Star City's Pirate Adventure weekend

MANILA, Philippines - Star City, the country’s foremost amusement park, will host a swashbuckling Pirate Adventure weekend beginning tomorrow, Oct. 1, simultaneous with Ballet Manila’s performance of Le Corsaire.

Members of Black Pearl Philippines led by Capt. Jack Sparrow and the Pirate Queen will be on hand to set sail and lead guests on their quest for the park’s hidden treasures of fun and excitement as Star City unveils the pirates’ lair as its newest attraction. Joining them will be Ballet Manila’s artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde, who takes on the lead female role in the popular ballet.

Pirate Adventure is a sweeping action-packed boat ride set amidst villainous buccaneers scavenging the seas. Vistas will mechanically recreate the world’s most treacherous pirates clashing their swords in fierce mortal combat as they search for forbidden treasures on mysterious isles.

Le Corsaire is a delicious spectacle of pantomime and high art — a big ballet in three acts made famous by Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.

Loosely based on the poem by Lord Byron, it features privateers and damsels in distress thrown into a rollicking comedy. The story revolves around the pirate Conrad — the corsair of the title — and his love for Medora, a young Greek woman and ward of the odious bazaar-owner Lankendem. Le Corsaire’s well-told narrative highlights a steady stream of lovely classical dancing and the hustle and bustle of a stage brimming with shady characters and seductive slave girls.

Star City is open Mondays to Thursdays, 4 p.m. onwards and on weekends, starting 2 p.m. Le Corsaire runs today (7:30 p.m.), tomorrow, Oct. 2, Oct. 3 and 9 (with shows at 1 and 5 p.m.), and Oct. 10 (performances at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.).