Broadway/West End Shows

[Airbear232]

Does anyone know if Royal is done adding Broadway/West End shows to new ships?  I was hoping Hamilton or Wicked were going to be added on two of the new ships. 

[shof515]

cost toooo much money for licensing rights

[ARandomTraveler]

Hamilton!!!?? Good luck! That's by far the best Broadway musical out there, no way they're getting the rights to that. Besides, their set has so many mechanical and moving parts, and it wouldn't be nearly the same if they removed them in order to accommodate a cruise ship stage.

 

I just saw Wicked for the 2nd time a couple weeks ago, and am seeing Hamilton for the second time in November. Both great musicals. 

[Airbear232]

53 minutes ago, shof515 said:

cost toooo much money for licensing rights

I know you’re probably right, but DW and I really enjoy the shows on board. 

[john bowtie]

I think it will be interesting to see what the big shows are on the upcoming Icon class ships. There was a rumor that the Star of the Seas was getting Back to the Future, but that was before Nick Weir suddenly departed as head of entertainment so who knows what will happen. I don't think it should be a surprise that Utopia of the Seas didn't get a full scale musical, as it was designed for short cruises. Many other cruise lines have reduced entertainment (NCL dropped the full scale musicals on several of their ships though the most recent Viva did get Beettlejuice) and RCCL certainly has made a variety of cuts, so I doubt we will see a 16 piece orchestra like Wizard of Oz's again and other reductions may happen.

Edited September 9 by john bowtie
correct word

[TheHawk1]

Royal stopped being the Broadway at Sea cruise line a long time ago. These days, they’re focusing more on either the weekend party crowd (Utopia) or families with kids (Icon), neither of which are interested in seeing theatre shows.

[NicNac4498]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:47 PM, TheHawk1 said:

Royal stopped being the Broadway at Sea cruise line a long time ago. These days, they’re focusing more on either the weekend party crowd (Utopia) or families with kids (Icon), neither of which are interested in seeing theatre shows.

Icon has a full musical production, so I am unsure what you mean?

[twangster]

An added benefit of Royal Caribbean productions is that many of them only restrict flash photography.  Broadway shows come with restrictions that often don’t allow guests to take pictures.  
 

For a modern cruise line having guests post awesome experience photos to social media helps to sell the experience.  
 

This isn’t the only factor involved but it’s one factor.  

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, NicNac4498 said:

Icon has a full musical production, so I am unsure what you mean?

Too cheap to pay for licensing for a “real” Broadway show. 

[NicNac4498]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Too cheap to pay for licensing for a “real” Broadway show. 

Icon does have a fully licensed production.

[ARandomTraveler]

Wizard of Oz isn't Broadway though, I think that's what he (Biker) means. The Wiz is Broadway, and Wicked is Broadway, but the Wizard of Oz is not. 

22 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Too cheap to pay for licensing for a “real” Broadway show. 

 

15 minutes ago, NicNac4498 said:

Icon does have a fully licensed production.

[TheHawk1]

51 minutes ago, NicNac4498 said:

Icon has a full musical production, so I am unsure what you mean?

Wizard of Oz may be a production and it may even have some music in it, but it is not a Broadway style show like the others on older Oasis ships.

[NicNac4498]

4 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Wizard of Oz isn't Broadway though, I think that's what he (Biker) means. The Wiz is Broadway, and Wicked is Broadway, but the Wizard of Oz is not. 

 

This is pure semantics. The production of Wizard of Oz is of the same caliber as the other Broadway-licensed properties onboard other ships. It is not a revue show, nor an in-house created storyline (Effector/Columbus) Would you not consider We Will Rock You as a licensed production as that has only played on the West End but not on Broadway? 

[ARandomTraveler]

2 hours ago, NicNac4498 said:

This is pure semantics. The production of Wizard of Oz is of the same caliber as the other Broadway-licensed properties onboard other ships. It is not a revue show, nor an in-house created storyline (Effector/Columbus) Would you not consider We Will Rock You as a licensed production as that has only played on the West End but not on Broadway? 

I was just clarifying what I thought biker meant. I haven't seen Wizard of Oz as I haven't been on Icon so I can't speak to it, but others have said it's great. 

[Monk86]

Is Mamma Mia still on Allure?

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Monk86 said:

Is Mamma Mia still on Allure?

Yes. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/8/2024 at 7:14 PM, Airbear232 said:

Does anyone know if Royal is done adding Broadway/West End shows to new ships?  I was hoping Hamilton or Wicked were going to be added on two of the new ships. 

 

Both would be far too expensive to add to Royal Caribbean or any cruise ship. Not to mention the license with Disney for Hamilton. Wicked's licensing rates will be skyrocketing with the movie coming out.

 

Wizard of Oz is about as close as you'll come to a new 'broadway' show. While it may never have appeared on Broadway in that form, it does have an incredible 16 piece orchestra that makes the show reminiscent of Broadway. A live full orchestra really enhances that production. It was the license with the Baum family that required the orchestra and I'm so glad it does.

 

Typically shows that make it to any cruise ships are not the top tier shows. Mamma Mia, Cats, Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Hairspray are the current shows. Older and cheaper to license. Hairspray is the best of the bunch for me, they really do a great job with that show. The only 'new show' to appear on a ship recently is Beetlejuice on NCL Prima, but that was only after NCL gutted most of their broadway shows. 

 

Fortunately Royal Caribbean does a good job with their original shows, but they tend to lean more heavily into tech than story and song. Princess is probably the best at developing traditional original broadway style shows.  But then they work with Broadway producers to create some of them. They're probably the most underrated shows at sea. 

[Ken at the beach]

48 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

Fortunately Royal Caribbean does a good job with their original shows, but they tend to lean more heavily into tech than story and song.

IMO they have gone downhill since Flight on Symphony.

[Sam & Soph]

NCL had Choir of Man on Escape and it was WONDERFUL!  Not a Broadway show but well worth it. RCCL would do great with shows like that. It was so good we went to see the production again in Chicago 3 months after we got home. Check it out on You tube. Full recording there. 

[Sam & Soph]

Sorry it was NCL Encore

[George C]

I would love to see Carol Kings “Beautiful “ only broadway play I ever saw 3 times . 

[Airbear232]

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

Typically shows that make it to any cruise ships are not the top tier shows. Mamma Mia, Cats, Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Hairspray are the current shows. Older and cheaper to license.

We just really like the opportunity to see shows at sea.  Hopefully, at some point, they can add some “new” shows on the newest ships. 

[Airbear232]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:47 PM, TheHawk1 said:

Royal stopped being the Broadway at Sea cruise line a long time ago. These days, they’re focusing more on either the weekend party crowd (Utopia) or families with kids (Icon), neither of which are interested in seeing theatre shows.

Too bad, really room for all.

[alfaeric]

1 hour ago, Airbear232 said:

Too bad, really room for all.

Unless people are booking JUST to see the musical, it's not really that good of a financial choice.  I love the shows, too, but given the cost to license them and the cruise lines not charging for them- it doesn't make much financial sense to pay a huge amount of money for new shows.

 

Perhaps repeating shows on ships is more likely- like Grease is on two ships.  And they *could* run Hairspray, since they had another set from the Oasis.   But buying vs. making their own...

[Monk86]

9 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Yes. 

Thank you