While wandering the halls of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Creative Studios, it’s possible to hear tap dancing in one studio, catch a glimpse of a swing number in another or hear the sounds of Journey or The Eagles reverberating through the walls.
This is just a small slice of what goes on daily at the company’s all-inclusive rehearsal and production space in two Tampa warehouses spread across 110,000 square feet. The studios create and manage all aspects of each show’s production — from costumes and cosmetics to shipping and laundry — for all 35 ships across the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas fleets.
“We create bespoke productions and experiences from the ground up, which is one of the reasons why having an in-house creative team is so important,” said Bryan White, Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s vice president of entertainment production. “These are one-of-a-kind productions you cannot find anywhere else in the world.”
During a tour of the facility in mid-January, performers gave a sneak peek of “ELTON: A Celebration of Elton John” and “HIKO: Innovation meets Wonder,” plus a preview of “Syd Norman’s Presents: A Tribute to the Eagles.” All of these are debuting on the Norwegian Luna, which is set to debut out of PortMiami in early April.
Behind the scenes
It makes a lot of sense to have makeup artists, costumers and performers all under one roof when considering what it takes to support 134 active shows across all of Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s ships.
In one space, costumes can be custom printed and cut using high-tech printers, while another space houses a room full of sewing machines where costumers spend 80 hours crafting an intricate fur-pattern cape with fringes and sequins.
One space is focused solely on hair and makeup, while another is the main space for costume fittings, where the team can see 10,000 costumes come through in a single year.
It’s a streamlined operation that takes into account the limited window that each cast has to prepare before heading to the ship, about six weeks from arrival to departure. All of the materials for each show can be sent to any one of 110 countries from a department that sends nearly 300 shipments out per year.
When costumes finally come back after a show’s run, each one is cleaned in a laundry room that sees 60-80 garments come through in a day. From there, each piece is put into storage or, upon final retirement, donated to local schools’ theatre departments or dance studios.
Elton’s main stage moment
Norwegian Cruise Line’s entertainment lineup includes a musical tribute to Prince and a Jersey Boys Broadway-style musical. Now Sir Elton John is having his moment.
“As we continue to celebrate mainstream artists with broad generational appeal, there’s nobody better than Elton,” said Katy Tate, the show’s director. “We’re bringing in a lot of archival footage of Elton. We don’t want it to feel like an impersonation show, we want it to feel like we summoned his past performances and we’re a part of those things.”
The full production of the Elton show on board the ship will include aerial and acrobatic elements and high-tech elements, such as LED screens on the top of four grand piano set pieces, which will have performers popping out of them.
Even from a 15-minute preview, it’s apparent the show provides a high-energy spectacle with snappy choreography and talented live musicians performing hits such as “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.” It also showed that flamboyant fur coats will be a part of the spectacle, an obvious choice, and brooms will be used as a prop in one number.
White said the show was produced with the support of John’s creative team.
“Once Sir Elton’s team saw that we have an in-house creative team and they recognized the quality of the work that we’re doing, they were able to trust us,” he said. “They were able to trust that we’re going to deliver a high-quality, engaging creative show that they’re going to be proud of.”
In the costuming department, the show utilized more than 1,000 yards of fabric and 1/2 mile of fringe with 90 types of fabrics represented.
HIKO
While the name Hiko is derived from Shinatsuhiko, the Japanese god of wind, the show takes a more sci-fi approach, blending Cirque artistry with “mixed reality visuals.”
Kai Carrier, Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s director of theatrical creative, conceptualized the show with the idea of Hiko, the main character, adding color and energy to his dull
“Hiko completely manipulates and controls his world, and we show this through mapping and projection,” he said. “He lands in this world, which is monochromatic and dull. He starts to build up this world, which our guests can see as he’s controlling it and shifting things around.”
A preview of the show had performers bouncing off a trampoline and running vertically up a wooden wall while Hiko orchestrated the scene and performers around him.
The show’s director, Shay Kuebler, comes from a martial arts background, which helps in coordinating stunts. He’s also a fan of action films.
“Our goal is to make a cinematic epic out of this piece,” he said. “What [Christopher Nolan] does really well, as an inspiration to me, is that he marries artistic film and blockbuster appeal together. My goal is to make something artistic but accessible for everybody.”
Multi-generational appeal
All of Norwegian’s shows are aimed at appealing to guests through easy-to-follow narratives, recognizable music and big visual spectacle.
While differing in content and story, the artistry found in both the Elton show and “HIKO” can be appreciated by multiple generations.
There are also experiences on board the Norwegian Luna that appeal to age-specific segments, such as the kid-friendly “Sea of Discovery! An Under-the-Sea Festival” or the adults-only “LunaTique: Pop Circus.”
The latter draws inspiration from circus characters with themed cocktails and interactive components.
“[The audience] is going to walk out of there feeling really good about the time that they just had,” White said. “They’re gonna have some cheeky fun, but it’s not going to feel juvenile. It’s gonna feel really sophisticated.”
Another fan-favorite venue, Syd Norman’s Pour House, is making an appearance on the Luna. This time, the pub-style stage will feature an Eagles tribute show, which also appears in a main stage format. The Syd Norman’s band will also present a tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” aboard the ship.
The greatest reward of his job, White said, is seeing the moments of awe and wonder on guests’ faces after the involved 18-month process of concept, pre-production and production finally lands on a stage.
“With all of the work that all of our hundreds of team members have gone into making these things happen, it’s about the guest. We’re doing it for them,” he said. “To sit there next to them — and they usually don’t know who I am — and to have them in awe and wonder at these things that we created, there’s nothing better than that.”
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