80's Party for the crew!! Andy, Lee and I!
Yes 80's!!! Lee, L.A., me, Amber, Andy & Morgan.
Bermuda...
Touching the tip of the Bermuda triangle! :)
Well, first and foremost let me just say that Lisbon, Portugal and Vigo, Spain were absolutely GORGEOUS!! My pictures just don't do it justice!! The architecture was amazing...all of these beautiful old buildings with iron balconies and concrete statues....just great! Both days and just walked with good friends and explored. We shopped and ate, relaxed and really enjoyed our time off the ship. After 5 sea days in a row we really needed it!
Bermuda...
Touching the tip of the Bermuda triangle! :) Well, first and foremost let me just say that Lisbon, Portugal and Vigo, Spain were absolutely GORGEOUS!! My pictures just don't do it justice!! The architecture was amazing...all of these beautiful old buildings with iron balconies and concrete statues....just great! Both days and just walked with good friends and explored. We shopped and ate, relaxed and really enjoyed our time off the ship. After 5 sea days in a row we really needed it!
Here's a link to an album of a few of the photos I have so far:
Now onto show drama! haha -
During our 5 day stint at sea we were supposed to do a crew only show. We decided to make it Tango because it's beautiful, and EASY for us! Because of this, we planned to do our actual Tango show 2nd instead of ending with it like we normally would. This way we could use our 12 a.m. crew show as a tech run for the show that would be the following day. WELL - we had no work during the day other than that 12 a.m. run. All of the sudden I get a phone call at 5:30 p.m. "Kristian, we've been called in to do Tango tonight. Our headline act is refusing to perform so we have to step in." Keep in mind, show time is 7 & 9! Talk about STRESS. Shower, hair, makeup, sound check and pre-sets with less than an hour and a half until show time! For me it wasn't too bad becaus I only have 1 song in the show, but for everyone else it was madness! AND this was the first show we'd done without having a tech run sometime that day. Thankfully, everything went really well and it worked out just fine because the next night (when we would've been doing the Tango show) was very rocky.
Well, unfortunately we weren't so lucky with tonight's shows. We had City of Dreams and it is probably 1 of the rockiest nights we've had on the ship. The problem is that this is also the most complex show we do - launching girls in the air, lots of lifts, silks (flying), harness flying etc etc. The first show went well, but people were starting to get nauseated and several people came close to falling hard! In between shows the waves are crashing so hard that it sounds like boats are hitting us head on or something...costumes are swinging all over the place....it's a mess. We're all scared to do the show because the last thing we need is another injury with just 2 cruises left! Then after lots of discussion between the production manager and cruise director, they call the hotel director to find out if we can cancel the show and perform a matinee the following day. We find out 5 minutes before call time that he won't allow it and the show must go on.
Let me just say that I'm truly blessed to work with such an incredibly talented cast. There is NO reason that we should've performed that second show. It was NOT safe for the dancers by any means. People were running off stage to throw up. All launches and flying were taken out because it just couldn't be done. Unfortunately the audience didn't get the very best show that we could've given them because the hotel director was too afraid guests might complain!! The end result was a CRAZY show with an unbelievable amount of stress and emotion as well as re-blocking from number to number to cover for people who were either getting sick or didn't make their changes because they couldn't keep their balance long enough to make the change!! Over all the show still came off well. I can't believe we were able to pull it off, but lots of prayers were said and whenever anyone was off stage they were constantly screaming words of encouragement to everyone who was out there performing! It actually brought me to tears in the end - just watching everyone work so hard to take care of each other. Phil, our dance captain, was overwhelmed with emotion. He broke down as soon as the curtain went down because he was SO stressed/concerned for everyone's safety. He said he's never worked with such an amazing group who could pull off a show like we did under the amount of pressure that was laid on us. I am SO thankful for this cast!!! AMAZING!!
After such a crazy night and a full day of exploring Spain, I'm EXHAUSTED. So, I'm off to bed. More to come!!
4 comments:
WOW WHAT a story, Kristian! No wonder you made the comment on Facebook that your were honored and blessed to be a part of such an amazing cast! I ditto that! What an unbelievable story! I have been under a lot of pressure under unbelievable circumstances when the "show had to go on", but I have NEVER been worried that I might throw up any minute, or that the floor might not be there when I landed from a lift! Congratulations to your cast!!! PLEASE keep this blog for your children and for when you are called to speak about your performing experiences! Don't forget this one!
WOW!!!
Love, Mrs. S.
I'm glad that you are back to updating us, Kristian! I finally caught a breather in my schedule and have enjoyed catching up with your life this afternoon! I am particularly excited about your pictures from Spain and Portugal that you posted on Facebook. GORGEOUS!!!!!! I can't wait to see all the wonderful places you will see on the rest of the cruise!
By the way, go back through your blogs, all the way back to the "Best day ever" in Labadee. I have left you messages all the way back. I am completely caught up talking with you about all these things and I want you to read what I have said to you! :)
OK - enough - gotta get back to promoting Iolanthe, the May opera.
Love, Mrs. Stricklin
PS - one more request - Kristian, could you post some photos for me on this blog? Go back to when your the Crowes were visiting. There is a shot of just you in that gorgeous black dress standing in front of a "set" of some sort. I need that one, I also need the shots of you in the black dress singing by yourself and with Patrick, I think? Two of them you are by yourself standing, singing and one is with you and Patrick sitting singing. You were complaining about the red lights being on in these shots. I need these shots to be able to save and print. When you return to my studio, you will see photos of you on the bulletin board. I need these shots of you to go up. They are great. People in show choir are intensely fascinated with this type of a job. Your photos help give them idea of musical "entrepreneurialship" which is what Dr. Mc wants us to promote.
If I can get these shots in a printable version, I will be most happy!
Thanks a million!!!!
Love, Mrs. Stricklin
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photos of your adventures! Keep them coming! When are you going to post photos of Copenhagen?
Also, when does your contract end? You had said on facebook that you were going to be able to come to Matt/Heather's wedding in June. When will you be home? What ports are left? Have fun and keep us posted!!!
Love, Mrs. Stricklin
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