Fifteen Minutes Before Showtime

Five nights a week the showband lives and performs in the Palace Theatre, a smallish cabaret-like venue on Deck Six aft, which seats about four hundred and fifty people.  I start getting ready about 45 minutes before the show, showering and deciding on my black outfit du jour, sometimes taking the time to put on some makeup to avoid 'glowing in the dark' so to speak, in the spotlights.  

Our call time is at least fifteen minutes before showtime, although sometimes a few of us are there a bit early warming up.   The backstage area isn't connected to the stage where we perform, so when we show up for our call, we are already on stage, behind a curtain.  That space is barely big enough for the entire band, and we live together within that oval created by the back wall and the front curtain for fifteen minutes before every show, twice a night, 5 nights a week.   The horn line always stands for every show, so if the curtain ever closes you can bet we've all put our horns down and are crashed out, sitting or laying on the ground for 5 or 10 minutes, however long the break is.  So here's a picture of our typical night:

Andy arrives about 20 minutes before showtime, but after getting set up backstage he goes out front to do "doors" - welcoming guests as they arrive in the theatre.  Alex arrives first, sitting in his back corner running some bass licks.  John Mason might arrive second, usually with Jon Kratzer, who warms up on trumpet while Mason sits at the piano and accompanies himself while singing random songs in a high voice.  I arrive next, and play through a few warmup exercises, before running through any tricky stuff coming up in that night's show.  About halfway through my noise-making, Alejandro and Tim wander in and sit at the guitar and drums, respectively.  I have to take a break in playing to let them squeeze by me.  I finish warming up and running stuff, and sit down on the floor, back leaning against the bingo machine (covered in a bright blue cloth) that is my constant right-hand man on any night in the theatre.  About the same time I sit down, Alejandro starts strumming a rhythmic groove on guitar, or Alex starts playing a funky bassline.  Tim finds an appropriate drumbeat, and the three of them groove together pretty loudly for about 5 or 10 minutes.  Occasionally the rest of us join in and improv along.  Sometimes its an actual song we all know, sometimes its just a fun groove.  About three minutes to showtime, Andy comes backstage.  The first thing he says is "Oh, shut up" in his British accent, which the trio reluctantly do, followed by, "lets do it, guys." Or, "same crap again, guys" for the second show.  I make sure my music is all ready to go, put my headphones on and adjust the volume, and make sure my spit valve is empty one last time.  There's about a 20 second calm before the storm, then the house lights go down, house music fades out, curtain opens, and we're on.   

Great Stirrup Cay and volunteering

Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian Cruise Line's own private island in the Bahamas, which we visit every week.  Its right next to Royal Caribbean's island, and several others, but its all ours. Its about half a mile wide, 3 miles long, and has enough facilities to make it comfortable for guests, like bathrooms, beach chairs and umbrella's, hammocks, picnic tables, a buffet, a bar, and any kind of water activity you can imagine, from snorkeling to parasailing.   We can't dock there, so we have to use tender boats to get ashore, which are usually crowded.  The trick is to go on the early morning crew tender that is loaded up with all the supplies needed for the day (food, drinks, ice, etc).  That way you have a guaranteed ride over and you beat all the guests there.  Last time we were there I did some exploring on my own around the island, before settling on the beach for a while.  It really has a lot of vegetation and wildlife, and is a neat little place.  Next week I plan to hike to the old lighthouse, which is about 2 miles away on the far end of the island.  

This week there are a lot of younger kids on board, over 500 under 18.  The youth team, led by my wonderful roommate Stacey, find themselves a bit understaffed, needless to say.  Since I don't work a lot of hours, I offered to help here and there, if Stacey needed an extra pair of hands.  Now, all the youth team have nicknames with the kids, summercamp style, to make things easier.  (To give you an idea, some of their names are: Sunshine, Acorn, Jello, Scooter, Cricket, Spacey) They have only these nicknames even on their official NCL nametags, and often just call each other those names all the time, even when off duty.  I was told I needed to pick a nickname to go by with the kids, and that it should start with the same letter as my name.   I am excited to announce that I now have a nametag that says....Abracadabra!  Ha ha....I really get a kick out of hearing the kids call me that, and I've been having a blast helping out this week.  Last night I went to a kid's dinner with them and sat with a couple tables of kids, and they were absolutely tons of fun and so hilarious.  Every five seconds or so one of them would want my attention, and yell, "Hey Abracadabra! Did you know...."  I was just grinning all night.  And I've convinced them that it is my real name, because my parents are actually both magicians with their own magic show and named me after their magic word.  :-)  Its so much fun...I can see why people become kindergarten teachers, mom! :-)