As if it is only Week 3! It feels like I've been rehearsing for about 4 months... in a good way though! It's one of those strange things where time goes so quickly and the weeks fly by, but when you look back on things, they seem like they happened ages ago... Plus it doesn't help that I keep having deja vu! It has happened about 5 times since we started rehearsing, full on deja vu about the most random things. Like being in the carpark at Westfield in Kotara, or making a cheese and tomato toasty at the studio (albeit I do have a couple of them everyday, so perhaps that doesn't really count?)...
This week our show is all about rock 'n' roll... Total 50's and 60's extravaganza! Lots of jiving, lots of twisting, lots of 'chooking' (not so great for my fragile neck haha)... But we also still manage to squeeze in some good ol' Cruise Jazz Ballet lol. My fave.
I even get to sing in this show! Actually quite a lot... And although my Elvis impersonation is not so spot-on, I'm told I do a pretty good Austin Powers, whilst serenading some femme-bots with "Pretty Woman"... haha. I don't really know if that's a compliment though... I can't imagine anyone on a first date would want to hear the words, "Oh my God! I just figured out who you remind me of: Austin Powers!" Not exactly a turn on, is he? Mmm... yellow teeth. Gross.
Anyhow, the show is tonnes of fun and surprisingly tiring. My favourite (or least favourite?) moment is when we have to all stand at the back of the stage after a huge Beatles dance medley, sweating profusely and struggling to catch our breath (not allowed to move our shoulders), and then having to sing "Imagine." It's safe to say the only thing the audience will be imagining is me singing nicely, because in reality I'm about to pass out and would rather hold onto the little oxygen I can get...
Sorry to bring the conversation back to sweat again, but since I've already mentioned it... My partner and I have found a way to combat our clamminess! Two words: Baby Powder. She had brought some lovely talc with her to rehearsals (for someone else's unrelated chafing haha) and we realised that if we talc our hands like gymnasts we have 100% gripping ability!! Yay! No more slip 'n' slide lifts! Try it... You'll never go back!
And in other news, we found out at the beginning of the week that I've been chosen as the Dance Captain for our cruise! Very cool... I do love cleaning dances. Plus the control freak side of me has now been satisfied lol. And as my childhood dream was to be the School Captain of my Primary School, which I was NOT (I think, due to a serious vote rigging scandal) this is kind of redemption =)
As soon as we reached Friday night, after a very big week, it was time to party. A lovely dinner out, a few drinks and a very good boogie on the d-floor. Newcastle certainly didn't know what had hit it when one of my lovely male castmates did a leg mount in the middle of the club we were in... But it's safe to say we were, as always, the life of the party! This was follwed by some serious retail therapy over the weekend and a lot of good company... consequently, my smile couldn't be bigger (although my bank account doesn't quite feel the same way hehe)...
Wait, back to deja vu for a second... One of my castmates said that there is a belief that experiencing deja vu means your life is on track at that exact moment. I kind of like that. My life certainly does feel on track right now... Things are looking up. And I can't predict that future, but I reckon it's gonna be pretty sweet! =)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Week 2... Injury Strikes!
After a lovely restful weekend, I decided on Sunday afternoon that I needed to hit the gym. I scoped out my options (which, in Newcastle were not that plentiful) but found a really pretty gym down on the Esplanade called "The Forum." Totally fancy. Heritage building. Lots of highly attractive people. Score.
I'm determined to get a good body before I step foot on the boat. For one, because I will occasionally have to wear skanky costumes in front of crowds of filthy rich passengers. Secondly because I will be spending a lot of time at exotic beaches, and every skinny guy knows that beaches are not great for self esteem... So I made the effort of going to the gym before rehearsals on Monday AND Tuesday. This meant getting up at 6am and being at the gym by 7am. Hideous, but so worth it. I had intended to this every day during the week, but on Tuesday morning my workout did not quite go according to plan...
Now, this is probably my fault, so I can't really complain... but it was still really, really annoying. So there I am, loving myself in my gym gear, and I head over to the shoulder press machine. I decided to lift a bit more weight than I usually would, simply because there were a lot of really buff guys at the gym and I didn't want to look too ridiculous in front of them. Normally when I get this feeling I just go to the stretching area and do the splits to show off, but I thought it was time to try a different tactic. So there I am, giving it Arnold Schwarzenegger on the shoulder press, and I feel this horrible twinge in my upper back that shoots pain straight up into my neck. Instantly I get off the machine, grab my stuff from the change room and leave, trying to play it cool so all the buff guys don't know that I hurt myself =(
By the time I got to the studio at 7.45am, my neck had absolutely no range of motion. Front, back side to side. Nothing. Devo. All I could think was, “I'm gonna get kicked off the cruise because I look like Lisa Kudrow in 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion' when she has her scoliosis brace!” But I soldiered on, booked a physio appointment for that afternoon and took it easy in rehearsals. Now, I don't know if any of you have tried to learn hectic choreography without using your neck AT ALL... But it is very difficult. Especially when every second count of the dance you are learning seems to be a head roll or (my favourite) a snappy head to the front haha...
