'Hairspray' Headline Royal Caribbean's New Symphony of the Seas Cruise Ship

I'm a bit surprised....

Guess RCI is recycling the shows. I saw Hairspray on the Allure in April 2011. Great production and show back then.

I saw Hairspray on the Allure in April 2011.

Nope, Hairspray was on Oasis from 2009 til 2014. Allure had Chicago from 2010 til 2015.

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I'm a bit surprised....

Shocked more like it...a total lack of "newness" for a new ship.

I too saw it on Oasis and enjoyed it quite a bit. Will be happy to eventually see it on Symphony. BUT, as noted, it’s a new ship. Was looking forward to a new show. I admit I haven’t been paying a lot of attention to this, but thought some of the hints were leading to Phantom.

I guess there’s just so many shows to go around, particularly as other cruise lines are scooping them up to. If it were a competition, NCL Bliss wins with “Jersey Boys”.

Oh man, I love Hairspray.

I'm surprised a cruise ship would do Jersey Boys. Cursing and all? Also a great show.

Guess RCI is recycling the shows. I saw Hairspray on the Allure in April 2011. Great production and show back then.

Sorry. Wrong ship. It was Oasis. Another senior moment.

While "Grease" was new to RCCL when it debuted on the Harmony, it had played on cruise ships before (NCL back in the late 80s/early 90s timeframe). There are a limited number of shows that can be cast easily, have containable production costs, broad audience appeal and "work" on cruise ships. While Phantom is a wonderful show, with amazing music, it requires VERY specific talents of it's principals, would be expensive to mount and may have limited appeal to cruise passengers. Just look at CATS on the Oasis - many open seats, and reports of 1/3 to 1/2 of attendees choosing to leave at intermission and not return. CATS is an excellent show, just not well suited to the cruise ship environment, especially at over 2 1/2 hrs running time.

RCCL seem to want to focus on broad appeal, name brand recognition, family friendly, upbeat entertainment. Hairspray ticks all of those boxes. Could RCCL have chosen another show? Sure .... would it have the same appeal to potential passengers? Maybe/Maybe not. This is a safe "sure" bet for guest satisfaction.

I'm surprised a cruise ship would do Jersey Boys. Cursing and all? Also a great show.

NCL does not hesitate to offer shows/entertainment that is not suitable for younger audiences, or have themes some might find objectionable. Current shows like Priscilla on EPIC, For The Record on Escape, Rock of Ages on Breakaway and Million Dollar Quartet on Getaway all contain either strong language and/or adult themes.

RCCL prefer a more mainstream product that is suitable for all ages and a broader range of tastes, hence why certain shows may not be shown on RCCL that NCL would produce.

NCL does not hesitate to offer shows/entertainment that is not suitable for younger audiences, or have themes some might find objectionable. Current shows like Priscilla on EPIC, For The Record on Escape, Rock of Ages on Breakaway and Million Dollar Quartet on Getaway all contain either strong language and/or adult themes.

 

RCCL prefer a more mainstream product that is suitable for all ages and a broader range of tastes, hence why certain shows may not be shown on RCCL that NCL would produce.

Did you ever get to see Chicago on Allure? They had no problem dropping the F bomb a few times.

Nope, Hairspray was on Oasis from 2009 til 2014. Allure had Chicago from 2010 til 2015.

 

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This is correct...I saw Hairspray on Oasis 2014 and saw Chicago on Allure in 2012 :D

Did you ever get to see Chicago on Allure? They had no problem dropping the F bomb a few times.

Honestly never ever heard the F-bomb with Chicago on Allure. Have seen the show twice on the ship?:confused:

You've got me questioning my memory now. Maybe it wasn't the F bomb. It might have been a GD. In fact, the more I think of it, the more I'm leaning toward the GD.

I know it was something though.

Perhaps it would be appropriate if they put it on Grandeur. :)

I would love to see Mama Mia again !

No Hairspray on Symphony for us, did not like it the 1st Time, tried it again no Better not our style of Show.

I would love to see Mama Mia again !

Ditto to Mamma Mia. Would have preferred that over Hairspray on the Symphony.

RCCL seem to want to focus on broad appeal, name brand recognition, family friendly, upbeat entertainment. Hairspray ticks all of those boxes. Could RCCL have chosen another show? Sure .... would it have the same appeal to potential passengers? Maybe/Maybe not. This is a safe "sure" bet for guest satisfaction.

This is the most important thing- and probably the hardest.

While there are plenty of people who will travel to New York to see Chicago or Cats (or even Phantom), they are not appealing enough to the normal cruise customers. And one has to remember, you are appealing to customers and not enthusiasts. I doubt I will ever see my most favorite show of all time (West Side Story), but I'm ok with that. And people who know Broadway know that Rent was super popular, with people lining up to get last min tickets- but there's no way that great show will ever go on a ship.

So the choice of show should not be how popular it is within the people who saw it or enthusiasts. It's how happy the general public will be to sit down and spend 2 hours watching it. Hairspray is a very good show for that.

Hairspray is a great choice especially considering the times we live in.

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The Norway did Meet Me in St Louis and P T Barnum many years ago. Both well suited for cruises as would be Hello Dolly and Singing in the Rain. I wish we could see light hearted musicals with great tunes instead of shows like Cats, which are a marathon. Just my opinion, but on a cruise I’m all for a show that seems to fly by.

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Have seen Hairspray, Chicago & Grease on the ships. Would have preferred Jersey Boys, but I didn't get to make the decision. LOL !!

I love Hairspray - saw it on Broadway and Oasis. Just as good on Oasis as it was on Broadway. We also saw it in the theater.

Saw Chicago on Allure - love it, so good. Also saw that in the theater.

We are going on Oasis in April and opting out of CATS. Just no interest. Wished there would have been something else as I love musicals, but just don't want to see it

We saw Mama Mia (one of our very favorites) on Allure and thought it was awesome

Saw Grease on Indy and Harmony so that was cool as we love that one also.

Saw Saturday Night Fever on Liberty (another favorite)

I love musicals, so we go to all of them. This will be the first time I am not going when we do Oasis, simply as I have no desire to see CATS.

Not a fan of “Hairspray”. Although I am a Hairstylist and former salon and spa owner for many years (retired and miss it everyday), I was disappointed to read that this production was showing on the SyOS. Sooo would have preferred “Jersey Boys”. Bummer!

Jersey Boys have a segment on Anthem and Ovation in the show "Anthem Rocks"/"Ovation Rocks".