Other avenues...
Much of what I've been writing about specifically focuses on the production singer and dancer positions offered on board cruise ships. However, the opportunities for soloists, bands, jugglers, magicians, comedians, etc. to work at sea are just as plentiful. Most of these performers are known as 'fly-on acts' or 'guest entertainers' in the cruise industry. Typically a fly-on act or performer will be contracted for a much shorter stint on board. Production singers and/or dancers are usually contracted anywhere from 3-12 months depending on the ship/company. Fly-on acts can be on board anywhere from 2 days to a week to a month or more, depending on their specific contractual agreements. Hence the term 'fly-on' - the performer flies on, performs, and flies off.
It's a lot of work being a fly-on act though. First, the amount of travel that a fly-on act/performer has to endure is a lot more compared to the travel of a production singer/dancer. A fly-on act/performer really does live out of their suitcase because usually they are not in one place or on one ship long enough to unpack and get settled. Second, the fly-on act/performer is responsible for their own costumes, music, charts, equipment, props, etc. The reward for the extra work/extra travel/extra headaches is they are typically paid more than the production singer/dancer.
The other big difference between production singer/dancer and fly-on is most fly-on acts/performers need to have an agent to get hired by the various cruise ships. Some production singers/dancers do have agents but it is not necessary to get hired. It would be very difficult, although not impossible, for the fly-on act/performer to get hired for cruise ship work without representation. Cruise ships have a lot of spots to fill when it comes to fly-on work so rather than dealing with hundreds of individuals they deal with a few agents. Not to say you can't nor do I want to dissuade you from trying to get fly-on work yourself because it has been done before. It's a more difficult process going it alone but not an impossible task.
I'll write more about fly-ons/guest entertainers in future posts, but that's a good start for anyone who is thinking of going that route.
See you soon!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Why a cruise ship?
I thought for this posting I'd switch gears a bit and take a pause from the auditioning process and highlight the benefits of performing on a ship.
For me there are two big reasons performing on a ship is such a positive experience. First, and maybe the most obvious, is you get to perform. And get paid to perform. Doing what you love and getting paid for it is just about as good as it gets.
Except when you consider my second biggest reason, which is the travel. Now, this is as good as it gets! No ABOUT as good as it gets going on here. This is it! Combining two passions into one big ball of awesomeness is what living the dream is all about! When you perform on a ship the travel possibilities are endless. Well, basically endless, there are some places a ship cannot go but you get the point. Depending on the contract, the itinerary, and/or the ship your performing on, you could be performing one week in the Caribbean and the next week you're cruising the Mediterranean. It's amazing and awesome and unbelievable and sometimes you think you're dreaming and you're not so it's better than a dream because it's reality and that's why its so amazing and awesome and...See? Amazing. Waking up in a different port each day is such a cool way to experience life that I almost wish everyone could work on a ship in some way or in some capacity.
Just to give you an idea of how great performing on a cruise ship can be, my wife and I once did a contract where we started in the Caribbean, transitioned to the Mediterranean for a two month run, relocated to the British Isles where we visited the UK, Norway, Iceland and France for another two months, then came back across the Atlantic and cruised all over New England and Canada to finish. That's a lot of miles, folks! And a lot of sites in just 8 short months. That's only one example, too.
And keep in mind, we got to do all of this amazing traveling while performing a few times each cruise. Tourist by day, singer by night. Unbelievably awesome!
Check out cruise ship websites and look at all the different itineraries that are offered. If you weren't inspired before that should do the trick.
Until next time, my friends, bon voyage!
For me there are two big reasons performing on a ship is such a positive experience. First, and maybe the most obvious, is you get to perform. And get paid to perform. Doing what you love and getting paid for it is just about as good as it gets.
Except when you consider my second biggest reason, which is the travel. Now, this is as good as it gets! No ABOUT as good as it gets going on here. This is it! Combining two passions into one big ball of awesomeness is what living the dream is all about! When you perform on a ship the travel possibilities are endless. Well, basically endless, there are some places a ship cannot go but you get the point. Depending on the contract, the itinerary, and/or the ship your performing on, you could be performing one week in the Caribbean and the next week you're cruising the Mediterranean. It's amazing and awesome and unbelievable and sometimes you think you're dreaming and you're not so it's better than a dream because it's reality and that's why its so amazing and awesome and...See? Amazing. Waking up in a different port each day is such a cool way to experience life that I almost wish everyone could work on a ship in some way or in some capacity.
