compliment

I think one of the coolest things about being on the entertainment staff is that at night, when there's a comedy show or a band in the club on the top deck, most of the cast and the main theatre entertainers go hang out.

Tonight, I was talking to some of the singers and, as usual, offering to play an extra rehearsal on the side to help out a singer. One of the singers pulled me aside, took my hand, looked straight into my eyes, and told me that the show I played/conducted two nights ago was the best performance of that show she was ever involved in (and she's been here about 4 months with 2 other MD's). It really meant a lot to me to hear that since I'm working hard to stay ahead of the curve. I thought I'd share with all of you.

Sea-tigo and Stewards

I posted a while ago about how scary I find the sea at night. I just don't like going out at night. Now that I've gone outside during the day, I realize it's not the dark. Whenever I walk out on the deck while the ship is moving, even though I'm hugging the inside rail, I'm very nervous and almost (but not quite) dizzy with fear that I'll fall over. It's not the water so much as the vastness of the water. I worry that the wrong gust of wind or a slip will send me tumbling into the sea. I think it's what vertigo must feel like.

One of the surprises on this ship is that every crew member, from the cruise director down to the dish washer has room stewardss that come into rooms once a day, straighten up a little, vacuum, replace the towels, and make the bed. It may not be that interesting, but it's something I never expected. At this point, I have a little "no service needed" sign I put up about every other day. No need to have my bed made.

So, there you go

So, I just found out that since it's a very quick train ride to Athens, I should get a chance to go on Thursday. I'm very excited. Now, since I'm from America, I don't have no honeys or jams. I'm just dry toast. But I imagine from what I've seen in the movies, this will all change in Greece.

Civitawhat?

So, we don't actually go to Rome on this cruise. We go to a port city called Civitavecchia. FROM Civitavecchia, you can take an hour train to Rome. Since I had a light day and am caught up on paperwork, I was hoping to go for most of the day. Unfortunately, I had to perform the weekly cabin inspection at 11, which means that if I took a train at 12 and got there around 1, it'd leave me about 4 hours in the city before I need to catch the train back. Also, it's raining and I'll be back here in 2 weeks, so I figure instead of spending money on a round trip train for a couple ohurs, I'll save it and spend a full day next time we're here. In the mean time, we'll be in Greece in 2 days and Alexandria, Egypt on Sunday. Crew can sign up to chapperone on passenger tours. Basically you get everyone on and off the bus and take notes on how the tour guide was, etc, and you can go for free. So, i've signed up to do a pyramid tour for free. I wno't find out til Saturday night which tour I'll get to so, but I signed up for 3 choices, so hopefully I'll get one of them. For those I've talked to before I came here, you know that Egypt was the place I'm most excited to visit.

I'm still in disbelief sometimes that I get to go to Egypt and Rome and Athens for free (actually, while getting paid), but days like yesterday remind me that I'm definitely earning it.

By the way, I accidentally logged off Skype (the password had been saved) and even though I reset the password so i know it's right, I can't log in anymore....I'm working on that.

First shows

So, yesterday was my first full day of performing. I had a rehearsal with the cast for one show and then a rehearsal with the pop opera singer for another. Then, after one rehearsal each, I performed each show.

The opera show (That's Amore, Le Donna e Mobile, etc) was fairly clean, but not as good as I would have liked. Now that I know the show well enough, I can work with the band a little. The problem on a cruise ship is that we won't revisit the show until next cruise. So, we won't look at it for another 2 weeks.

The second show, basically a revue of 60's British pop music, went much better than in rehearsal. Although there were a couple of missed cues, the music itself was very clean. Audiences normally don't pick up on slight hitches in plot like people who know the show do, and we got a standing ovation at the end, so I think that went over pretty well.

It was a stressful night, but now that it's done and I have 2 light days, I think things should be good.

crewbar

To celebrate my first day and to hang out with the guys in the band, I told them after the show that the first round at the crew bar would be on me. I've never been there before and felt I earned it. I walk into the dark room with a a small dance floor, DJ lights and music playing, and bar tables for people to stand and sit at. The band is all around one table and I ask what everyone wants. I get to the bar and order 3 Heinekens, a corona, and glass of wine. I did a double take when the bartender handed me the credit card slip (credit card being my payroll account which they subtract from before they pay me) and the grand total came to $6.50! (American). I learned that at the crew bar, any beer is a buck and wine (fancy for even Mrs. mamola) is $2.50. So, here I am being a big shot buying a round and I only pay 6.50.

The problem with these prices is that one beer with the guys turned into 4, since everyone that came over bought a round. The last guy I even asked not to get me anything, but there I was with my 4th beer. So, needless to say, it's 2 am and my alarm clock will be set for...let's say 8:30. Guess I better take a nap before rehearsal tomorrow.

First day on the job

So, with the previous bandmaster off the ship, today was my first full day working. I had to be ready at 9:30 to escort the piano tuner to the first of threee pianos that needed to be tuned (reminding me that I still haven't had my pinao tuned back home). In the middle of that, I received several phone calls regarding the new trombone player who had to be put in a 4-person cabin since there were no 2-person cabins available. He was, understandably, upset.

The middle of my day was fairly open, including a failed attempt to return some electronics in Barcelona since the store was closed on Sundays (something I probably should have thought to find out).

The evening involved my first tech run and performance for the welcome aboard show, which features a snippet from each of the performers on ship. That went relatively smoothly, apart from one iffy start for one of the singers. All in all, it was a sucessful first day of the job.

The best part, probably, was my cabin move. After seeing that most crew live in 2 or 4 person cabins, I was happy to have my cabin which was the size of about half a dorm room to myself. Now that I've moved into the bandmaster's cabin, however, I'm living in a room about the size of a small hotel room. Minicouch including. Whereas before I couldn't open the bathroom door without hitting the desk, now I have 2 closets, a couch, and room to do situps and pushups without snaking my body around the desk. Oh! I almost forgot that I know have a window! Before, being without a window, the room was equally pitch black without lights on no matter what time of day it was. Now, I can wake up and see sunlight to know that it's morning and not the middle of the night. I'm movin on up, Jeffersons style.