy as an afternoon on the open ocean.

The one-act by Alyn Cardarelli and Steve Goers is based on Melinda Long's picture book. In Columbus Children Theatre's production, however, young hero Jeremy Jacobs has been transformed into Jenny Jacobs.

Feisty Jenny (Emily Cipriani) is building an elaborate sand castle when she is approached by five rambunctious pirates, who think her abilities might serve them well when it comes to burying treasure.

Led by rough but tenderhearted Capt. Braid Beard (Scott Willis), they teach Jenny to talk like a pirate and, in turn, are taught to play shipboard soccer, enhanced with swordplay and other shenanigans.

Conflict is provided by manipulative Stubby Barbossa (LaRon Lee Hudson), who serves as the ship's accountant because he can count to three.

The play offers plenty of opportunity for audience interaction, with audience members roaring out a hearty "Arrrrgh" at every invitation.

Cipriani conveys Jenny's enthusiasm without going overboard, and her clear, strong voice provides an effective counterpoint to the gruffer pirate vocalizations.

The production's seven songs, backed by recorded music, are nautical and offer some surprisingly complex harmonies.

The pirates interact with the gleeful abandon of 5-year-olds freed from parental supervision.

Willis' Capt. Braid Beard moves with authority while keeping an eye on his back. Hudson's Barbossa is suave but not too frightening, and Kurt Barger's Jacque Latoe is light on his feet and eager to embrace Jenny's new teachings.

As hypochondriac Wheezing Stephen McGee, Bruce Thompson brings out the "rrrr's" in all his ailments with wit, while Danielle Mann's Milt Skeeter bolts out snippets of musical-comedy numbers, despite her shipmates' admonition that "Pirates don't sing show tunes!"

Director Nancy Shelton Williams keeps the slapstick under control and balances comedy with a warm sense of family relationships.

Brightly colored and vividly patterned costumes contribute to the sense of fun. Swordplay, pistol-brandishing, threatened plank-walking, strobe-created lightning and loud thunder add just enough of a sense of menace to maintain the excitement.

The show is best-suited for children 4 to 7, but older siblings might take secret pleasure in it as well. Its lighthearted spirit is refreshing.


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• Columbus Children's Theatre will present How I Became a Pirate at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. today; 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday -- and various times Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 and Nov. 5-8 -- in the Park Street Theatre, 512 N. Park St. Tickets cost $10 to $20. Call 614-224-6672 or the Ohio Theatre box office (614-469-0939) or Ticketmaster (1-800-745-3000).