Behind the scenes with NCL for a sneak peek of Revolution: A Celebration of Prince

“This is where the magic happens for entertainment,” noted senior artistic director Robert Hertenstein at NCLH’s Creative Studios in Tampa yesterday, where Baxter Media was on location to get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at two new productions coming to the soon-to-debut Norwegian Aqua, including “Revolution: A Celebration of Prince.”

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ Creative Studios is where cruise productions for all three cruise lines, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, come to life before clients can see the finished shows onboard.

“Entertainment has been and always will be a pillar of what Norwegian Cruise Lines is,” shared NCL president David J. Herrera, adding that it’s a rare opportunity to be able to witness the inner workings of entertainment productions. “Most people don’t know what’s happening here, they just see the final product and it’s amazing what goes into it. We’ve invested a lot of time and money to give the team everything they need to put on these amazing shows.”

While it typically takes 18 months to develop and produce an onboard show, “Revolution: A Celebration of Prince,” was seven years in the making. Notably, conceiver, director and choreographer Patricia Wilcox said she didn’t want one single performer to represent the iconic entertainer in the first show at sea celebrating the Oscar winning, seven-time Grammy Award winning and 38-time Grammy nominated artist.

“It was his duality – he was black, white, male, female, sacred, sexual, he was many things, so I didn’t want one person to represent him,” Wilcox told PressToday. “I wanted women to represent him, I wanted men to represent him. It was very important to me because he represented everybody.”

“Revolution: A Celebration of Prince” was created in partnership with the Prince Estate. The immersive show features hits like Purple Rain, Kiss, Little Red Corvette and 1999 with four lead Prince roles. After rehearsing and training in the studios for months, the cast is headed to Europe this weekend to gear up for Norwegian Aqua’s debut.

The new Prima Class ship will also feature “Elements: The World Expanded,” an enhanced version of NCL’s highest guest-rated show “Elements,” with acrobats and aerials.

Beyond the 11 studios where shows are workshopped and rehearsed, the Creative Studios space also houses a wardrobe and costume warehouse, aerial training equipment, hair and makeup, costume design and more. Casting is also a big undertaking, with some 800 positions at sea to fill annually. The studio also works with local schools to donate shoes and clothing that are no longer needed in productions for students in need. In addition to upcoming shows, costumes are also maintained, laundered and restored on an ongoing basis from productions across the fleet of 32 ships and 128 shows. There’s no business like show business!

Meanwhile, during a panel discussion with NCL’s executive team during the studio visit, Bryan White, vice president of entertainment production, highlighted that guest feedback is critically important to staging productions.

“Our guests want three things out of their shows – they want music that they recognize – they want artists that they know and love, they want visual spectacle so that it doesn’t matter what language they speak or what age they are, there’s going to be something from the videos to the costumes to the lighting for them to see, and they want narratives that are easy to follow. They do not want to sit in a theatre for two hours and follow 15 characters and 17 different storylines and it all resolves in a kiss. We are really looking to create new show concepts and entertainment that meets those guests’ requirements.”

In addition to dynamic entertainment, Mark Kansley, senior vice president, hotel operations, highlighted that Norwegian Aqua will be 22 meters longer than the first two ships in the class, allowing for some changes and enhancements.

“It gave us an opportunity to listen to what worked on Prima and Viva, what we would like to change, what new concepts are out there that we think are going to meet the needs of our guests and what we as a brand want to stand behind,” he said.

With the rise of demand for plant-based food, Aqua will feature a plant-based option in the Indulge food hall called Planterie. Sukhothai, featuring traditional thai cuisine, and a new wine bar will also be new to Aqua.