Every Tuesday evening, North Wildwood becomes a haven for the liveliest bunch of swashbucklers this side of the Atlantic. Coconut Cove’s Pirate Dinner Show features a pirate-style complete dinner plus the most interactive live, outdoor performance in Cape May County. Featuring promising local talent, this treasure of an experience begins with chicken quarters or pork shanks, corn on the cob, and fries for the parent pirates and chicken fingers and fries for the kid plunderers. The motley pirate crew then takes the stage and selects volunteers for Coconut Cove’s “Arrrr” contest. “Mates, line ‘em up. And the loser is going to be swabbing the deck,” threatens the pirate captain. Volunteers of two separate age divisions give the crowd their loudest and most menacing “Arrrr”. The pirates of the Cove deliberate and crown the ultimate “Arrrr” participant.
The show gets started with, of course, a bottle of rum. Led first by Mangy Matt O’Brien, the entire Cove cast chants together to favorite pirate anthem, “All for me rum, me jolly, jolly rum…” Next, we meet Captain Mary Reed, whose father is rumored to have been the last with the map to the treasure of the Cove. The rival pirate crew is after these Spanish riches and will stop at nothing until they get their hands on them. Audience members must consult the colored treasure maps they received at the show’s start to uncover which crew they belong to. In a pirate-themed capture the flag race to the death, the first team to retrieve all five flags (hidden expertly throughout Coconut Cove) receives the final crucial clue to unlock the chest. While enthusiastic crowd volunteers set out on the search, a pirate trio entertains the remaining audience with acoustic performances and side-splitting pirate jokes.
In the end, one pirate traitor proves to be the true scalawag. Audiences might even witness a live walking of the plank…Maties, grab your swords, boots, black hats, and skull caps. Seating begins at 5:30 p.m. and the booty-ful show begins at 7 p.m. Visiting families and locals flock to the Cove to meet this colorful crew each and every week, so reservations are highly recommended. Ready the cannons, all hands on deck, and say “Hazaa!” to this Pirates at the Cove Dinner Show event!
400 West Spruce Ave, North Wildwood, NJ 08260
609-522-7600
www.coconutcovenj.com
By Megan Kummer