WHO’S WHO IN THE BLISS THEATRE?

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:
 
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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…

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I had the pleasure of meeting with Joie, who is the Production Manager for the ship, and Abby, who is the Production Stage Manager for the theatre, and “Jersey Boys”.  Joie is from the Philippines, and in his 40’s and has been working on ships for 16 years. Abby is originally from New Jersey, and is in her late 20’s (I’m guessing on this one) and has been a PSM for Norwegian for two years.  More about their backgrounds - and what experience and training you would need - next week.
 
There are 14 technicians working on the Bliss.  The technicians are divided into two specialties - the lounge technicians and the production technicians. Although there is some overlap. There are also overhire technicians.
 
There are six lounge technicians, who are responsible for shows and events that go on around the ship; in the bars and lounges that have stages, the atrium (open area in the middle of the ship), the pool deck, and so on. The events that they are responsible for include bands, comedians, game shows, presentations, anything that takes place in the smaller venues.  In the case of many events it’s just a question of turning on the preset lighting and powering up a mic or two, but in the case of bands and singers the sound technicians need to know how to set up equipement for them and make it sound good, and the light technicians need to know when light cues are needed and how to do that.
 
In the theatre, there are two audio techs, one front-of-house and one on deck.  There’s one lighting technician, one automation technician (a lot of the set pieces run on tracks which are controlled from off stage), and four stage techs.
 
The two followspot operators are overhires, and there is a separate cue caller for the spots.  (More on why that is in the upcoming ‘behind the scenes’ blog about “Jersey Boys”.  Where to the overhires come from?  They are from different departments on the ship, and are paid extra for their time as followspot ops.  I mean, how hard is it to run a followspot!  Actually, I’m being facetious, because either you have it or you don’t.  The followspot op for “Jersey Boys” was very good(!).  (There was only one, because one of the spots was broken and they were waiting on a part.)
 
Then there are the Costumer and Props Manager for the productions.
 
Heading all this up is the TOM – the Theatre Operations Manager, as well as an entertainment administrator.  There’s also the Box Office Manager and staff.  And, the Assistant Cruise Director sometimes gets involved, too.
 
And this is only the people on the ship.  Before a big production like “Jersey Boys” comes aboard there is a whole production crew on land too.  But, more on that in a later blog.
 
As you can see, running a theatre on a cruise ship is very much the same as running a theatre on land.  The main difference being that when the techs get off work each night they may step outside to find themselves in a different country! 
 
Where do you see yourself fitting in?!
 
 
NEXT WEEK’S BLISS-FUL TOPIC:    What education/training/skills/experience will you need in order to apply for a theatre tech job on a cruise ship?
 
Curious about working on a cruise ship?  Check out the Master Class
 
Serious about working on a cruise ship?  Check out the Discovery Cruise
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