Out of 18 cruises in the last 5 years, I've seen excellent and bad and very very bad. They all tend to run together, but seeing as I don't travel on Royal or Holland at this point I may not get the opportunity to see anything on the better side. Norwegian is usually on the lower side for production, Celebrity on the higher side, but recent financial cutbacks on all lines have affected the quality precipitously.
It’s interesting. I find that when shows are good on cruise lines, they tend to be REALLY good, and when they’re bad, hooo they’re really bad. The NCL Mamma Mia is probably the best show I’ve seen at sea, and I’m guessing the Fosse/Verdon show I write about here will be excellent once it’s on the ship, because it’s already great in the studio.
This is a fascinatng deep dive into cruise ship theater! I had no idea Holland America was bringing Fosse/Verdon to Koningsdam, that's pretty ambitous for a cruise production. The whole Norwegian Cruise Line debuting Six before Broadway thing is wild, it really shows how the economics of cruise ships are changing the theater landscape. I'm curious about the calculus tho, is it cheaper to produce shows on ships? Or are cruise lines just willing to take more financial risk becaus they have captive audiences? The bit about Groff in Just in Time is spot on too. I saw it last month and you're right, he transforms those campy numbers into something genuinely moving. Also the Davy Jones connection to Bobby Darin's folk album is such a delightfull rabbit hole. These tangental connections are what make theater writing fun to read. Makes me want to check out Beau, sweet queer coming of age storys with music are always my jam.
Out of 18 cruises in the last 5 years, I've seen excellent and bad and very very bad. They all tend to run together, but seeing as I don't travel on Royal or Holland at this point I may not get the opportunity to see anything on the better side. Norwegian is usually on the lower side for production, Celebrity on the higher side, but recent financial cutbacks on all lines have affected the quality precipitously.
It’s interesting. I find that when shows are good on cruise lines, they tend to be REALLY good, and when they’re bad, hooo they’re really bad. The NCL Mamma Mia is probably the best show I’ve seen at sea, and I’m guessing the Fosse/Verdon show I write about here will be excellent once it’s on the ship, because it’s already great in the studio.
This is a fascinatng deep dive into cruise ship theater! I had no idea Holland America was bringing Fosse/Verdon to Koningsdam, that's pretty ambitous for a cruise production. The whole Norwegian Cruise Line debuting Six before Broadway thing is wild, it really shows how the economics of cruise ships are changing the theater landscape. I'm curious about the calculus tho, is it cheaper to produce shows on ships? Or are cruise lines just willing to take more financial risk becaus they have captive audiences? The bit about Groff in Just in Time is spot on too. I saw it last month and you're right, he transforms those campy numbers into something genuinely moving. Also the Davy Jones connection to Bobby Darin's folk album is such a delightfull rabbit hole. These tangental connections are what make theater writing fun to read. Makes me want to check out Beau, sweet queer coming of age storys with music are always my jam.