Lilly and the Pirates the Musical. (Photo courtesy Orlando Family Stage/McKenzie Lakey)
Young Lilly of Mundelaine sets off for the Shipwreck Islands until March 20 at Orlando Family Stage, conquering her fears and teaming up with unlikely pirates.
Directed by Christian Barillas, known for his recurring role as Ronaldo on “Modern Family” and theatre work with Center Theatre Group and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others, “Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” features original music and lyrics by his partner of 20 years. Brett Ryback is also an actor, composer, lyricist, writer and a recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award.
“I’m very happy that it worked out that Orlando was able to have us both here,” Ryback says. “I think we’re both clear about what our strengths are in terms of the artistic storytelling process. We have a complementary approach to how we tackle the elements of storytelling in a theatrical way, and I think that makes for a very good partnership.”
“Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” follows Lilly, a girl from a town where nearly all the library’s books have been removed, leaving her neighbors without stories, guidance or imagination. As she’s staying with her eccentric great-uncle, a retired librarian, she learns that her scientist parents have been shipwrecked.
Ryback came into the project when John Maclay, co-writer of the book’s musical adaptation and co-lyricist, approached him and other co-writer Will Eno, with Phillis Root’s book, originally published in 2010. The project has been in the works for about four years, Ryback says.
“As that was happening, we were coming through some pretty serious book bans in this country,” Ryback shares. “All of a sudden, the notion of the importance of open access to books and the freedom and imagination of building a better future for ourselves, that books and reading and information give to young people and to a society at large, came to the forefront and became really important.”
“Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” is part of Orlando Family Stage’s 100th year. It is the first project that Barillas and Ryback have worked on at the theater company.
“The show really showcases the artistry and craftsmanship of everybody behind the scenes and the power and possibility of what this company can do,” Ryback says. “It really feels like all the departments are firing on all cylinders and it’s really cool to see how capable and bold this company is.”
The two, who have had acting and theatrical experience outside of Orlando Family Stage, have yet to share the stage and have mostly collaborated on the production and directorial side.
“We haven’t been able to cross paths yet because we’re so often kind of in service of other people’s projects and stories,” Ryback explains. “This form of collaboration — writer and director — we’ve done several times, and we find that it’s been really wonderful. I think we make a really great team.”
Barillas and Ryback both emphasizes that the musical’s main message encourages imagination, fearlessness and literacy. The two believe it’s something that they hope is not exclusively received by just the younger audience attending the show.
“We liken it to the Pixar model,” Ryback says. “That kids will enjoy it and kids are sort of centered in it, but at the same time, it’s really a story that is going to be fun, engaging and I think conversation- and thought-provoking for their families and for young and older adults in the community as well.”
Lilly is a nervous wreck and writes her worries in a worry book. At the news of her parents’ shipwreck, she must overcome her fear of the sea, among other things, in order to track them down.
Barillas, who says he did not have much experience with children’s theater growing up, emphasizes how creative storytelling in this medium opens doors for audiences to relate to and learn through the characters.
“It’s certainly an opportunity for kids to see their own lives reflected in stories as a way to be able to process their own journeys through the journey of somebody else,” Barillas shares. “Any story kind of opens up possibilities for what your life can be.”
Lilly’s journey in battling her doubts and overcoming her worries leads her to a group of treasure-obsessed pirates. Referring to Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island,” Barillas explains that piracy is often misunderstood and is actually a lot more structured than media often depicts it as.
“Living on the sea requires a lot of loyalty and a sort of structure to the society that is on the ship,” Barillas says. “So there’s a found family aspect. There are three primary pirates in our story and they all capture elements of those qualities of piracy and the way that our young character at the center, Lilly, comes together to form a family at the very end of the piece is really, I think, special and unexpected.”
Barillas, in preparation for the production, says he looked into the history of pirates and the Golden Age of Piracy. As a Latino in the industry, he was looking to properly represent the diversity of the material.
“You have this kind of mixing of different cultures around the Caribbean, but also around the different waterways between the Americas and then also Europe,” Barillas says. “Based on that historical context, I cast the show in such a way that you have diversity within the pirate characters. We have some that feel sort of derived from European ancestry, and then some that are derived from Caribbean ancestry and the mixing of all those cultures.”
Orlando Family Stage is one of the nation’s largest theatres for young audiences and the only professional theatre in Florida dedicated to productions for children and families. Through professional theatre, classes and community programs, the theatre is empowering young people to be brave and empathetic by creating quality theatrical experiences.
Both Barillas and Ryback agree that the cast of “Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” at Orlando Family Stage, comprised of local actors, encompasses the talent that the community has to offer.
“The show is written in such a way that each one of the characters is really showcased,” Barillas explains. “We hope that you walk away having fallen in love with all of them. All of the actors are doing beautifully, and we really get to see them and spend time with them as individuals and then also as members of a collective.”
“Lilly and the Pirates the Musical” plays at Orlando Family Stage through March 20. Tickets start at $20 and are available at OrlandoFamilyStage.com.
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