In Which I Actually Talk About My Job

And now for a bit about my work – music! I play piano in the “Celebrity Orchestra” which mostly plays in the theater for the production shows: Welcome Aboard Show, iBroadway, Boogie Wonderland, Live at Sky, and Farewell Show. There is an additional production show called “Celebrate the World” that does not use live musicians. In addition to the theater, we also play big band sets once a week in the Rendez-Vous Lounge, the Captain’s Club Celebration, and a Jazz Brunch on Wednesday in the restaurant. I also occasionally play solo sets in the restaurant or one of the many lounges on board.

The hardest part about ship music is probably the constantly changing ensembles. During a typical 6-month contract, players could likely see 10 different people change in and out of their ensemble. For example, I’m filling in for the bandmaster’s vacation, so when he gets back it’ll be a whole different ensemble. I had never met the rest of my ensemble before, let alone played with them. Professional ensembles can take years to find a cohesive sound and create their unified voice. The only rehearsal I had with this ensemble was a sound check on my first day, and then we played shows together that evening. Every time we play big band sets, these are charts that I’ve never seen before, and songs that we’ve never before played together as an ensemble. You can imagine the difficulties, but it becomes a matter of survival instead of fine-tuning a group sound. This is not the kind of musical environment that I’m used to. As my mother ever astutely noted, our audiences are not here exclusively for our music – they are onboard for the total cruising experience: hotel, food, scenery, destination, activities, shore excursions, etc. On Broadway, the case is different.

Broadway audiences tend to be filled with New Yorkers – and New York theater professionals at that. The level of criticism, observation, and expectation is very different. The audience response here is fantastic – audiences LOVE the shows, ensembles, and performers on board. I think people are generally blown away by the talent because they are not coming expecting Broadway-level shows, and for a lot of them, the level of talent and professionalism they seen on board is unprecedented.

The nice thing about playing on the ship is that we don’t have to play the same show 8 times per week. We do have to play each show twice per night – something that Broadway musicians only face (usually) twice per week – but the shows are only about an hour so it doesn’t seem like a hassle. And since it has been 7 days since I last played iBroadway, I’m always looking forward to playing it for a second time.

Also to my surprise, no one (NOBODY) has commented on my playing – in a positive or negative way. Not my boss, not my band mates, not the cast members. I’m coming from an academic setting, which is to say highly observational, critical, and progressive. As I mentioned, the audiences have been wonderfully responsive, but the standards to which I’m used to holding myself have disappeared. Let’s hope it’s not a culture shock when I get back to school!