Well it doesn’t happen very often – actually it has never happened – that I am asked to do one performance on a 7-day cruise. One concert and one on-stage chat. That’s it. The bonus: my husband came with me! This is one of those dream gigs. Yes you have to do a concert….but the rest of the time you are simply enjoying the vacation along with the other passengers. It was spectacular.
SILVERSEA is a wonderful cruise line. The kind of cruise I would take! Smaller ships!!! Ours, Silver Wind, held 292 passengers and a crew of 220! The food is terrific, the state rooms are wonderful all with balconies and all the amenities are there! AND the performance space is simply gorgeous.
The audience is unlike any other. They are serious musical theatre fans. Broadway is a love and pastime for them. A true interest.
As if all this was not enough I also revelled in the fact that the performers had the chance to applaud each other. A chance we do not get very often: to sit in an audience each night seeing what these other performers do in concert. Not in a show but a concert – which is so much more personal. We took turns taking the stage and then got to support the others one by one: Melissa Errico, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Karen Mason, Howard McGillin, Alice Ripley, Tony Yazbeck and Judy Kuhn!!!!! Each one of us was accompanied by the insanely talented (and just as pleasant and wonderful) John McDaniel!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and there were other Broadway celebrities being “ambassadors” on the cruise and taking part in the on stage chats: Ernie Sabella, Lorna Luft, Kevin Chamberlin, Lillias White, Christine Pedi, Andrea Martin and Virginia Woodruff.
My husband and I made some friends on that ship. That is the icing on the cake!!!!!! This has been a gift. I am thankful for it. My husband and I kept pinching ourselves each time we were on deck with drinks in our hands toasting the star filled sky in our light summer clothes!!!!!
Thank you Philip Birsh, President and CEO of the theatre publication Playbill, for having me be a part of this. You and your amazing crew (Ruthie Fierberg!! Judy Perl, Alex ..) deliver a superb experience for your musical theatre loving passengers. You do the same for your performers. I shall treasure these memories.
Louise
Photography by Marc J. Franklin/Playbill
For more information about BOHS visit http://www.playbilltravel.com/faq/broadway-on-the-high-seas