Heave-ho and away we go on a fantastic musical journey, where the seven seas just aren’t big enough for our pirates and mermaids! Filled with catch-of-the-day fresh songs and an adventure-packed script, the pirates will show off their swaggers and the feisty mermaids will sparkle – so hoist the sail and come aboard! Available with Words on Screen™.
An Annual Performance Licence is required to perform this musical. For more information, please click here.
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Your licence allows you to record, film and stream your performance online for family and friends if they are unable to attend. If you need to cancel your performance, our guarantee enables you to extend your licence for 12 more months free of charge.
About Pirates Versus Mermaids
- Works as a whole school production, but for smaller productions most suited for ages 7-11 (years 3-6).
- Words on Screen™ CD ROM for easy rehearsing using highlighted lyrics synchronized with the music
- Adaptable script for large group performances
- From the authors of best-selling title A Midwife Crisis
Me Hearty High School is the most distinguished pirate school on the seven seas and the trainee pirates can’t wait to graduate and become proper pirates. There is only one problem… none of them can swim! If they can't swim they will fail their ‘Arrr’ levels and then what will they do? The answer to their problem lies with the mermaids, but the pirates do not like the mermaids and the mermaids do not like the pirates - will they ever find a way to get along?
With seven fantastic songs and a hilarious script, join Captain Scarypants on a swashbuckling adventure with his band of brave pirates, a hungry crocodile, a crew of feisty mermaids and, of course, one insane parrot!
Available with a Words on Screen™ CD ROM allowing you to display song lyrics on any whiteboard, computer screen, television or interactive touchscreen. The lyrics synchronize with the music as it plays making them easy to teach and easy to learn!
An Annual Performance Licence is required to perform this musical.
Cast notes: There are 26 speaking parts with option to increase up to 58 as required.
For smaller groups, the least number of performers is 24. this would mean having only one narrator, the two announcers doubling up as the crocodile and delivery man and having just 7 pirates and 8 mermaids. The ‘sea’ would need to be created without the children’s help.
Whole school: Have as many pirates and mermaids as you like; split the narration between lots of children; for more speaking parts than 26, split the pirate crew and mermaid crew lines between 21 and 17 children respectively, instead of 6, creating 58 speaking parts.
40 minutes approx.
(Total length of music: 11 minutes approx, excluding curtain-call music)
Song 2: We Don’t Like Mermaids - part singing
Song 3: Avast! Ahoy! - part singing
Song 4: I’m A Parrot - solo for the parrot
Song 5: Out Of Your League - optional harmony in second and third chorus
Song 6: Pool Party - part-singing
Words on Screen™ CD ROM System Requirements
PC:
- 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor or Intel® Atom™ 1.6GHz or faster process for netbooks.
- Microsoft® Windows® 7 (64 bit) or later, Windows Server 2016 (64 bit) or later
- Internet Explorer 7.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox 69.0 or later, Google Chrome, Safari 12.0 or later, or Opera 36 or later
- 512MB RAM (1GB RAM recommended for netbooks); 128MB graphics memory
MAC:
- Intel Core™ Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor
- macOS 10.7-10.14.6 inclusive
- Safari 12.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox 69.0 or later, Google Chrome, or Opera 36 or later
- 512MB RAM; 128MB graphics memory
For the Download Player System Requirements, please click here.
If you have purchased a Premium Pack online which includes Words on Screen™, you will immediately receive a Words on Screen™ eSongbook in your Out of the Ark Music online account. The eSongbook is where we bring together all of the digital resources available for your product. As well as being able to play the Words on Screen™ versions of your songs, you can also instantly access PDFs and MP3s for your product at no additional cost. If you have already downloaded and installed a Download Player from our website simply refresh your player and select your new eSongbook. You will need to download the eSongbook to your player before you can extract and save the PDFs and MP3s. You will also need to have installed Download Player version 2.0 or above.
If you don’t yet have a player then follow these instructions:
- Log in to your online account
- Within the My Words on Screen™ Online panel (on the My Account dashboard) choose either to Stream Online or Download Player
- Within the player click on All eSongbooks in the left hand menu and select your eSongbook
You will find the PDFs and MP3s under eSongbook Resources in the left hand menu of your eSongbook. From there, you can choose to extract and save All Audio MP3s, All Lyrics PDFs and All Score PDFs. If you just want the MP3s, lyrics or music score for one song, then select the song in the library and use the buttons in the Song Extras area at the bottom of the screen.
