No more production shows?

[rkacruiser]

14 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I have no idea how NCL presents its 'Dueling Pianos', but HAL's Billboard is nothing like a real piano bar. For the most part, they choose the selections, and the songs played have to be on the 'approved' list. 

 

Depending upon the duo, requests are requested and performed as they are able to do.  This was on the Nieuw Statendam in January.

 

No quibble that this is NOT like the traditional Piano Bar that we have enjoyed.  The 100% most entertaining performer was Diana Fast.  Her husband was a Bass player in the HAL CATS (or whatever they were then called).  He joined her on some evenings after his sets were done.  WOW!  What a great time we all had and what a wonderful personality Diana is.

[RuthC]

29 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

The 100% most entertaining performer was Diana Fast.

Diane has a different last name now. She was on the Maasdam Alaska cruises this summer giving presentations as part of the EXC program. 
I understand she's going to be working the Piano Lounge on the Amsterdam for the first part of the 2020 World Cruise. 

[rkacruiser]

2 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Diane has a different last name now. She was on the Maasdam Alaska cruises this summer giving presentations as part of the EXC program. 
I understand she's going to be working the Piano Lounge on the Amsterdam for the first part of the 2020 World Cruise. 

 

Those lucky Amsterdam guests!  Not knowing what her presentations were, the EXC presentations were quality, I expect.

[Copper10-8]

40 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Depending upon the duo, requests are requested and performed as they are able to do.  This was on the Nieuw Statendam in January.

 

.......................

 

100% correct! The Billboard Onboard piano duos I have seen most definitely take requests by having their audience write those request down on small pieces of paper

[coffeebean]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

I have no idea how NCL presents its 'Dueling Pianos', but HAL's Billboard is nothing like a real piano bar. For the most part, they choose the selections, and the songs played have to be on the 'approved' list. 

NCL's Dueling Pianos is request driven. Of course, tips are included with the requests. As the evening gets later, the requests played get "raunchier". It can be hilarious. It really is a fun time.

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

I have no idea how NCL presents its 'Dueling Pianos', but HAL's Billboard is nothing like a real piano bar. For the most part, they choose the selections, and the songs played have to be on the 'approved' list. 

 

The difference between NCL and HAL is, NCL's is actually a dueling piano bar.  It's an extension of the land-based Howl at the Moon franchise.  

 

HAL's is not dueling pianos.  

 

[coffeebean]

7 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

The difference between NCL and HAL is, NCL's is actually a dueling piano bar.  It's an extension of the land-based Howl at the Moon franchise.  

 

HAL's is not dueling pianos.  

 

That is correct. I forgot that NCL calls their dueling pianos show, "Howl at the Moon".

[RuthC]

8 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

HAL's is not dueling pianos.  

It's also not a piano bar. 

[Shmoo here]

1 minute ago, RuthC said:

It's also not a piano bar. 

How so?

 

 

[RuthC]

6 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

How so?

The piano player now is giving a performance, rather than letting those at the bar direct the evening. It is much more planned out than in years past. The musicians used to know a much wider variety of songs; they had a huge repertoire. Now it's the same songs every night, with a rare exception. It used to be a real party every night.
The atmosphere is not at all the same. 

[Shmoo here]

37 minutes ago, RuthC said:

The piano player now is giving a performance, rather than letting those at the bar direct the evening. It is much more planned out than in years past. The musicians used to know a much wider variety of songs; they had a huge repertoire. Now it's the same songs every night, with a rare exception. It used to be a real party every night.
The atmosphere is not at all the same. 

I can see that happening on a "standard" 7 night or less cruise, maybe even 10 nights.  But, on our 28 night cruise we all got to know the players, and they got to know what songs we wanted.  And many times we were encouraged to sing along.  So not "just a performance".

 

There is a limit as they are pretty much bound by only songs that have appeared on the Billboard hits lists over the years, but that's a pretty wide area.

 

It was a party every night on that cruise, as there were a substantial number of people who don't fall in with the Blues club genre.  I've not encountered the Post Modern Jukebox yet, but I'll give them a try, when/if I can.  

[Aquahound]

2 years ago on my Koningsdam cruise, they were taking requests.  

 

The actual talent, however, left a lot to be desired.  

[BarbarianPaul]

4 hours ago, coffeebean said:

I have seen many Broadway shows when we lived in NY and NJ. We love live theater. For the best Broadway type production shows, we have found NCL and Royal Caribbean have the best shows. The caliber of talent is very much on par with Broadway. . The sets may not be quite up to Broadway caliber but just under and not a big detriment.

 

We saw "Hairspray" on NCL Epic and it was out of this world. I saw the OBC of Hairspray on Broadway and believe me, the NCL cast was just as good. In fact, NCL offered an evening with the two main cast as themselves in an intimate setting. It was absolutely fabulous. NCL is one of the best cruise lines for entertainment. Royal Caribbean is right behind them. We recently saw "Grease" on Royal ship and it was fabulous!

Sounds great! Nice to hear some cruise lines don’t skimp on relatively large scale entertainment.

[Aquahound]

6 hours ago, coffeebean said:

I have seen many Broadway shows when we lived in NY and NJ. We love live theater. For the best Broadway type production shows, we have found NCL and Royal Caribbean have the best shows. The caliber of talent is very much on par with Broadway. . The sets may not be quite up to Broadway caliber but just under and not a big detriment.