The physio said I had sprained a muscle in my upper back and that my neck must have tried to compensate, and consequently spasmed and seized up. Great. What a good idea. So basically my body just made things even worse for itself. Good move. But after some nice massage and constant wheat pack action ALL week I'm now totally 100% again! Yay!
I think I've learnt my lesson though... I will still be back to the gym on Monday, but this time I will try to pay less attention to what all the insanely good-looking people think. Apparently they are a serious health risk!
The rest of the week was amazing. Our 2nd show is jam packed with full-on dancing, literally from Irish dancing, to classical ballroom (if there is such a thing?) to a slutty Latin skank fest... A. Mazing.
I really do love dancing more than most things in life, so I'm still in complete employment heaven. The only downside is that any form of liquid I take into my body in rehearsals is sweated out pretty much instantaneously. The more I drink, the more I sweat. It's getting out of hand. And it's really pretty gross. I don't know why I keep talking about it. Soz...
Anyway, after 2 weeks and 2 shows learnt, I still couldn't be happier. I can't believe how lucky I am! Every day I get up and sing and dance with an incredibly talented bunch of people, who have become my little cruise family. We've even had a MacBook Pro Photo Booth photo shoot... That's how cool we are hahaha...
I'm determined to get a good body before I step foot on the boat. For one, because I will occasionally have to wear skanky costumes in front of crowds of filthy rich passengers. Secondly because I will be spending a lot of time at exotic beaches, and every skinny guy knows that beaches are not great for self esteem... So I made the effort of going to the gym before rehearsals on Monday AND Tuesday. This meant getting up at 6am and being at the gym by 7am. Hideous, but so worth it. I had intended to this every day during the week, but on Tuesday morning my workout did not quite go according to plan...
Now, this is probably my fault, so I can't really complain... but it was still really, really annoying. So there I am, loving myself in my gym gear, and I head over to the shoulder press machine. I decided to lift a bit more weight than I usually would, simply because there were a lot of really buff guys at the gym and I didn't want to look too ridiculous in front of them. Normally when I get this feeling I just go to the stretching area and do the splits to show off, but I thought it was time to try a different tactic. So there I am, giving it Arnold Schwarzenegger on the shoulder press, and I feel this horrible twinge in my upper back that shoots pain straight up into my neck. Instantly I get off the machine, grab my stuff from the change room and leave, trying to play it cool so all the buff guys don't know that I hurt myself =(
By the time I got to the studio at 7.45am, my neck had absolutely no range of motion. Front, back side to side. Nothing. Devo. All I could think was, “I'm gonna get kicked off the cruise because I look like Lisa Kudrow in 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion' when she has her scoliosis brace!” But I soldiered on, booked a physio appointment for that afternoon and took it easy in rehearsals. Now, I don't know if any of you have tried to learn hectic choreography without using your neck AT ALL... But it is very difficult. Especially when every second count of the dance you are learning seems to be a head roll or (my favourite) a snappy head to the front haha...
The physio said I had sprained a muscle in my upper back and that my neck must have tried to compensate, and consequently spasmed and seized up. Great. What a good idea. So basically my body just made things even worse for itself. Good move. But after some nice massage and constant wheat pack action ALL week I'm now totally 100% again! Yay!
I think I've learnt my lesson though... I will still be back to the gym on Monday, but this time I will try to pay less attention to what all the insanely good-looking people think. Apparently they are a serious health risk!
The rest of the week was amazing. Our 2nd show is jam packed with full-on dancing, literally from Irish dancing, to classical ballroom (if there is such a thing?) to a slutty Latin skank fest... A. Mazing.
I really do love dancing more than most things in life, so I'm still in complete employment heaven. The only downside is that any form of liquid I take into my body in rehearsals is sweated out pretty much instantaneously. The more I drink, the more I sweat. It's getting out of hand. And it's really pretty gross. I don't know why I keep talking about it. Soz...
Anyway, after 2 weeks and 2 shows learnt, I still couldn't be happier. I can't believe how lucky I am! Every day I get up and sing and dance with an incredibly talented bunch of people, who have become my little cruise family. We've even had a MacBook Pro Photo Booth photo shoot... That's how cool we are hahaha...
 |
| Thanks Photo Booth for the Good Times |
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Rehearsals Week 1...
Week 1... I was so excited to start! To be doing something with my life! No longer was I an unemployed performer. No longer would I have to partake in that hideously awkward conversation we have all had, that went something like:
"Oh so what do you do?"
"I'm a performer."
"Oh what kind? Like acting?"
"Well, music theatre mainly."