Licence Information
Extended Performance Licences and COVID-19 Licence Guarantee
With our extended Performance Licences and COVID-19 Licence Guarantee, you can buy your Christmas nativity or musical now with confidence. Our feature-boosted licences allow you to record, film and stream your performance online for family and friends if they are unable to attend. And if you need to cancel your performance, our COVID-19 Licence Guarantee means you can simply give us a call and we will extend your licence for 12 more months free of charge.
Words on Screen™ User Licences
Words on Screen™ CD ROMs are supplied with a single user licence which allows the Words on Screen™ CD ROM to be installed on ONE computer only.
To license the installation of the CD ROM onto network servers and/or two or more computers, please purchase an Annual Performance Licence which includes extended digital rights.
Annual Performance Licence Information
A current Annual Performance Licence is required to perform this musical to an audience (other than to pupils & staff).
- You can purchase an Annual Performance Licence above (it is cheaper when purchased as part of a product pack).
- The requirement for a licence is irrespective of whether admission charges are made.
- An Annual Performance Licence covers any number of performances of a particular musical or nativity within 12 months of the date of ordering.
- A new Annual Performance Licence would be required for any future performance(s) outside the date period printed on your current licence.
In addition, with so many of our musicals and nativities purchased in digital format, you need a legal way to install or distribute copies for use around the school. Your Annual Performance Licence will grant you permission to:
- Perform the work to an audience (other than pupils and staff in schools). A licence is required even if it is a 'free' performance and this is a worldwide copyright requirement.
- Install Words on Screen™ song files from a CD ROM onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Download Words on Screen™ song files from a CD ROM onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Continue to stream Words on Screen™ songs from your Out of the Ark Music online account on any device (beyond your free period) for the duration of the licence.
- Copy song files from an Audio CD onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Copy MP3 audio files onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Create a recording of the song/s with children singing over the top, whether with our backing track, our vocal track or your own backing track.
- Upload and share digital content to your school's intranet, restricted internet or learning platform.
- Share on public websites including the school’s website, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc. However Out of the Ark Music must be credited and an inbound link to www.outoftheark.com must be provided. Please note that Out of the Ark Music's original recordings may not be posted to public websites except as an accompaniment to the children singing. However, as a special dispensation, if children are not allowed to sing for health & safety reasons, original recordings may be used instead, as long as they are part of an overall recording or stream of the whole work with the spoken parts, and not just the songs on their own.
- Permit usage of digital content at home for teachers for preparation purposes.
A separate Annual Performance Licence is required for each product title that you use in any of these ways. Please note that if you have purchased an Annual Digital Site Licence – Multi-Product, this will cover the digital usage permissions in points 2-10 above for these products but does not cover the performance rights in point 1 – an Annual Performance Licence will still be required.
How To Renew
You can renew your Annual Performance Licences by simply logging into your account if you have one and going to your My Licences page. Pick the relevant licence and click RENEW.
The following items are available for this product:
Teacher's Book
- Character list
- Script with staging directions throughout
- Suggestions for rehearsing, staging and props
- Music score and song lyric sheets for 7 songs (Piano music score, melody and chords)
- Music score for curtain-call
- Licence and copyright details
Audio CD
- Vocal tracks sung by children
- Professional backing tracks
- Curtain-call tracks
Words on Screen™ CD ROM
- Words on Screen™ versions of songs so that you can display song lyrics on any whiteboard, computer screen, television or interactive touchscreen. The lyrics synchronize with the music as it plays making them easy to teach and easy to learn
- Extractable MP3s, printable lyrics, scores, scripts & additional resources
- Enhanced operation features including ‘double-click’ to hear and teach a single line
- Words on Screen™ user guide
- Single-User licence allowing the Words on Screen™ CD ROM to be installed on ONE computer only (Please note a Performance Licence is still required to perform this musical)
- Licence & copyright details
Words on Screen™ eSongbook
- An online Words on Screen™ product to stream or download
- Extractable MP3s, printable lyrics, scores, scripts, & additional resources
- Words on Screen™ versions of songs so that you can display song lyrics on any whiteboard, computer screen, television or interactive touchscreen. The lyrics synchronize with the music as it plays making them easy to teach and easy to learn
- Flexibility to create an expandable library of Words on Screen™ song collections, nativities and musicals in your Out of the Ark online account
- Enhanced operation features including ‘double-click’ to hear and teach a single line
- Words on Screen™ user guide
- Single-User licence (Please note a Performance Licence is still required to perform this musical)
- Licence & copyright details
Annual Performance Licence
A current Annual Performance Licence is required to perform this musical to an audience (other than to pupils & staff).