 

We saw "Hairspray" on NCL Epic and it was out of this world. I saw the OBC of Hairspray on Broadway and believe me, the NCL cast was just as good. In fact, NCL offered an evening with the two main cast as themselves in an intimate setting. It was absolutely fabulous. NCL is one of the best cruise lines for entertainment. Royal Caribbean is right behind them. We recently saw "Grease" on Royal ship and it was fabulous!

 

I agree with this post 100%.  The production shows on those lines are phenomenal.  

 

Just one thing....are you sure you saw Hairspray on Epic?  RCI ran that show on a couple of their ships, but I don't remember NCL having it.  That said, when I saw Hairspray on Oasis, I thought it was excellent.  The whole theater was up on their feet at the end when they sang "You Can't Stop the Beat."   

[RuthC]

11 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I can see that happening on a "standard" 7 night or less cruise, maybe even 10 nights. 

I wouldn't know since I don't take short cruises anymore. 

11 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

There is a limit as they are pretty much bound by only songs that have appeared on the Billboard hits lists over the years, but that's a pretty wide area.

And therein lies a big part of the problem. They are restricted to what is on the approved list. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

I wouldn't know since I don't take short cruises anymore. 

And therein lies a big part of the problem. They are restricted to what is on the approved list. 

 

Like the lack of variety in ATK demos. Connecting with an outside "name" comes with strings attached.

 

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, RuthC said:

It used to be a real party every night.
The atmosphere is not at all the same. 

 

Yes!  While there is still chit-chat between the guests sitting around the piano players as the former piano bars had and there is still the sing-a-longs with all in the lounge, the current set-up lacks the intimacy that once was there.

 

On a cruise when Diana Fast was the entertainer in the piano bar, the party/atmosphere/conversations among the guests and Diana were so much fun that Diana finally had to say something like "I need to say good-night!"

 

(That was also a night when the piano bar stewards had to have returned to their quarters with big smiles on their faces.)

[coffeebean]

16 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

I agree with this post 100%.  The production shows on those lines are phenomenal.  

 

Just one thing....are you sure you saw Hairspray on Epic?  RCI ran that show on a couple of their ships, but I don't remember NCL having it.  That said, when I saw Hairspray on Oasis, I thought it was excellent.  The whole theater was up on their feet at the end when they sang "You Can't Stop the Beat."   

Hi Aquahound.....great to see you are still around here. You usually are on the  Royal forum, right?

 

You are correct about "Hairspray" on a Royal Oasis class ship. I can picture the comedy club like it was yesterday and that is where the two main cast members had an intimate show which was phenomenal. 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by coffeebean

[coffeebean]

Take a look at the Royal Caribbean Cast of "Hairspray" on the Tony Awards.......

 

Royal Caribbean's Cast of Hairspray on the Tony Awards

[Aquahound]

23 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

Hi Aquahound.....great to see you are still around here. You usually are on the  Royal forum, right?

 

You are correct about "Hairspray" on a Royal Oasis class ship. I can picture the comedy club like it was yesterday and that is where the two main cast members had an intimate show which was phenomenal. 

 

15 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

Take a look at the Royal Caribbean Cast of "Hairspray" on the Tony Awards.......

 

Royal Caribbean's Cast of Hairspray on the Tony Awards

 

Hi coffeebean.  😊  Yeah, I'm still around.  It's just been a few years since I've cruised RCI so my time on that board has been limited.

 

Thanks for that Tony's link.  It reminds me how great the shows are on RCI.  That's how a production show is supposed to look!  Mama Mia and Saturday Night Fever are 2 other EXCELLENT RCI shows.  

[coffeebean]

On 9/16/2019 at 7:12 PM, Aquahound said:

 

 

Hi coffeebean.  😊  Yeah, I'm still around.  It's just been a few years since I've cruised RCI so my time on that board has been limited.

 

Thanks for that Tony's link.  It reminds me how great the shows are on RCI.  That's how a production show is supposed to look!  Mama Mia and Saturday Night Fever are 2 other EXCELLENT RCI shows.  

You're welcome for the link. At least I know not to expect much on our HAL Amsterdam cruise coming up so I won't be terribly disappointed.

[Judyrem]

On 9/16/2019 at 6:50 PM, coffeebean said:

Take a look at the Royal Caribbean Cast of "Hairspray" on the Tony Awards.......

 

Royal Caribbean's Cast of Hairspray on the Tony Awards

That is so fabulous, thanks for posting the link!  RCL has the best entertainment at sea!

I loved Mamma Mia and Grease on Allure and Harmony!

[LewiLewi]

On 3/17/2019 at 5:36 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

For those who miss HAL's production shows, some of them have migrated to Cunard. I saw "Singers in Concert" last fall on QM2.

 

We have enjoyed wonderful shows every night on Cunard’s Victoria World Cruise as well as TA crossings on the Queen Mary. Cunard also has an impressive lecture series during the days at sea. We will be on the Amsterdam for a Grand Cruise next year. I hope that the entertainment will be as good as Cunard. I also hope that there will be lectures during the days at sea.