Just to give you an idea of how great performing on a cruise ship can be, my wife and I once did a contract where we started in the Caribbean, transitioned to the Mediterranean for a two month run, relocated to the British Isles where we visited the UK, Norway, Iceland and France for another two months, then came back across the Atlantic and cruised all over New England and Canada to finish. That's a lot of miles, folks! And a lot of sites in just 8 short months. That's only one example, too.
And keep in mind, we got to do all of this amazing traveling while performing a few times each cruise. Tourist by day, singer by night. Unbelievably awesome!
Check out cruise ship websites and look at all the different itineraries that are offered. If you weren't inspired before that should do the trick.
Until next time, my friends, bon voyage!
Friday, August 23, 2013
Let me begin this post with a very sincere apology. It's been nearly a month and I am sorry if you felt I left you hanging. The excuse, er, I mean my alibi is I was doing quite a bit of research on how to submit your audition packet. A bit of traveling as well. But a lot of research. I promise.
The research paid off though! A lot has changed since I last submitted an audition video. Without taking too much time explaining it, let me just say my last submission was recorded on VHS tape. Remember those? I had to write all the address labels and return labels by hand. With a Sharpie. And go to the post office to have them weighed and stamped and mailed. The good news is I got the job. The even better job is how much easier the process to submit is now.
Indeed the world of auditioning via video tape has evolved dramatically since then and for the much, MUCH better I might say. Everything, for the most part, is done online. It is efficient, effective, and most important costs you little if not nothing to submit a complete package. Also, your audition video won't get stuck in the VCR, won't warp, won't be erased, won't break, won't get lost, etc. etc. etc.
Hopefully you're working on your video because now that it has become so simple and easy to submit, you will and should want to send it out to anyone and anything you hear takes video submissions. Even if you are able to attend a live audition, submit your material online. I've yet to hear someone say they didn't get hired because the casting folks saw too much of them.
Let me reiterate the importance of going to a live audition. Now more than ever, I believe the live audition is still the best way to be seen and be heard. As easy as it is to submit now, you can bet everybody and their cat or dog or in my case, puppet (it's another story for a different blog) is auditioning on the world wide web. I'm not suggesting that all of these people who are submitting are necessarily qualified for the job, but you can imagine the influx of submissions that casting people are receiving on a regular basis now days and how their inboxes are about to explode from the overload not to mention their brains from watching video after video after bad video. Therefore, I repeat, your best bet is to attend a live audition.
First step is to visit the cruise ship's audition/production website. Find out if they are holding live auditions and when and where. Then find the link that explains how to submit your video, head shot and resume. It's that simple! A click of a button and Boom! you've just auditioned.
***Be sure to read all of the material on these various websites before hitting 'submit' because each site is different in their audition submission procedures. Some may only need you to download your video. Some may require an online application to be filled out along with submitting your video. Just be thorough in your reading and you'll be fine.***
Here is a brief list of web addresses you can check out:
Carnival Cruise Lines
www.carnivalentertainment.com
Royal Caribbean International
www.royalcaribbeanproductions.com/auditions
Princess Cruise Lines www.princess.com/employment/onboard_employment/information/entertainment/info/production_cast_members.html
Stiletto Entertainment (Holland America Cruise Lines) stilettoentertainment.com/cruiseship/videoaudition.htm
These are great sites to continually check out for audition information as they are constantly being updated. Cruise ship companies can hold several auditions over the course of a year so stay up to date and be ready to audition when they come to your hometown or a town nearby.
Also, if you happen to have a friend, an acquaintance, maybe a family member, who works for a cruise ship company, be sure to mention to them your desire to perform at sea and your plans to submit your stuff to their company. If they're comfortable giving your name or best case your video directly to the dude or the dudette who hires the talent, awesome! You're best bet, whether auditioning live or submitting an audition video, is to know somebody who knows somebody who knows the guy or gal who hires talent. It's like any job anywhere. It's all about who you know.
Have fun!
The research paid off though! A lot has changed since I last submitted an audition video. Without taking too much time explaining it, let me just say my last submission was recorded on VHS tape. Remember those? I had to write all the address labels and return labels by hand. With a Sharpie. And go to the post office to have them weighed and stamped and mailed. The good news is I got the job. The even better job is how much easier the process to submit is now.
