spectacles at sea

The cruise industry's ever-expanding entertainment programming requires grit, a vast workforce, and an almost uncountable number of dance shoes. By Charlie Hobbs.

- 

THERE ARE TWO WAYS to watch the new revue Revolution, a Celebration of Prince, on board the 3,571-passenger Norwegian Aqua. I try both one night in April while the ship is docked in Manhattan. During the first, at 7:30 p.m., guests sit in the comfortable, conventional seats, smiling and nodding while sipping Pinot Noir. But at the second, which starts promptly at 9:30 p.m., the theater resembles a nightclub, and guests stand on the floor while crew members in reflective bomber jackets wheel pieces of the stage around the spectators to create different configurations. The space actually becomes a real club later in the evening, so this second showing represents the start of that transformation, beginning with “For You,” followed by the opening words “Dearly beloved...,” from “Let's Go Crazy,” and then the catwalk choreography that accom-panies “The Glamorous Life,” the song Prince wrote for Sheila E.

The enormous size of the show reflects the way onboard entertainment has scaled in tandem with the growth of cruise ships themselves. The shows have also become ubiquitous; on megaships like Norwegian Aqua or Royal Caribbean's