There’s a show on every night in what they call the Marquee Theatre. Some are called production shows and feature the resident singers and dancers – a troupe of 8. Don’t Stop the Music and Pirates of the Pacific have been terrific but last night we were treated to the first performance of a new show, Life As We Know It. Until now, I have in my mind the best show we have seen on a cruise ship has been British Invasion which we saw on the Diamond Princess. Until now …. Life As We Know It was something else again. It set itself up as a comment on aspects of life, tied together by quotes, visuals and singing and dancing. The costumes were interesting but bore no relationship to what we were seeing and there were brief interludes where acrobats swing from ropes attached to the ceiling. But, it was brilliant!
We spoke to the Cruise Director after the show and congratulated him. He commented they were trying to bring the shows up to date and used the phrase ‘cutting edge’. They were looking at what could be done with modern music and attitudes and trying to bury some of the old clichés which appear too often in these shows. One section stood out for me as typical of the show – the song was Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know and the two lead singers took the roles as a couple whose love had died and they were breaking up. They were joined by a rope, which they used as a weapon. They were vicious to each other and spat out the words of the song. It’s a fabulous song and it came to life in a very dramatic performance.
On the other hand, tonight’s show was Motor City based on the music of Motown. It was slick, professional and energetic but in comparison with Life As We Know It, it was tired, dated and clichéd. This show is one they have done for quite a long time and while they maintained its freshness and the costumes and music were great, it was yesterday’s show. We’ve certainly moved on from there.
These production shows are only an hour long but this little troupe of 8 people presented four shows in the 7 day cruise, and danced and sang twice each night. And that’s not all they do. During the day you will see them working in one of the shops or running dance classes or the Morning Trivia. We’ll go home tomorrow exhausted and they’ll be welcoming on board another 2000 people who all want their pound of flesh. What a life!
We spoke to the Cruise Director after the show and congratulated him. He commented they were trying to bring the shows up to date and used the phrase ‘cutting edge’. They were looking at what could be done with modern music and attitudes and trying to bury some of the old clichés which appear too often in these shows. One section stood out for me as typical of the show – the song was Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know and the two lead singers took the roles as a couple whose love had died and they were breaking up. They were joined by a rope, which they used as a weapon. They were vicious to each other and spat out the words of the song. It’s a fabulous song and it came to life in a very dramatic performance.
On the other hand, tonight’s show was Motor City based on the music of Motown. It was slick, professional and energetic but in comparison with Life As We Know It, it was tired, dated and clichéd. This show is one they have done for quite a long time and while they maintained its freshness and the costumes and music were great, it was yesterday’s show. We’ve certainly moved on from there.
These production shows are only an hour long but this little troupe of 8 people presented four shows in the 7 day cruise, and danced and sang twice each night. And that’s not all they do. During the day you will see them working in one of the shops or running dance classes or the Morning Trivia. We’ll go home tomorrow exhausted and they’ll be welcoming on board another 2000 people who all want their pound of flesh. What a life!
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