CHICKS AHOY: McSharry on the job
by JACQUELINE MADDEN
Since September 2006, Montrealers have been asking themselves the same questions as people in Europe, South America, South Africa and the Caribbean—who is the strange man in the pirate costume, and what is he doing in our bar?
Dan McSharry, a 25-year-old Concordia student, is the man in the red pants and jacket, with the large, gold-rimmed pirate hat, long black curly hair and glue-on beard and moustache. Various impersonators of Captain Morgan, the famous buccaneer gracing bottles of Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced rum, have been barhopping across the globe for years. Though it may seem like an easy job, Quebec’s Captain Morgan insists that his role has led him into uncharted waters.
Twice a year, for six consecutive weekends, McSharry can be spotted in bars like Madhatters and La Boom. Hired by representative company Mixer Inc., he’s paid $200 a night to spend a few hours parading around various bars and clubs in Montreal, along with a pair of “Morganettes,” assistants in charge of handing out samples of the Captain’s Caribbean rum along with shirts, dog-tags and mugs.
“Being the Captain for Quebec has been quite the experience,” says McSharry. “Believe it or not, guys are always telling me that I’m their idol, and everyone is always asking to know my real name. Women often leave me their numbers and ask me to take them and their friends home with me.”
Though McSharry has had his share of fun with his seemingly simple job, he insists that his position and experiences have taught him some valuable lessons.
Lesson 1: Drinking the booze
you’ve been hired to promote
is not always such a good idea.
McSharry learned his first and most important lesson on his very first night on the job. At the start of his shift, he was so nervous about his first performance that he contemplated quitting and going home. But after much debate, he decided to walk the plank.
Within minutes, McSharry was sure the night would run smoothly, especially when he realized how many women wanted to take the Captain below deck. But this all came to a brutal end when he realized his Morganettes were ridiculously wasted off the liquor they were supposed to be promoting.
“It was awful,” says McSharry. “My night was going so smoothly for the first bit. People were treating me like some sort of superhero. Everyone was having a great time, obviously so excited to be getting free samples of rum. Then I realized that my assistants had been the ones doing most of the sampling.”
After pulling the drunkest Morganette away from some guy she was making out with outside the bar, the Captain and the remainder of his crew drove the poor drunk girl home—after she’d puked inside their rental car. The rest of the night was spent hosing out the car in front of the Atwater market. Needless to say, both Morganettes were fired, but they’d set an excellent example for what McSharry shouldn’t be doing on the job.
JOLLY, ROGER: McSharry and a Morganette offer samplesLesson 2. The Captain of a ship
must always remain in control,
no matter what—or who—goes down.
This became clear to McSharry when he was assigned duty at the gay and lesbian bar Drugstore. As he recalls, he was flirting with a few women who were begging to borrow his hat when he felt a sudden jingle around his belt. When he looked down, he saw a young man down on his knees, sucking on the barrel of the fake pistol he wears as part of his uniform.
“I honestly didn’t know what to do, but I realized that as the Captain, it was my duty to stay polite and composed, so I just laughed it off. This job really teaches you to keep your composure at all times, and deal with absolutely ludicrous situations. Part of my training includes learning how to never act awkward. I always have to be outgoing and charming.”
In a similar instance, McSharry was caught off guard at a recent visit to La Boom, where another young lady was persistently demanding to try on his hat. She was so intent on sporting his headgear that after a while, she offered to flash him.
“She kept following me around,” says McSharry, “so finally I just handed it to her, and that’s when she flashed me her pierced breasts. I was pretty shocked, but again I just laughed it off and stayed in character. I guess you could say these are literally some of the perks of my job.”
Lesson 3: Play-acting the popular
pirate is a serious and difficult job.
During his late nights out on the town, the Captain has learnt how to master the art of transformation when he goes from being “plain old Dan” to the celebrated Captain Morgan.
The man behind the legend is Captain Henry Morgan. The privateer was born in Wales in 1636 and spent much of his life sailing the Caribbean Sea, savagely harassing the Spanish and fattening his own coffers—when not frequenting the rum shops and taverns of Port Royal, Jamaica. His bloody excesses, combined with the treacherous politics of the time, led to his arrest, acquittal, knighting and a brief stint as Lieutenant Governor of the island. Given his mythic rep and fondness for rum, particularly in his twilight years, it’s no surprise then that the booming Jamaican rum trade led to the creation of a brand that bore his name.
“The first thing they told me when they hired me,” says McSharry, “was that I had to transform quickly, and that I could not simply be Dan in a suit. I really had to become the Captain. I’m held accountable for all my actions when I’m in costume, because I’m a symbol of someone important, and I represent the rum’s logo.”
The gig might appear somewhat absurd, but the process of selecting the right man for the job is taken very seriously. From the costume to the accent and demeanour, every aspect of the Captain’s persona is analyzed and taught, in order to transform individuals like McSharry into charismatic, cocky, out-going and entertaining “lieutenants of the sea.”
“I was actually really lucky,” said McSharry. “At least 10 other people were being seriously considered for the position, and they were all professional actors with experience. Meanwhile, that audition was my very first.”
As he recalls, McSharry stood out from all the other wannabe Captains because he bore a physical resemblance to the Captain. “I have broad shoulders and I’m tall. That allows me to look dominating, and it means I fit extremely well into the costume. On top of that, I’m not a bad-looking guy.”
In addition to his physical resemblance, McSharry was selected because he is bilingual and “moldable.” The fact that he lacked acting experience meant it was easier for him to take direction and morph into the exact Captain the company was looking for.
Twelve hours after his audition, McSharry was hired. He was then flown to Toronto, where he received training from the international Captain Morgan, a professional actor from New York who attends festivals all around the world to promote Captain Morgan’s Original Spiced rum.
“He always criticizes my accent,” says McSharry. “In French, I manage to sound like a pirate, but in English I just sound like I’m Irish. It’s just something I’ve never been able to master.”
Despite all the experiences and lessons learned along the way, McSharry is undecided about returning for a fifth season. Although the international Captain Morgan, who has a wife and kids, has made an actual career of it, McSharry says he has other options he might wish to pursue. Has the time come for the Captain to abandon ship in search of other, undiscovered treasures?
“I’m not really sure what I’ll do,” says McSharry. “A part of me feels like it’s time for me to really concentrate on school, but at the same time, this is a really unique and perfect job. I would really miss the Captain and the special treatment he gets.”
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