AHOY there, mateys! Is there anyone on this ship who can fix me show?

“The Pirate Queen,” a $15 million musical from the creators of “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon,” is listing badly in Chicago, the first leg of its voyage to Broadway.

Local critics fired cannonballs at it – “ill-ruddered” (Boom!), “drearily predictable” (Boom!) – and Broadway insiders who trekked west to see it say it needs a massive overhaul.

But is the creative team up to the job?

The director, Frank Galati, has staged some winners in the distant past (“The Grapes of Wrath,” “Ragtime”), but he’s hardly known for his ability to turn around a show that’s in serious trouble. He was, in fact, famously fired from “The Seussical” when it fell apart in Boston because he wasn’t able to solve its many problems.

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, certainly know their way around a musical. But with “Miss Saigon” and “Les Miserables,” they got some help on the book from Broadway pro Richard Maltby Jr. (“Saigon”) and poet James Fenton (“Les Miz”).

The last time they were on their own was “Martin Guerre,” a London flop that never made it to New York.

Around Broadway, agents are quietly drawing up lists of writers and directors who could lend a helping hand.

The agents have their eye on a big payday: “The Pirate Queen” is being produced by Broadway newcomers Moya Doherty and John McColgan, the creators of the global hit “Riverdance.” They’re so rich, they didn’t want to rent the Hilton Theatre, where “The Pirate Queen” is set to open April 5 – they unsuccessfully offered to buy it.

And they can pay top dollar for Broadway’s top talent (going rate for a “Pirate Queen” fixer, according to agents: $100,000 up front, plus a royalty).

So far, though, Doherty says she’s sticking by her creative team.

“Obviously, I would be a happier bunny if we’d gotten a better response. But I think the reviews in the main told us what we already knew ourselves. We had a plan of action in place before we opened.”

Doherty says the focus is on telling the story more clearly and more dramatically.

“The Pirate Queen,” a sung-through musical with big sets, is about Grace O’Malley, a real-life Irish pirate who battled the English in the 16th century.

“The Irish-English struggle, so known to us, needs a little more sign-posting for [American] audiences,” Doherty says. “There are things we were taking for granted.

“But audiences are liking much of the show, and our box office is very strong. I’m not being defensive here. We know we can do better. But I believe we’re up to the challenge.”

AN impassioned Nicholas Martin, the director of “Butley,” phoned and e-mailed me to counter my column about the normally happy-go-lucky Nathan Lane sulking over his mixed reviews.

“Anyone would be lucky to work with an artist as professional, as generous and as unflappable – not to say as funny – as Nathan,” the director insists. “Allegations to the contrary are unfounded and malicious.”

He adds: “I know that people enjoy the claim that our theatrical legends are temperamental divas, but some of them – like Nathan – are simply geniuses who take life’s challenges head on.”

So it’s a jolly holiday with Nathan. No wonder that it’s Nathan that we love!