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Beware! Our show is not the cliche, tongue in cheek parody of "Treasure Island" that "Pirates of the Caribbean" is. Don't get us wrong... we do dearly love the adventures of Capt. Jack Sparrow, Capt Barbosa & the rest of the insanely talented and entertaining cast. But we're telling a side of the tale that few ever give an ear to. If you've ever watched "anybody's adaptation" of Moby Dick on film, and then went back & read the book by Herman Melville, you'd find the books to be far more practical, believable, and more deeply personal than the motion picture industry's compulsion to swing you emotionally every few seconds. In our story, death has long lasting & wide reaching consequences, the good do not come out on top of the heap, and relationships are the only real currency in our socially bankrupt society. We are not pirates ourselves, but instead "salvage experts seeking a quick profit from the aftermath of a failed piratical campaign". Some would argue that this walks the fence of moral & ethical virtue, but those of an opinion aren't paying our bills or taking the risks we do. It's nothing personal.
All our musical sets will be prefaced with a brief Shakespearian theatre performance, setting the tone for the music that follows. We're simple "minstrels" in the old classical sense, who believe the role of note & verse is to tell a story. Make you a crewman aboard the Pearl Necklace & relive the joy, the love, the horror, terror & excitement we felt. It's quite unlike anything else.
This excerpt marks the beginning of a letter from the late "James Levesque" to his family back in Dijon, France. Shortly before his death.
Oh, but have oceans of time passed since those early days of peril. And now nearly all that remains of the memories are the old, shrunken scars I carry with me to this day. Once in a while… perhaps as long as a generation, an old acquaintance will cross paths with me & open the doorway to that long lost recollection I’ve journeyed so far to forget. But I am old now, much the wiser, and no longer of a mind to follow the whims of youth’s dreams. I was lucky to have survived them then as it was. Such an irony that the joyous days of yesteryear leave no mark or evidence of their passing. But the dark days, they leave so deep an aching wound that they forever become a part of you. An ever present reminder of where, what & who you shouldn’t have been. So here we are, at the last long voyage of life, and no better time to tell the tales of those younger days. For the better, for worse, and for the sheer legend of it, while I still have my wits about me. May the gods forgive me & the lady of the sea forget me not. ~ Your Royal Majesty, lord James Levesque - The Marquis de Ceas'd.
The story begins in the Norman region of France, far removed from the cold, tumultuous waters of the channel. Europeans had already begun immigration to the New World of the Americas, but little was made public of what they found. The seas were ever the source of conflict as pirates were pillaging merchant ships of all nationalities. And many countries had sanctioned their own legalized Privateers to steal goods from their competitors. England & Spain led in the conflict, with France trying their best to catch up.
Our tale begins with the illegitimate child of one Monsieur Poulet. A once prominent member of the French military, turned royalty at the conclusion of his service. His son's coming to the estate was not a welcome one & events would transpire that had the boy exiled in most controversial fashion. This troublesome extension of the family was Monsieur James Levesque, who's ill fated path in life would later have him dubbed the Marquis de Ceas'd. But it had been said, his coming was like the pebble that starts an avalanche down a great mountainside & changed the surrounding landscape forever. He was but a small member of a much greater host you'll come to know soon enough.
When the time is proper, you'll have the full account of Lord James Levesque's adventures, his dastardly deeds & the lifetime of suffering thereafter on the road to perdition. And then perhaps you'll comprehend the spirit that drives the Pearl Necklace onward. Her crew can ever always be described with one word... Debaucherous!