Through Rain, Shine or Midnight Buffet, the Show Must Go On

Viewers of the hit film “Titanic” may have noticed there was little or no entertainment aboard, except what the passengers themselves created by dancing, playing cards or dressing up for masquerade parties. That was the way it was when ships were primarily a means of transportation.

But as ocean liners turned into cruise ships, passengers expected a little more after-dinner entertainment than Miss Cecily Thwistle at the pianoforte.

The pace picked up slightly in the 1970s and early 1980s, when lines such as Royal Viking and Holland America presented what we used to call four-on-the-floor shows. The quartet of performers, wearing costumes they might have sewn themselves, sang and danced on a stage illuminated only by a volunteer deckhand wielding a follow-spot (a manually operated spotlight) and changed costumes in the ship’s public restrooms.

The only notable productions back then were from Princess Cruises, who brought in neon-bright costumes and wigs, sweetened the sound with prerecorded music and projected film clips on screens at each side of the stage.

In the early 1980s, a shortened version of “My Fair Lady” debuted on the stage of Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norway, the first of NCL’s ongoing tradition of Broadway shows. After this, revues featuring music from Broadway shows and movies dominated the cruise entertainment scene for a decade.

By the 1990s, the flood of new ships and passengers created a demand for more polished entertainment, and lines such as Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean introduced technical innovations from laser-light and fog special effects to banks of video monitors replacing background scenery.

Now, with a few exceptions, only vintage ships selling budget cruises continue to rely on variety formats with dance teams, jugglers, ventriloquists and magicians.

With the new Grand Princess, currently the world’s largest cruise ship, Princess is once again presenting some of the most dazzling production shows at sea.

Design innovations such as a backstage loading dock at stage level--the first at sea--allow easy transfers of gigantic pieces of scenery from pier to ship and quick installation in the fly loft above the stage for instant scene changes.

Several ship theaters boast a hydraulically operated orchestra pit that can raise and lower as many as two dozen musicians.

On the Walt Disney Theater stage aboard the new Disney Magic, Peter Pan flies, mermaids and robotic fish rise singing from the sea, and a barrage of fireworks explodes behind a full curtain call of famous Disney characters.

Disney seems to have no objection to permitting doting members of the audience to videotape entire shows. The ship presents three original production shows, all based on Disney film hits, plus a fourth show on four-day sailings featuring Disney cartoon characters. All are resolutely G-rated. Thunderous standing ovations greeted every show on the ship’s maiden voyage.

Carnival continues to introduce splashy new productions. While their styles have ranged from naughty to outrageous, high-tech to funky, the shows are always fast-moving and dazzling and draw standing-room-only audiences.

Crystal Cruises’ shows are less technically oriented and, for some conservative passengers, more tasteful in the Broadway and West End theater sense. The Crystal ships rely on name entertainers and exclusive contractual arrangements, such as the one with composer Richard Rodgers’ estate that authorizes the show “Some Enchanted Evening.”

To get brochures from the cruise lines mentioned above, call their toll-free numbers: Carnival at (800) CARNIVAL; Celebrity at (800) 437-3111; Crystal at (800) 820-6663; Disney at (800) WDW-CRUISE; Princess at (800) PRINCESS; Royal Caribbean at (800) 327-6700.