Indeed the world of auditioning via video tape has evolved dramatically since then and for the much, MUCH better I might say. Everything, for the most part, is done online. It is efficient, effective, and most important costs you little if not nothing to submit a complete package. Also, your audition video won't get stuck in the VCR, won't warp, won't be erased, won't break, won't get lost, etc. etc. etc.
Hopefully you're working on your video because now that it has become so simple and easy to submit, you will and should want to send it out to anyone and anything you hear takes video submissions. Even if you are able to attend a live audition, submit your material online. I've yet to hear someone say they didn't get hired because the casting folks saw too much of them.
Let me reiterate the importance of going to a live audition. Now more than ever, I believe the live audition is still the best way to be seen and be heard. As easy as it is to submit now, you can bet everybody and their cat or dog or in my case, puppet (it's another story for a different blog) is auditioning on the world wide web. I'm not suggesting that all of these people who are submitting are necessarily qualified for the job, but you can imagine the influx of submissions that casting people are receiving on a regular basis now days and how their inboxes are about to explode from the overload not to mention their brains from watching video after video after bad video. Therefore, I repeat, your best bet is to attend a live audition.
First step is to visit the cruise ship's audition/production website. Find out if they are holding live auditions and when and where. Then find the link that explains how to submit your video, head shot and resume. It's that simple! A click of a button and Boom! you've just auditioned.
***Be sure to read all of the material on these various websites before hitting 'submit' because each site is different in their audition submission procedures. Some may only need you to download your video. Some may require an online application to be filled out along with submitting your video. Just be thorough in your reading and you'll be fine.***
Here is a brief list of web addresses you can check out:
Carnival Cruise Lines
www.carnivalentertainment.com
Royal Caribbean International
www.royalcaribbeanproductions.com/auditions
Princess Cruise Lines www.princess.com/employment/onboard_employment/information/entertainment/info/production_cast_members.html
Stiletto Entertainment (Holland America Cruise Lines) stilettoentertainment.com/cruiseship/videoaudition.htm
These are great sites to continually check out for audition information as they are constantly being updated. Cruise ship companies can hold several auditions over the course of a year so stay up to date and be ready to audition when they come to your hometown or a town nearby.
Also, if you happen to have a friend, an acquaintance, maybe a family member, who works for a cruise ship company, be sure to mention to them your desire to perform at sea and your plans to submit your stuff to their company. If they're comfortable giving your name or best case your video directly to the dude or the dudette who hires the talent, awesome! You're best bet, whether auditioning live or submitting an audition video, is to know somebody who knows somebody who knows the guy or gal who hires talent. It's like any job anywhere. It's all about who you know.
Have fun!
Monday, July 22, 2013
God, I hope I get it!
"God, I hope I get it.
I hope I get it.
How many people does he need?
God, I hope I get it.
I hope I get it.
How many boys, how many girls?
Look at all the people!
At all the people.
How many people does he need?
How many boys, how many girls?
How many people does he...?"
NEEEEEEEED!!! It's audition time, peeps!
Whether you're auditioning to be a member of the chorus line or the leading part, you have to audition. It's not the most fun you'll have in this wonderfully crazy world of show business but its arguably the most important.
There are two ways to audition for a singer and/or dancer job on board a cruise ship. The first is to attend a General Audition. A general audition is simply a live audition. This is, in my opinion, the best way to audition. They see you live and in person. They hear you singing or watch you dancing right in front of them. They can call you back and have you sing or dance more for them right then and there. It's a win-win for both you and the cruise ship company! (To clarify: "they" are the panel of people conducting the audition. They usually work for the company and/or represent the cruise ship company you are hoping to work for.) A general audition is usually announced/posted in advance and will contain fairly detailed instructions for you to follow regarding preparation for and what you should bring to the audition. Visit the link below to check out a good example of a General Audition notice:
http://www.royalcaribbeanproductions.com/auditions/general
I hope I get it.
How many people does he need?
God, I hope I get it.
I hope I get it.
How many boys, how many girls?
Look at all the people!
At all the people.
How many people does he need?
How many boys, how many girls?
How many people does he...?"
NEEEEEEEED!!! It's audition time, peeps!
