Show Synopsis:
Grace O?Malley, daughter of Chieftain Dubhdara O?Malley, wants to be allowed on their clan?s new ship The Pirate Queen and hates that so many things are forbidden to her because she is female. Grace disguises herself as a boy to journey with the crew and proves herself despite her gender. She and her childhood friend Tiernan vow to get married. In a battle with an English war ship, Grace saves her father?s life and kills the English captain. Dubdhdara makes her the Pirate Queen?s captain, and she becomes extremely respected and feared in this new role. Queen Elizabeth considers herself the ruler of Ireland and increases British hostility against Ireland. Grace is forced to marry Donal O?Flaherty so that the O?Flaherty and O?Malley clans can join against the British, which ends her romance with Tiernan and her life on the seas. Donal and Grace have a loveless marriage for a year before the English attacks Rockfleet and Grace leads the women in battle and kill the English while the men are away fighting elsewhere. Queen Elizabeth vows to marry the man who defeats The Pirate Queen and her companion Lord Richard Bingham is determined to kill Grace and win his love?s heart. Dubhdara, badly wounded in a skirmish with the English, names Grace the chieftain of the Clan O?Malley. She eventually has a son named Eoin with Donal, but cannot stay married to Donal and publicly dismissed him to dissolve their marriage. Tiernan and Grace rekindle their romance and Donal betrays Ireland to Lord Bingham. Grace is arrested, Tiernan kills Donal, and takes Eoin to safety. Every other Irish chieftain surrenders to England over the next seven years while Grace is imprisoned and Tiernan offers to be held in Grace?s place. Grace is upset with how much Ireland has changed for the worse during her time in prison. Grace confronts Queen Elizabeth and English rule is lessened in parts of Ireland, while Tiernan is granted freedom to live and be with Grace.	

Character:
Grace (Grania) O'Malley, a headstrong young woman with big dreams of living on the seas and having adventures that are restricted to men.	

Song Context:
Grace laments all the privileges that Tiernan has that she does not because she was born female in a society that favors males.	

Fun Facts:
1) This musical was based on the real life events of Grainne O'Malley, also known as Grace O'Malley, a 16th-century Irish chieftain and pirate. 
2) Stephanie J. Block originated the role of Grace on Broadway, and in an interview with Broadway.com, she said that she "loved the fact that [Grace O?Malley] was a historical figure who was ahead of her time, someone willing to risk her life for her people and her beliefs." 
3) In another interview with Playbill recently after the song was composed, Block called it her " 'I want/this is my heart's desire/this is my dream' song'...I think it truly encompasses who she is. And then, in the second act, on the flip side of that at the top of Act Two, she sings the same song ? but now it's a lullaby, and she actually sings what the joy is of being a woman and this new sensation of giving birth and breast-feeding and finding that love that only a woman can feel."