By DORIS RUBENSTEIN
Did you know that one of history’s most famous pirates was Jewish? Yes, Jean Lafitte, hero of the Battle of New Orleans, was a Jew and proud of it.
But did you know we have a well-known Jewish actor right here in Minnesota who is also a sort of wannabe pirate? Ryan London Levin is getting to fulfill his lifetime dream of being a pirate when he plays three of them in the new production of Treasure Island at the Children’s Theatre Company.
All three of these pirates — Black Dog, Israel Hands and Morgan — are pretty nasty, according to Levin, and nasty in different ways.
When the call for auditions came out, he recalled that he was “excited going into it because I’m ‘pirate-obsessed.’ I took every bit of knowledge about pirates that I have gleaned from movies, books and television shows since childhood, chose one and just went for it! I got to show off my skills: sang a song with one eye closed, even! The director’s face showed his surprise and delight with seeing such a representation of a one-eyed pirate.”
This one-eyed singing served Levin well since CTC’s Treasure Island incorporates folk tunes and sea shanties with a live pirate band on stage.
Levin said his favorite pirate is Tim Curry as the voice of Captain Hook in the television series Peter Pan and the Pirates, and also Curry as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. The latter was Levin’s favorite movie as a child and was his “gateway to the pirate world” as well as the musical theater world.
“Curry was a huge influence on me. I wanted to wear his costume!” Levin said. “And the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were also influential. I’m a big Jack Sparrow fan.”
Despite his obsession, this is the first time Levin has played a pirate on the legitimate stage. He does, however, have a respectable résumé: This is his fourth appearance with CTC, including a major role in 2023’s An American Tail. He has appeared in productions by Ten Thousand Things, Six Points Theater (receiving rave reviews from all local critics for his channeling of Alex Edelman in Just for Us), Theater Latté Da, Minneapolis Musical Theatre and the Minnesota JCC Sabes Center theater. One of his biggest thrills was performing with his father, Michael Paul Levin, in The Diary of Anne Frank at Park Square Theater.
Obviously, Ryan London Levin comes from a theatrical family: “Growing up, I’d go to see my dad’s shows all the time. I was raised in the theater. I resisted going into it for a while. At St. Louis Park High and the Sabes JCC, I’d participate in plays, but it was just for fun.”
But he absorbed everything, and after high school graduation, he just jumped into the local talent pool.
Like most actors, Levin also had side gigs. Although his family has long been a member of Mount Zion (he had both his Bar Mitzva and confirmation there), he found a job teaching preschool at Temple Israel, where he could scratch his acting itch with make-believe play with the kinderlach.
“Going from teaching preschoolers at Temple Israel to performing at CTC took me full circle professionally,” he said. “CTC was my target company. Treasure Island takes my pirate obsession full circle, too.”
Next for Levin is his very own play. He has written his first play, and while it’s not about a pirate aboard a ship, it is about a notorious gangster. And while it’s not about Jean Lafitte in the Gulf of Mexico, it is about one of St. Paul’s own Jewish sons. It’s American Golem: The Kid Cann Story.
American Golem will be workshopped at the History Theatre’s Raw Stages: New Works Festival 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18. It incorporates Jewish legends into a Prohibition-era story, featuring music from the likes of Cab Calloway and Sophie Tucker.
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Treasure Island can be seen at the Children’s Theatre Company, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, through Oct. 19. For tickets, call 612-874-0400 or visit the ticket office. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
