Dan Seavey: Confessions of A Great Lakes Pirate is a one man play for adult and young adult audiences that looks both comically, and seriously, at the life of THE Great Lakes pirate of all time. As with his literary contemporaries like Long John Silver, Seavey is portrayed as a colorful character, a flawed character, a man who has done terrible things but, in the end, you are cheering for him and wishing him well.
Dan Seavey: Confessions of a Great Lakes Pirate is by Tom Kastle, a Chicago-born singer-songwriter, tall-ship captain, and maritime music storyteller who has spent decades circumventing the globe collecting songs, stories, and sailing tall ships. Thirty years of it has included sailing the tumultuous Great Lakes.
During the hour plus performance, audiences will meet Dan Seavey, the most notorious Great Lakes pirate of all time, as well
as many of the historical figures who shaped his story. Those historical figures include Frederick Pabst, Skookum Jim, and
Allan Brady, the Giant of Hedgehog Harbor. They’ll also hear tales of a few wives, a stern father, as well as a merry company
of sailors, bootleggers, gold miners, and colorful characters from both sea and shore. With Seavey as their guide, audiences will look for gold in the Yukon, be pursued by a revenue cutter, and even “Drink with the Dead” as Dan reminisces about his life as a self-styled pirate. There will even be a chance to learn some traditional maritime songs along the way, led by Seavey himself as he plays his concertina.
As with his literary contemporaries like Long John Silver, Seavey is portrayed as a dashing, albeit flawed character. He is a man who has done terrible things but, in the end, will have audiences cheering for him and wishing him well.
For years, Tom Kastle traveled the world, collecting and performing maritime songs and stories and sailing tall ships on the Great Lakes. These days, his passions are even more diverse and include theatrical projects, from Man of La Mancha to Shakespeare to God Help Us! with the legendary Ed Asner; film projects, like Francisco Torres’ Delight In the Mountain; and television, where he hosted a short documentary on the Bicentennial Battle of Lake Erie that was nominated for an Emmy Award. His captain and relief captain credits include the tall ship Windy at Navy Pier, Friends Good Will at the Michigan Maritime Museum, and the schooner Denis Sullivan in Milwaukee.
“What do you say about a guy who can command a tall ship and all her crew, whose songs can make an Irishman cry tears of pure Tullamore Dew?" -- Bryan Bowers
Published on January 11, 2026
