Favorite Show/Entertainer - Past & Present

[Nor'Eastah]

The thread a few days ago about the Coppacabana show got me thinking about the onboard entertainment I've experienced.

 

The best show I have seen so far on a Holland America cruise is one that I never would have thought I would like and only went because I was dragged. It was a gentleman named Ian Finkel and he played the Xylophone. He was on the Amsterdam, way back in 2002 but I still remember him. It was a great show. I had no idea anyone could play a Xylophone like that and the ship's band were outstanding keeping up with him.

 

Who is your favorite HAL entertainer or what was your favorite show?

[kryos]

Who is your favorite HAL entertainer or what was your favorite show?

Commediene Julie Barr. She's a real hoot ... especially her late night (adults only) show.

 

I don't know ... her style of comedy ... both family shows and late night ... just appeals to me.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

We didn't much enjoy Julie Barr. I wasn't crazy about some of her 'language'. Her humor simply isn't my style humor. Oh well.....would be plenty boring if we all liked the same thing.

 

But, Julie Barr was on Zuiderdam at the same time the Elton John Impersonator was and we thought his show was great. Sadly, (and with apologies to him), I forget his name. Maybe it was Joel something?

[lauderdalebob]

Of the entertainment I've seen on HAL, I liked the Champagne Strings, which played in the Explorers Lounge nightly while the "flaming" desserts were served.

[csg99]

We didn't much enjoy Julie Barr. I wasn't crazy about some of her 'language'. Her humor simply isn't my style humor. Oh well.....would be plenty boring if we all liked the same thing.

 

But, Julie Barr was on Zuiderdam at the same time the Elton John Impersonator was and we thought his show was great. Sadly, (and with apologies to him), I forget his name. Maybe it was Joel something?

 

Joel Mason--I do believe he's the best we've seen. But, we really liked Julie Barr, too.....we were on the Zui when it was the CD Dane's final week onboard--they pulled out all of the stops for entertainment--brought Joel back even though he wasn't performing on that ship at the time--it was quite a week!:D

[doone]

Donnie Abraham was one of the best singers, if not the best singer, I have ever heard. He was on the Rotterdam March 2004 when I did the Panama Canal cruise. Spectacular show and what a voice!!!!

 

Saw Julie Barr on the Zuiderdam, she was funny, but some of her jokes I have read on the internet!!

[kryos]

We didn't much enjoy Julie Barr. I wasn't crazy about some of her 'language'. Her humor simply isn't my style humor. Oh well.....would be plenty boring if we all liked the same thing.

 

But, Julie Barr was on Zuiderdam at the same time the Elton John Impersonator was and we thought his show was great. Sadly, (and with apologies to him), I forget his name. Maybe it was Joel something?

Joel Mason. He was aboard our Zuiderdam cruise at the same time Julie Barr was, and he's a real doll too! I was in the internet cafe on one of the sea days and I did something I ordinarily don't do. He was sitting there checking his email on his laptop, and I just had to walk over to him and ask if he'd be willing to pose for a picture with me. He was so gracious. I then "recruited" the woman manning the internet center to take the photo. Afterwards, I couldn't believe I was that "forward." It's just out of character for me.

 

Julie Barr's humor isn't for everyone. In fact, she sat at our table in the dining room one night and one of the older women at the table (all of us singles) mentioned (in all honesty) that she didn't enjoy Julie's show. Julie was the first to say that her style of humor is not for everyone. I noticed on our cruise, though, that her language wasn't bad at the "family show" ... maybe she was told to "tone it down?" ... But man, watch out ... that late night show could easily offend. Despite it being billed as "adults only," so people knew exactly what they were getting into ... I saw several of them walking out.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

We rarely go to shows on ships so we don't bother reading in the Daily Program what shows are featured for what nights.

 

We had heard about Joel Mason (thanks for reminding me of his name) and decided we'd make it our business to check out his show and really enjoyed it.

 

We had no intention of going to any other shows but were talking with some folks after dinner one night. They urged us to come to the show with them so we said....well, okay for a little while. We had no clue who was performing. It was Julie Barr. I wasn't offended. I simply didn't find her humor to my taste.

I still have no clue how they 'billed' it in the program and really, it's no big deal and doesn't matter in the least to me. I can say, though, that I would not necessarily enjoy having dinner with her.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also did not care for Julie Barr - just not our type of comedy.

We were fortunate to see Joel Mason's Elton John show twice - once on the Westerdam and again the Zuiderdam. We really loved both shows. The second time the show ran well over an hour as he added more songs.

Another show we enjoyed was Jim Curry: Rocky Mountain High: A tribute to John Denver.

[kryos]

I still have no clue how they 'billed' it in the program and really, it's no big deal and doesn't matter in the least to me. I can say, though, that I would not necessarily enjoy having dinner with her.

We were a table of singles ... mostly older folks with me being the relative "kid," and since there were only about 800 passengers on the ship this particular week (due to the hurricane), both the Food and Beverage Manager, as well as Julie Barr joined our table for this one night. I would imagine other folks joined other tables. This was a week where they went to one dinner seating and one showtime because of the few passengers onboard.

 

Another great entertainer I enjoyed on the Zuiderdam was Bob Bizantine (sp?) the magician. He was on the Zuiderdam only for the first week of my b2b ... the sailing that actually got extended by 2.5 days. The thing I really liked about him was that he was so good with the kids. They really took a shine to him. He brought them up to the stage routinely during his act and during his show later on in the week, he invited all the children in the audience to join him onstage.