"Right, so what instrument do you play?"
(Insert frustrated face) "No, like singing and dancing and acting. Like, you know 'Wicked?' 'Mary Poppins?'"
"Cool. So are you in 'Mary Poppins?'
(Insert 'trying not to be disappointed' intake of breath) "No. I'm not."
"So are you in anything?"
(Insert 'my life has no purpose' sigh) "No. I'm not at the moment."
Now... I was employed. I had a purpose. So... I had been anticipating the first week to be Death Week, in terms of my body hating my guts for not keeping it in shape since I finished at drama school. And I was kind of right. My lower back and hamstrings certainly do hate me. But my soul was happy to be dancing again!
I'm not sure what I had expected, but I'm having and absolute blast! I guess, like a lot of performers who have never done a cruise, I kind of thought of it might be a bit tacky and not that creatively fulfilling.
I WAS WRONG!
The show we learnt in Week 1 is so much fun and full of amazing choreography. I'll admit, some of it is a little over the top, but isn't that half the fun? Anyone who knows me can be certain that any dance that involves smiling, cheezy facials and a few snappy heads to the front, is pretty much heaven for me... So there are those kind of numbers and then there are some really hot ones too, like our Can-Can and the Tango...
For my partner and I, the Tango is basically a Sweat-Fest. There couldn't be two sweatier dancers on the planet, and as the Tango is near the end of the show we are already covered from head to toe (obviously we work very hard haha). Normally this isn't too much of a problem (except for flicking sweat all over the audience... gross), but lifts certainly become more than a little difficult when both dancers are like a walking slip 'n' slide... After knowing each other for less than 12 hours and already being covered in each other's bodily fluid, it's safe to say we bonded quickly lol!
38 numbers, 5 days and a lot of homework later... Friday Show Run!! I couldn't have had much more fun if I tried, and didn't fuck up quite as much as I thought I would. I don't think I've ever worked so hard and it is totally rewarding... It is a joy to wake up every morning and sing and dance all day with a truly lovely group of people! Honestly, what more could I ask for?
How about a Friday night out on the town? Sounds great! Beautiful dinner at "GRIND" on Darby St, then to "Isobar" for some drinks, then a little boogie on the d-floor at "The Brewery" on the way back to our apartments. I suspect the citizens of Newcastle have not seen men (well boys really, who am I kidding?) dancing up a storm to Beyonce for some time, because we literally had girls standing around us clapping... lol, good times.
"Oh so what do you do?"
"I'm a performer."
"Oh what kind? Like acting?"
"Well, music theatre mainly."
"Right, so what instrument do you play?"
(Insert frustrated face) "No, like singing and dancing and acting. Like, you know 'Wicked?' 'Mary Poppins?'"
"Cool. So are you in 'Mary Poppins?'
(Insert 'trying not to be disappointed' intake of breath) "No. I'm not."
"So are you in anything?"
(Insert 'my life has no purpose' sigh) "No. I'm not at the moment."
Now... I was employed. I had a purpose. So... I had been anticipating the first week to be Death Week, in terms of my body hating my guts for not keeping it in shape since I finished at drama school. And I was kind of right. My lower back and hamstrings certainly do hate me. But my soul was happy to be dancing again!
I'm not sure what I had expected, but I'm having and absolute blast! I guess, like a lot of performers who have never done a cruise, I kind of thought of it might be a bit tacky and not that creatively fulfilling.
I WAS WRONG!
The show we learnt in Week 1 is so much fun and full of amazing choreography. I'll admit, some of it is a little over the top, but isn't that half the fun? Anyone who knows me can be certain that any dance that involves smiling, cheezy facials and a few snappy heads to the front, is pretty much heaven for me... So there are those kind of numbers and then there are some really hot ones too, like our Can-Can and the Tango...
For my partner and I, the Tango is basically a Sweat-Fest. There couldn't be two sweatier dancers on the planet, and as the Tango is near the end of the show we are already covered from head to toe (obviously we work very hard haha). Normally this isn't too much of a problem (except for flicking sweat all over the audience... gross), but lifts certainly become more than a little difficult when both dancers are like a walking slip 'n' slide... After knowing each other for less than 12 hours and already being covered in each other's bodily fluid, it's safe to say we bonded quickly lol!
38 numbers, 5 days and a lot of homework later... Friday Show Run!! I couldn't have had much more fun if I tried, and didn't fuck up quite as much as I thought I would. I don't think I've ever worked so hard and it is totally rewarding... It is a joy to wake up every morning and sing and dance all day with a truly lovely group of people! Honestly, what more could I ask for?
How about a Friday night out on the town? Sounds great! Beautiful dinner at "GRIND" on Darby St, then to "Isobar" for some drinks, then a little boogie on the d-floor at "The Brewery" on the way back to our apartments. I suspect the citizens of Newcastle have not seen men (well boys really, who am I kidding?) dancing up a storm to Beyonce for some time, because we literally had girls standing around us clapping... lol, good times.
 |
| Day 1 Happy Cruise Family |
Welcome!