Whether you're auditioning to be a member of the chorus line or the leading part, you have to audition. It's not the most fun you'll have in this wonderfully crazy world of show business but its arguably the most important.
There are two ways to audition for a singer and/or dancer job on board a cruise ship. The first is to attend a General Audition. A general audition is simply a live audition. This is, in my opinion, the best way to audition. They see you live and in person. They hear you singing or watch you dancing right in front of them. They can call you back and have you sing or dance more for them right then and there. It's a win-win for both you and the cruise ship company! (To clarify: "they" are the panel of people conducting the audition. They usually work for the company and/or represent the cruise ship company you are hoping to work for.) A general audition is usually announced/posted in advance and will contain fairly detailed instructions for you to follow regarding preparation for and what you should bring to the audition. Visit the link below to check out a good example of a General Audition notice:
http://www.royalcaribbeanproductions.com/auditions/general
The second audition option is to submit a video audition. Most, if not all, cruise ship companies will accept video auditions. A video audition should be no more than 5 minutes in length and showcase as many varieties/styles/genres/songs as possible. You can video yourself singing in front of a blank wall or if dancing, a dance studio is perfect. (Don't video yourself against a wall or in a room with a lot going on behind you. It's too distracting. You want the viewer to be concentrating on you, not focusing on Grandma's ceramic plate collection hanging on the wall behind you). I do recommend, if you can, including as much actual performance footage on your audition video as well. It gives the viewer a much better understanding of you as a live performer if they see you at work. When editing your video audition, you should place your best clips toward the beginning of the video. You want to grab their attention right away! And by 'best' I mean the ones that show you off the best. Not the best video quality necessarily, although that is important also. You don't want to send in a video audition that is grainy or out of focus, or include clips that make it difficult to find you in the shot. That can be distracting for the viewer, too. Remember, you are not the only one submitting a video. The casting folks will be reviewing many videos and I can't guarantee they watch every second of every video they receive, so be sure to show them your best stuff up front with footage that is easy and pleasing to watch.
Below is a link to my most recent video promo. Keep in mind, I would not use this promo video as an audition submission due to it's length. It's too long to submit as an audition but it's a good template to follow when putting your video together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPNMv3ugA8Q
Please do not stress if your video isn't professionally produced and edited. It doesn't need to be nor does it have to be. You're not submitting a film to Sundance. You will not lose points if it's not perfect. Make it clear and easy to see and/or hear you, make the transitions from clip to clip as seamless as possible, make sure it's less than 5 minutes, and you, my friend, have your audition video.
Disclaimer: I'm not concerning you with a lot of details right now (I'll go into more details as this blog evolves) because I want to give you as much information as I can to get you started, so feel free to post any questions, comments or concerns that you have and I'll try to respond to them and/or cover those points in future postings.
Below is a link to my most recent video promo. Keep in mind, I would not use this promo video as an audition submission due to it's length. It's too long to submit as an audition but it's a good template to follow when putting your video together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPNMv3ugA8Q
Please do not stress if your video isn't professionally produced and edited. It doesn't need to be nor does it have to be. You're not submitting a film to Sundance. You will not lose points if it's not perfect. Make it clear and easy to see and/or hear you, make the transitions from clip to clip as seamless as possible, make sure it's less than 5 minutes, and you, my friend, have your audition video.
Disclaimer: I'm not concerning you with a lot of details right now (I'll go into more details as this blog evolves) because I want to give you as much information as I can to get you started, so feel free to post any questions, comments or concerns that you have and I'll try to respond to them and/or cover those points in future postings.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Research and Development
Okay, so you have your dream and you're ready to make it a reality but you're sitting there on the couch reading this blog written by a guy who thinks he's an author but wishes he was a professional puppeteer (I really do!) and dreams of owning his own bar somewhere in the South Pacific, where he can sit and listen to podcasts about 'how to be a vegan without giving up cheese', while playing Scrabble with my wife all day, and you're thinking "What the &*^%&^$!!! Who is this tool?"
Fair enough. First thing I would recommend is doing a bit of reconnaissance aka Google search. I would get on the ol' laptop and find all the cruise ships out there that have entertainment on board and figure out when and where their auditions are.
"But, Mr. Blogger man, I don't have know any cruise ship companies." Oh, be patient, young grasshopper. Remember, it took young Daniel-son four long and grueling days to go from knowing hardly any karate to being an expert black belt in the "Karate Kid" movie. You can't expect to know it all the first day.