 

Bob was also on the panel when I did the "What's my Line" show ... something a friend onboard almost forced me to do. I couldn't believe I stumped him ... but Dane Butcher figured out my thing (that I was a skydiver). I don't even think he believed me ... I just don't look the type ... but one of his underlings gave him a copy of my book ... and said "oh, yes she is a skydiver." I think both Dane and Bob were both shocked. :)

 

The reason I couldn't believe Bob didn't get it is that he was the first one to notice that whatever my "thing" was, it was something that was very appealing to all of the kids sitting in the front row. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

:cool: Sounds like you had a great time, Rita.

Good 'on' you!!! :)

[spcl4cs_gal]

Joel Mason - HANDS DOWN! :D Unfortunately he isn't on the Zuiderdam now but those people who are doing Alaska out of Seattle are probably very lucky this summer.

[heartofamerica]

We really enjoyed James Cielen (magician) on the Zuiderdam.,

[ejbmorr]

When I think of it, both of my favorite entertainers on Holland American ships have not been those performing in the show lounge.

My all-time-favorite was Perry Grant in the piano bar on the Rotterdam VI a few years ago. There were a number of people who actually booked the cruise because he was their favorite too and they didn't miss one of his performances.

My other favorite was the Rosario Strings group that performed on the old Rotterdam V. We were lucky enough to be on two cruises that they were on and the performances were to a hushed room wherever they performed on the ship.

Thanks for thinking of this thread. It was fun to pull out old memories! EBM

[K&RCurt]

Here's another vote for Joel Mason. We thought he was fabulous.

 

 

And for Elton John fans.....Gina has seen Elton several times over the past few years, and he was in Philadelphia for the July 4th. concert. Sadly, his voice is a mere shadow of what it once was. If you went to an actual Elton John concert (and paid $100.00 +++ a ticket) and then saw Joel Mason, you would guess wrong about who was "the original" and who was the impersonator.

[Bill S]

Perry Grant, hands down all-time favorite of ours.

 

But, on our last cruise we had several really good entertainers: David Pengelly, Sally Jones and Adrian Walsh. All very funny and very talented. Also, I think her name is Chris Matthews, comedienne, whom we've seen on two cruises, is a favorite, as well.

[Esme]

Perry Grant, hands down all-time favorite of ours.

 

But, on our last cruise we had several really good entertainers: David Pengelly, Sally Jones and Adrian Walsh. All very funny and very talented. Also, I think her name is Chris Matthews, comedienne, whom we've seen on two cruises, is a favorite, as well.

 

Bill - what a surprise to hear that David Pengelly is still performing on HAL ships. Haven't seen him in years. When we first started sailing back in '81 he was a regular along with Bonnie Ritter (magician) and crazy Frank Berry. I last saw Frank in '93 on our Hawaii trip - same old material that he had years ago. :D I think they were on all our cruises during the early 80's. David is very talented.

[TedC]

Ian Finkel and his kid brother, Elliott (who acts and looks older); Contortionist Jason MacPherson; The Three Tenors; Comedians Dave Levesque and Tom Drake (actually I like almost all comedians); Magician James Cilene; Mind Reader Graham Somethingorother (I'm no memory expert); all are at the top of my long list of favorites

[Grumpy1]

On the Prinsendam 2005 World Tour, there were many good performances, some mediocre ones, some bad ones and a few outstanding ones. There weren't many that made enough of an impression to even remember the name of the performer/act, but one in particular was side splitting funny from start to finish. Ventriloquists are usually not my favorite form of entertainment, but Patrick Murray and Matilda were hilarious!

[rkacruiser]

Thanks, Grumpy1! I was trying to remember the name of the ventriloquist. (I did remember the name of his "girlfriend", Matilda.) Patrick Murray has been on several of my HAL cruises and I really do enjoy his act. To say that they are hilarious is to put it mildly!

[elmorejj]

As an aside, Sail7seas, when you congratulated Rita, you said "good on you" are you by any chance Australian? it is such an Australian saying I thought you might be...........jean :cool:

[obriendan]

Our favorite entertainer on HAL cruises has been Frank Berry, the Mirthgiver ("Do you wanta know? Well, I'm gonna tell ya."). We saw him on a Panama Canal cruise and again on a South America-Antarctica cruise. His humor is more along inspirational lines and would never offend. His shaggy dog story about the orio cookies is the best.

[kryos]

:cool: Sounds like you had a great time, Rita.

Good 'on' you!!! :)

How can anyone not have a great time ... on a HAL ship? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[HalFan]

Attilio, a great singer and pianist, who plays in the Seaview Lounge (maybe now the main showrooom?). He does all his own arrangements and records backup accompaniments to play to, so he sounds like a small group instead of just a solo player. Everyone of all ages loved him on our last cruise, plus he was great to dance to since that lounge has a small dance floor.

 

Has anyone seen him this year on any of the HAL ships?

[Esme]

Attilio, a great singer and pianist, who plays in the Seaview Lounge (maybe now the main showrooom?). He does all his own arrangements and records backup accompaniments to play to, so he sounds like a small group instead of just a solo player. Everyone of all ages loved him on our last cruise, plus he was great to dance to since that lounge has a small dance floor.

 

Has anyone seen him this year on any of the HAL ships?

 

:confused: Seaview Lounge?????? Did you mean you had seen him on a HAL ship?. Never heard of the Seaview Lounge unless it is a lounge on the Vista Ships? Only small dance floor on the ships that I know if is in the Ocean Bar.