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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 16 May 2019

This cruise line rivals Broadway with 134 shows, 50 theaters

By KELLI KENNEDY intimate venues, fickle hundreds of girls ... it’s very tion was inevitable as more the hiss of a steam iron. One
Associated Press crowds and finite real es- competitive. There are so sophisticated cruise audi- of the head seamstresses is
MIAMI (AP) — In a non- tate, the cruise industry’s many people who want to ences — accustomed to busy completing a white
descript building in North onboard audience is grow- be doing this,” said Taryn seeing shows in spots like sequin ballroom dress, with
Miami, two dozen dancers flowing feathers and a
in bouncing yellow skirts are rhinestone studded bod-
high kicking the can-can, ice. The cruise line makes
aerialists are spinning per- its own costumes and must
ilously high from silk cords coordinate fittings for doz-
and frantic seamstresses ens of shows.
are hemming outfits in a The cast on each ship per-
20,000 square-foot cos- forms not one, but three
tume shop. They are all part shows — a Broadway mu-
of a company that puts on sical like “Hairspray” or
more live productions a “Grease,” a ballroom style
year than Broadway and show and a pop show.
London’s West End com- The shows are upbeat and
bined. family oriented and chosen
Royal Caribbean Interna- to appeal to a wide audi-
tional’s cruise line directs ence — nothing too sexual
134 shows in 50 theaters on or intellectual.
26 ships around the world, Scheduling all the rehears-
including seven Broadway- als is more precise than the
originating shows, eight choreography. The new
aqua shows, 18 ice shows casts arrive, rehearse and
and dozens of original mu- depart to sea at a dizzy-
sicals. ing pace every few weeks.
“We have a nightly audi- It takes exactly 26 days to
ence of about 100,000. It is train a new cast to perform
by scale a very, very large the musical “Cats.”
operation. Probably under Typical theater produc-
one roof, the biggest in tions will rotate in new cast
the world,” said Nick Weir, members periodically, but
senior vice president of en- Royal Caribbean prefers to
tertainment. “At any one sign performers to rough-
time, there’s 1,500 to 1,800 In this March 19, 2019 photo, performer Montana Moore dances during a rehearsal at Royal ly nine-month contracts.
cast members employed Caribbean’s entertainment training facility in North Miami, Fla. Associated Press They spend a few weeks
to make this all come to learning three shows from
life.” ing exponentially. Borman, a 21-year-old Aus- Vegas and Atlantic City — scratch and then head
It takes two to four weeks Royal Caribbean is build- tralian dancer, who’s per- are demanding better en- to sea. When it’s over, the
for an army of dancers, ing five ships in the com- forming on a ship for the tertainment. cruise line casts a new set
singers and aerialists to ing years, each with a first time in a new show with “It’s certainly upped the of performers and begins
learn a show before they’re custom-built theater with aerialists and contortionists. game. (Cruise theater) again.
dispatched to ports as far sophisticated stages and She’ll head to Asia with the used to be a little better Staging a show at sea has
away as Australia and Chi- high-tech effects. A few cast in a few weeks. perhaps than summer stock its own challenges and
na. years ago, they built a small Singer and dancer Oli just with better costumes,” quirks. Performers need ex-
On a recent afternoon, plane with a 22-foot wing- Reynolds, 26, wrapped up said Kenrick, adding “it’s tra core strength to adapt
dancers roamed the halls span that now flies over a starring role in London’s definitely improved. I can’t to rough waves and pitch-
in crop tops and buns. One the audience in every pro- West End production of say it’s Broadway.” ing ships. If a costume is
stretched into a wide split duction of “FLIGHT: Dare to “Mama Mia” and came Every performance on ev- ripped, there’s no one to
on the floor. There are 14 Dream.” back to Royal Caribbean ery ship worldwide is re- run to the store.
dance studios, 15 rehearsal “The stages that they have where he’s reprising the hearsed at the roughly There are also perks that
rooms, a recording studio, on the ships, the technol- same role. 133,000 square-foot facility even the most legend-
gymnasiums and audito- ogy is far better than it “I think there’s still a stigma where the halls are literally ary theaters on land can’t
rium. Exercise equipment ever was on a Broadway about cruise ship perform- alive with the sounds of mu- compete with — pictur-
lines some hallways. Near- stage, even 10 years ago,” ing ... historically, a lot of sic. esque ports, free meals,
by are living accommoda- said Greg Graham, who cruise lines didn’t put the In one room, dancers with room and board, the
tions for 470 of the perform- was the resident choreog- focus on the performing, black top hats are perfect- chance to interact with the
ers. rapher for “Billy Elliot” on it was more about the ing choreography to “All audience and the sense
Often dismissed in the past Broadway before coming destinations,” said Reyn- That Jazz.” Across the hall, of onboard community
as second-tier, cruise enter- to the cruise line to choreo- olds, who stressed that’s six singers are harmoniz- not found at other venues
tainment has evolved to a graph “Hairspray.” changed. “People come ing a number from “Once where performers simply go
genre that Royal Caribbe- Roughly 3,000 hopefuls from Cirque du Soleil, they Upon a Time.” In a record- home each night.
an says commands some showed up to recent audi- come from Vegas, they ing studio next door, the “You definitely become
of the best talent and tech- tions for “Hairspray” in New come from London, they walls reverberate with what more of a family,” said Mya
nology around. York and London. come from Broadway and sounds like theme music Carpenter, a 22-year-old
Several of the main char- Weir said the casting op- it is a progression in my ca- from an adventure movie. dancer who performed in
acters in “Mama Mia” are eration is massive, culling reer for me.” At the massive costume Paris before joining Royal
from the Broadway version talent from 75 cities a year John Kenrick, a musical shop, the hum of a sewing Caribbean. “You come to
of the show. While New auditioning nearly 25,000 theater historian and ad- machine where a seam- know people inside and
York theater has struggled performers last year alone. junct professor at New York stress works on a gold glit- out. They’re friends for
to turn profits with its small, “At my audition there were University, says the evolu- ter costume competes with life.”q