I've been slightly obsessed with this legend since I was a kid, and I went as her once for Halloween when I was 11 or 12. I figured this awesome short piece needed its own thread, because, Nicky, it is really, really good. Giving birth and then beating the crap out of some raiders? Awesome.

(There's a musical? Really?)

There is a musical! It's by the guys that did Les Mis, too! Now, I don't think it's as good as Les Miserables of course, but I do think it's really good! I don't know why most people (or most reviewers, at least) seemed to find it so unimpressive, because I really enjoyed it.

Could it be improved? Yes, it's brand new, it could use a little work, sure, but it was still really awesome! Mainly I think the biggest problem was they made Grace too girly; I can't really blame them, since it's musical theater, and let's face it, how often do you see the female lead be a tough, gritty character? Pfft, how often do you see tough, gritty male leads in musical theater? But Grace was pretty badass, and while they do keep her as a strong character they pop her into pretty skirts and have her behaving a bit too traditionally -- but of course, if you didn't know that Grace was supposed to be the kind of girl who makes Morgan Adams from Cutthroat Island look wimpy, I doubt you'd make much note of that. She is, after all, a pretty tough gal for musical theater; definitely more Eponine than Cossette, shall we say!

My favorite part was the cultural contrast. You get to see Grace in Ireland for most of the play, but you also get to visit Elizabeth every few songs, and it's really cool to see the contrast in mood, design, music, and even lighting. The coolest song I thought was the one where Grace is in prison and Elizabeth's in her castle and they have a duet. (Unfortunately, I can't find any video of that. Bah. I'll keep looking.) Well, that and the sailing scenes and storms, and the swordfighting! They do a pretty credible job of compressing her life into a short story for a musical, too.

And of course: Irish dancing! It's an awesome spectacle! My seat was waaaay too upclose, so I missed out on a lot of the broader choreography (that's what happens when you buy the last ticket they have for sale two minutes before you dash to the theater!) but I could see enough to tell that it was amazing!

Plus, I'm a total Grace fangirl.
Which I'm sure you could not guess at all nu-uh.

You went as Grace O'Malley for Hallowe'en? That's so cool! Grace was not at our Ren Faire this year, which made me very sad. She is totally my second favorite character there, and she's been a regular cast member for years so it was sad to not see her this time. I hope she'll be back this summer.

EDIT: Oh and PS thank you! I'm so glad you like it! I just got distracted by geeking out over Grace, and forgot to thank you for the compliment. So thank you!

Aaaaah, Grace O' Malley, near as I'm aware, the flag for Galway still has boats on it to represent the little stronghold she maintained out that neck of the woods. She did well to get an audiance with Queen Liz aswell, since most English writers regarded the Irish beyond the Pale as some sort of breed of monkey.