​In many ways, stage managing a show on a ship is the same as stage managing a show in high school or university, or any other land-based theatre.  You manage the rehearsals and tech week, make sure the cast is in places, call the cues.  But in some ways, there are differences.

​
While I was on the Norwegian Bliss, I asked Abby,
the Production Stage Manager for “Jersey Boys”,
​about women in cruise ship tech theatre.
 
Here’s what she had to say…

​A cruise ship has a LOT of venues.  The Norwegian Bliss has the main theatre, and then there’s the Atrium, bars and night clubs, comedy clubs, lounges, poolside entertainment, and an outdoor movie screen.  And of course, all of these venues have sound and lighting systems.  And someone’s gotta run them.

Enter stage right the entertainment technicians.  I haven’t said ‘theatre technicians’ because not everyone works in the theatre per se.  At the time of this interview there were 14 technicians working on the Bliss.

“Jersey Boys” has:
2 audio techs; one front of house and one on deck
1 lighting technician
4 stage techs (props and smaller set pieces)
1 automation technician (as you will recall from previous blog posts, the stage has automated scenery)

Then there are:
6 lounge technicians

The theatre technicians tend to be specialists in their area – lighting, sound, sets, and they
usually have a theatre education and background, and have an understanding of the theatrical process.

Whereas the lounge technicians may be more ‘Jackies of all trades’.  Lounge technicians need to know how to set up a band, audio and video setups, how to run a basic lighting console and sound console, and understand patching (and when I say “basic”, these days that means digital boards). It's also important to know how to set up a band and make it sound good.  That involves a bit more expertise than just knowing how to turn mics on and off. 

If you are considering being a lounge technician, 

In this post we’ll be going behind the scenes of “Jersey Boys” on board the Norwegian Bliss, and looking at how a show moves from land to ship.
(Photo credit – NCL Image Assets, available to Travel Partners)
 
First, as with any show there are the rehearsal and tech periods. As you can imagine, these cannot possibly take place on the ships – there is nowhere on a ship where there would be enough space and time to rehearse.  Nor is there anywhere to build sets and costumes, or the opportunity to hang a new light plot, or set up the sound and a/v systems needed, and so on. So, this is all done ‘shoreside’ ahead of time.
 
In the case of Norwegian Cruise Lines the show is rehearsed and built at their Creative Studios facility in Tampa, Florida.  Following is a thumbnail timeline of how a show ends up in a theatre on a ship…

​This week’s blog is all about what would your daily schedule as a theatre technician look like, and how long would your contract be.
 
In chatting with Joie and Abby on board the Bliss (you can read all about them in the previous two blog posts), it seems that on average a theatre technician typically works a six month on six week off rotation (at least on Norwegian – other cruise lines may differ).  Joie, who has been doing this for 14 years, said it was more like five months for him, however he – and other techs – have occasionally been extended to seven months.  Abby on the other hand has had a more varied schedule. She was on the Bliss for eight months in 2022, then took a few months off – which she says, is the best part about working for cruise lines!  She was then on the Joy for four months, and then the Escape for a month.  She’s now been back on the Bliss for about seven months, and will be finishing that contract at the end of the month before taking a well-earned break.  So, as you can see, contract lengths can change for a variety of circumstances, but you should be prepared to be working on board for about six months at a time.  One reason why it’s important to take a Discovery Cruise first – because that’s a long commitment to jump into without having fully assessed what it would mean for you.
 
What about the daily work schedule of a theatre tech...

Joie and Abby have different qualifications, yet both ended up in theatre management on a cruise ship. 
 
Joie did a lot of his learning through experience coupled with a lot of research. When Joie started (and the same goes for me) nothing was digital - running light and sound boards were manually done, cues were ‘recorded’ on paper, patching used physical cables and plugs, and so on.  Joie started out working with some entrepreneurial high school friends who were renting out a sound control system, which they would set up, and run, for parties and weddings. It was then that he got the bug, and so he started researching and learning more on his own. He not only learned sound – his main passion – but also lighting and props.  He started out his cruising career with contracts in lighting, sound, and also as a props master. It was this background of a variety of skills and experience that qualified him for theatre management.
 
Abby, on the other hand, did most of her learning in a formal educational setting.  She first caught the bug when she was just 12 years old, when she stage managed a school production. Concurrently, her family cruised a lot when she was growing up.  One day on a cruise, when she was 13, she went to a show and noticed the people in the booth.  She dragged her dad up to the booth so that she could talk to the stage manager for the production!  It was right then that she knew she – very specifically - wanted to be a PSM (Production Stage Manager) on a cruise ship, and she hasn’t looked back.  All through high school she worked as a stage manager for school and community productions.  She then went to university and got her BA in Theatre Design and Technology.
 
So, what do you need to bring to the table when applying for a theatre tech job on a cruise ship; experience or education – or both? 

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about what it’s like to work in the theatre on the Norwegian Bliss!

​Following posts will include topics such as:
 
​
What skills/education do you need
Work schedule/contract
Jersey boys – the tech scoop
Venues on the ship
Women in cruise ship tech
Lifestyle, including cabins, family, relationships on board
What it takes to be a cruise ship SM?
Load in load out – land to sea
Equipment on board
Difference between cruise lines and/or ships
Difference between a lounge technician and a theatre technician
 
I’m sure you’re curious about how many technicians work on board a cruise ship and what their responsibilities are. But first, let’s meet the management staff that I talked with…

​Every so often I will highlight a specific cruise line. 

​Today it’s Carnival.
 
Here’s their website page all about jobs as technicians.

While these websites don’t specifically address working in a theatre on cruise ships, before you can do that you have to search for vacancies, apply for jobs, interview, and sign contracts just like any employee...

Before you can work in a theatre on a cruise ship, you still have to search for vacancies, apply for jobs, interview, and sign contracts, just like any employee.
 
While these two websites don’t specifically address working in a theatre, they are chock full of information about cruise ship profiles, job descriptions, salary ranges, vacancies, application processes, and more!