Here's a list of cruise ships that offer on board entertainment:
AIDA
Carnival
Celebrity
Costa
Crystal
Cunard
Disney
Holland America
Norwegian
Oceania
Princess
Regent Seven Seas
Royal Caribbean
Seabourn
Silver Seas
There may be more companies out there and you'll probably come across more, but hopefully this is a good list for you to start with.
Scour these cruise lines sites for any and all information you can find. Check out their photo galleries. Look at the different itineraries they each offer. You can even take virtual tours of the ships themselves, but most important, find that audition information. Some companies post it. Some don't. Don't get discouraged if you don't find audition information on every site. We'll find it. But that's for another blog! For now, just have fun looking at all the great stuff cruise ships have to offer.
Stay tuned!
Fair enough. First thing I would recommend is doing a bit of reconnaissance aka Google search. I would get on the ol' laptop and find all the cruise ships out there that have entertainment on board and figure out when and where their auditions are.
"But, Mr. Blogger man, I don't have know any cruise ship companies." Oh, be patient, young grasshopper. Remember, it took young Daniel-son four long and grueling days to go from knowing hardly any karate to being an expert black belt in the "Karate Kid" movie. You can't expect to know it all the first day.
Here's a list of cruise ships that offer on board entertainment:
AIDA
Carnival
Celebrity
Costa
Crystal
Cunard
Disney
Holland America
Norwegian
Oceania
Princess
Regent Seven Seas
Royal Caribbean
Seabourn
Silver Seas
There may be more companies out there and you'll probably come across more, but hopefully this is a good list for you to start with.
Scour these cruise lines sites for any and all information you can find. Check out their photo galleries. Look at the different itineraries they each offer. You can even take virtual tours of the ships themselves, but most important, find that audition information. Some companies post it. Some don't. Don't get discouraged if you don't find audition information on every site. We'll find it. But that's for another blog! For now, just have fun looking at all the great stuff cruise ships have to offer.
Stay tuned!
So you wanna perform on a cruise ship?
Now what? You have the dream. You want to take your dream to reality. That's where this blog comes in. My name is Patrick and I spent 7 years singing and performing on cruise ships. My cruise ship career took me to nearly every part of the world where I was able to visit 172 cities spanning 6 continents. I was fortunate and blessed to be able to share this amazing time of my life with my wife, Tracy, who also sang and performed on board. We were both born and raised in the midwest so cruise ships were not something we were familiar. We knew they were out there, but other than watching episodes of "Love Boat" on the television as kids, or fantasizing about winning a cruise to the exotic Caribbean on "The Price is Right", they didn't mean a lot to a couple kids raised in the landlocked heart of America.
My hope with this blog is to inform and direct you, the reader with the dream, to begin your amazing journey and career singing, dancing, performing and traveling on cruise ships.
I don't claim to know everything about the cruise industry. The cruise industry is ever growing and it's always evolving to keep up with the times, but with my experience as well as drawing on the experiences and the knowledge of my friends who are still cruising and performing I believe I can successfully steer you in right direction.
Stay tuned for more as I help you navigate your way to the high seas of cruise life and the wonderful world that awaits you.
Now what? You have the dream. You want to take your dream to reality. That's where this blog comes in. My name is Patrick and I spent 7 years singing and performing on cruise ships. My cruise ship career took me to nearly every part of the world where I was able to visit 172 cities spanning 6 continents. I was fortunate and blessed to be able to share this amazing time of my life with my wife, Tracy, who also sang and performed on board. We were both born and raised in the midwest so cruise ships were not something we were familiar. We knew they were out there, but other than watching episodes of "Love Boat" on the television as kids, or fantasizing about winning a cruise to the exotic Caribbean on "The Price is Right", they didn't mean a lot to a couple kids raised in the landlocked heart of America.
My hope with this blog is to inform and direct you, the reader with the dream, to begin your amazing journey and career singing, dancing, performing and traveling on cruise ships.
I don't claim to know everything about the cruise industry. The cruise industry is ever growing and it's always evolving to keep up with the times, but with my experience as well as drawing on the experiences and the knowledge of my friends who are still cruising and performing I believe I can successfully steer you in right direction.
Stay tuned for more as I help you navigate your way to the high seas of cruise life and the wonderful world that awaits you.
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