Ahoy Maties!
There's Gonna Be
"A Pirate Party"
and everyone can come along!
Movie legend Mickey Rooney and his wife Jan have just added
their voices to an all new pirate extravaganza “A
Pirate Party.” The show premiered
at the 2007 Blackbeard Pirate Festival and is now available for your
organization. CD's of the show are currently in production and will be
available soon. As a very special surprise treat, Broadway legend Carol
Channing crashes the party by providing the voice to a bejeweled Octopus!
Along the way, she plugs her own upcoming Rainbow show "The Broadway
Adventures of Chessie the Manatee."
Mickey Rooney is fresh off the success of his role in the
December blockbuster “A Night at the Museum” starring Ben Stiller. Rainbow
Puppet Productions caught up with Mickey and his wife in Winston Salem, North
Carolina where they are filming a new movie. Carol is in the midst of a
tour to every state college in California. She has set up a foundation,
with her husband Harry Kullijian, to support the arts in educational facilities
throughout California.
This
is not the first time Mickey and Jan have worked with Rainbow Puppets. They
starred in the company’s 100th Anniversary Production of
“Toyland!”
According to show creator David Messick, “I called Mickey and his wife the day
‘Museum’ opened to tell them how much we enjoyed it. We then discussed future
projects and they agreed to participate. We recorded their part for ‘A Pirate
Party’ and for two more projects that will come out in the future.”
“Mickey plays Captain Mick and joyously pokes fun at his
image as a multi-award winning legend. His wife Jan plays Polly the Parrott who
even more joyously eggs Mickey on. Mickey and Jan own two parrots and Jan told
a wonderful story of how Mickey will be downstairs while she’s upstairs. Mickey
calls, ‘Hey, Jan!” and the parrot replies, ‘What do you want?’ Jan, of course,
never hearing Mickey and Mickey trying to carry on a conversation with the
parrot!”
The show is a happy salute to beach movies of the 1960’s.
There are villains (this time pirates), surfer boys, a beautiful mermaid, a
talking octopus, and a legendary movie star. It doesn’t make a lot of sense but
it will be a lot of fun with the audience joining in on a pirate shout-out
contest and a big dance at the finale.
Additional
voices are provided by longtime Dr. Madblood cast member Craig T. Adams, anime
vocal artist Kara Dennison and Rainbow vocal artists Tim Tharrington and Steve
Scheffler. Scheffler also served as audio producer for the show, leaving for
the Rooney session with about five minute’s notice.
Settings are created by Rainbow Puppeteer Kathie Davis.
The highlight is four-foot high talking Blackbeard head that tells the story of
one of history’s most infamous pirates. Puppets are by Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania’s Jill Harrington and the Prince Puppets. She has created a surfer
and mermaid puppet that will swim into the audience as part of the performance.
The be-jeweled octopus puppet is by Hampton Master Puppet Maker Laura Huff.
Costumes are by Regina Smith.
The score by David Messick includes new song “A Pirate
Party” and several “lost” songs from his 30 years of writing children’s
musicals. There’s “The Pirate Song” that features a Victor Herbert melody
that’s over 100 years old with all- new lyrics. The song was intended for
“Toyland” but was not included in the final performance. There are two beach
songs from a 1985 project he co-wrote with Larry Barker.
