Artifact of the Month: February 2022

Ketchikan's Notorious Melodrama

"The Fish Pirate's Daughter" is Ketchikan's original and iconic melodrama. The play hilariously spoofs Ketchikan's colorful past, touching on themes of prohibition, the Creek Street red-light district, and good old-fashioned thievery. As the legend of its inception goes, June Allen proposed the basic idea for the play during a Chamber of Commerce meeting as a way to attract tourism to the community. She volunteered newspaper reporter, Bob Kinerk, to write the script, and within a week he had created a rough draft. Shortly after Jim Alguire was recruited to write the score. After rounding up a cast from First City Players, a newly formed theatre group, the play debuted in March of 1966 in the Totem Room at the Stedman Hotel.

The story follows U.S. Fish Commissioner Sweet William Uprightly on a journey to rid Ketchikan of fish piracy. Meanwhile, his love interest, Little Nell, is romantically pursued by an evil cannery owner trying to convince her cash-strapped father to rob fish traps for him. A hallmark of this melodrama is audience participation in the form of cheering, shouting, saying "awwww" during the sweet moments, and booing the villain. Since its debut the play has been performed in bars, restaurants, hotels, the Ted Ferry Civic Center, and mostly recently at the George Inlet cannery.

"The Fish Pirate's Daughter" collection includes an original script from 1966, advertisements, and photographs from the first performances. This month's featured artifact depicts the original cast calling Bob Kinerk on stage after the first performance in March 1966.

Image credit:
Ketchikan Museums, KM 2005.2.43

Program credit:
Ketchikan Museums, Vertical Files