- You can purchase an Annual Performance Licence above (it is cheaper when purchased as part of a product pack).
- The requirement for a licence is irrespective of whether admission charges are made.
- An Annual Performance Licence covers any number of performances of a particular musical or nativity within 12 months of the date of ordering.
- A new Annual Performance Licence would be required for any future performance(s) outside the date period printed on your current licence.
In addition, with so many of our musicals and nativities purchased in digital format, you need a legal way to install or distribute copies for use around the school. Your Annual Performance Licence will grant you permission to:
- Perform the work to an audience (other than pupils and staff in schools). A licence is required even if it is a 'free' performance and this is a worldwide copyright requirement.
- Install Words on Screen™ song files from a CD ROM onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Download Words on Screen™ song files from a CD ROM onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Continue to stream Words on Screen™ songs from your Out of the Ark Music online account on any device (beyond your free period) for the duration of the licence.
- Copy song files from an Audio CD onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Copy MP3 audio files onto more than one computer or onto a network.
- Create a recording of the song/s with children singing over the top, whether with our backing track, our vocal track or your own backing track.
- Upload and share digital content to your school's intranet, restricted internet or learning platform.
- Share on public websites including the school’s website, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc. However Out of the Ark Music must be credited and an inbound link to www.outoftheark.com must be provided. Please note that Out of the Ark Music's original recordings may not be posted to public websites except as an accompaniment to the children singing. However, as a special dispensation, if children are not allowed to sing for health & safety reasons, original recordings may be used instead, as long as they are part of an overall recording or stream of the whole work with the spoken parts, and not just the songs on their own.
- Permit usage of digital content at home for teachers for preparation purposes.
A separate Annual Performance Licence is required for each product title that you use in any of these ways. Please note that if you have purchased an Annual Digital Site Licence – Multi-Product, this will cover the digital usage permissions in points 2-10 above for these products but does not cover the performance rights in point 1 – an Annual Performance Licence will still be required.
How To Renew
You can renew your Annual Performance Licences by simply logging into your account if you have one and going to your My Licences page. Pick the relevant licence and click RENEW.
Visit our Licences page for further information.
Rehearsal CDs
- Vocal tracks sung by children
- Professional backing tracks
- Curtain-call tracks
- Available in packs of 5, 10 or 20
Best play in years
My year 2 children loved every second of it, from when we announced it to the very last bow, incredible
Good
Excellent!
Fantastic! Highly recommended.
I had my school purchase this package and we performed it yesterday, December 2016! Absolutely amazing. Whole school participated with the speaking parts being allocated to the year 4, 5 and 6's and all classes presenting the songs from pre-primary through to year 6. Huge success, looking for next years already! Highly recommended
Excellent production
I put this on with my 5th Class and it was a huge success. The music is fantastic and easy to teach. My favourite has to be Pool Party !
Excellent for Year 2!
This is an excellent production. We performed it with 90 year 2 children and it was the best production ever! The children loved every single song and learnt the words very quickly. The humour in the script is perfect for years 2-4. Thank you for creating a wonderful play for this age group. If another one is created we will certainly be purchasing for next year!
love it
i love this but i would really like the songs on a cd thanks
This is a cleverly constructed show for Primary aged children.
I purchased this production to use with pupils aged 5yrs -8yrs. I was initially concerned that there might be too many words for the children to learn. However, this has not been the case, as the children were so enthusiastic about the show. They love the humour. It is pitched right at their level. Our Nursery/ Kindergarten are also going to take part. They have been incorporated with the pirates and mermaids and are also going to sing some of the songs. Sometimes when you purchase a script, the songs can be a bit flat: not so with this show. The pupils love the catchy tunes and, because of this, they learnt the song words very quickly. We have put up our own staging in our hall. The children are bringing in their own costumes (which are easy to put together). We don't have any scenery nor do we have many props - they aren't needed. This show can be performed successfully with very little. Most of the boys wanted to be pirates and the girls mermaids but we let them choose and we have a balance in each section. We are a small school where we like everyone to participate in what we do and this show has been a perfect platform.
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