Hi! Welcome to "It's A Cruisy Life!"
This blog is basically a way for me to keep in touch with my family and friends while I'm out of the country (for the first time ever, aah!) sailing the seven seas on board the Pacific Princess. I guess it's also to keep me sane, as I've heard there will be occasions on board when I have a LOT of time on my hands.
So the story began when I was offered a contract to perform as a Singer/Dancer on board the Pacific Princess for 8 months. After graduating from drama school, performing on a cruise was not really at the top of my priority list, but after spending 8 months in Melbourne teaching and working 3 other random jobs, the prospect of actually getting to perform at all was incredibly welcome and exciting!
Without any doubts, I took the job and didn't look back. After some investigating on the internet I discovered the places I would get to visit and almost passed out... Egypt. Easter Island. Santorini. These were places I had been dreaming to go since I was like 5 years old. I actually still can't believe it. And the list goes on and on and on... Basically I get to visit every continent (except Antarctica brrrr) and pretty much every country worth seeing in the whole world!
Plus I get to sing and dance... Dream job? Yep, pretty much.
Then came the paperwork.......
If there is one thing I hate doing, it's filling out forms. Vomit. I just can't stand it. And for a pretty intelligent guy I will, without fail, get confused at one of the questions. It's like on the tax file number declaration form, where it says "Are you an Australian resident for tax purposes?", I always think it means, "Are you just saying you're an Australian resident so you can scam the system?" Totally not what it means. So with the amount of forms I had to fill out for the cruise I was pretty much a nervous wreck. Plus I didn't even have a passport... whoops!
But it all eventually came together (no thanks to the millions of lists I wrote, which just seemed to make me more confused) and I was all set to go. But none of it seemed even remotely real until I started saying goodbye to my friends. Not until then did it actually hit me: I'm leaving for 10 months. Wow. That's nearly a year! 2 months rehearsing and then 8 months at sea. I immediately downloaded skype.
Then a quick flight to Sydney and a hideously long train ride to Newcastle and I was ready to start rehearsals! Why Newcastle you ask? Who knows! We still can't really work it out...
And so that pretty much brings you up to speed. I don't know how much I'm going to have to say in this blog, or if any of it will be at all interesting to anyone... But I have a nice, fancy new laptop and I feel extra fancy writing a blog on its fresh little keys. And you know me, I definitely like to feel fancy hahaha...
This blog is basically a way for me to keep in touch with my family and friends while I'm out of the country (for the first time ever, aah!) sailing the seven seas on board the Pacific Princess. I guess it's also to keep me sane, as I've heard there will be occasions on board when I have a LOT of time on my hands.
So the story began when I was offered a contract to perform as a Singer/Dancer on board the Pacific Princess for 8 months. After graduating from drama school, performing on a cruise was not really at the top of my priority list, but after spending 8 months in Melbourne teaching and working 3 other random jobs, the prospect of actually getting to perform at all was incredibly welcome and exciting!
Without any doubts, I took the job and didn't look back. After some investigating on the internet I discovered the places I would get to visit and almost passed out... Egypt. Easter Island. Santorini. These were places I had been dreaming to go since I was like 5 years old. I actually still can't believe it. And the list goes on and on and on... Basically I get to visit every continent (except Antarctica brrrr) and pretty much every country worth seeing in the whole world!
Plus I get to sing and dance... Dream job? Yep, pretty much.
Then came the paperwork.......
If there is one thing I hate doing, it's filling out forms. Vomit. I just can't stand it. And for a pretty intelligent guy I will, without fail, get confused at one of the questions. It's like on the tax file number declaration form, where it says "Are you an Australian resident for tax purposes?", I always think it means, "Are you just saying you're an Australian resident so you can scam the system?" Totally not what it means. So with the amount of forms I had to fill out for the cruise I was pretty much a nervous wreck. Plus I didn't even have a passport... whoops!
But it all eventually came together (no thanks to the millions of lists I wrote, which just seemed to make me more confused) and I was all set to go. But none of it seemed even remotely real until I started saying goodbye to my friends. Not until then did it actually hit me: I'm leaving for 10 months. Wow. That's nearly a year! 2 months rehearsing and then 8 months at sea. I immediately downloaded skype.
Then a quick flight to Sydney and a hideously long train ride to Newcastle and I was ready to start rehearsals! Why Newcastle you ask? Who knows! We still can't really work it out...
And so that pretty much brings you up to speed. I don't know how much I'm going to have to say in this blog, or if any of it will be at all interesting to anyone... But I have a nice, fancy new laptop and I feel extra fancy writing a blog on its fresh little keys. And you know me, I definitely like to feel fancy hahaha...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)