It was Thursday in late January in a nondescript building in a nondescript office park in Tampa. A casual observer wouldn't know that beyond the doors, discretely labeled "Creative Studios by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings" were a cadre of dancers, singers and musicians; bolts of fabric; drawers of rhinestones; stage risers; musical instruments; and rows of purple boots.
In other words, on the other side of Florida from its Miami home base is 120,000 square feet of space dedicated to everything related to the company's entertainment offerings.
Norwegian Cruise Line had invited a group of media and convened a group of executives, including president David Herrera; senior vice president of hotel operations Mark Kansley; and Bryan White, the vice president of entertainment production, to go behind the scenes at Creative Studios. Not surprisingly, most of the chatter surrounded "Revolution: A Celebration of Prince," a 50-minute, concertlike spectacle that will debut on the Norwegian Aqua; in honor of the trip, I had my nails painted sparkly purple and dug up a raspberry-hued beret.
Before what White called the "piece de resistance" -- a peek at the Prince show -- we were first gathered in one of the building's studios to learn a bit about how NCLH manages around 112 production shows and experiences across the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent brands.
A cast of about two dozen singers, dancers and musicians who had made their home in Tampa for the past six weeks would be winging their way to the Norwegian Aqua in Europe that weekend to put the final touches on the ambitious productions that will debut with the ship in April. Above us in the studio, a complex rigging of bungee cords and trapezes was where the Aqua cast had been practicing aerial movements for the other new show: "Elements: The World Expanded."
A Q&A was held with NCL executives, from left: NCL president David Herrera, senior vice president of hotel operations Mark Kansley, director and choreographer Patricia Wilcox and NCLH vice president of entertainment production Bryan White. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
A cast of hundreds
NCL opened the Tampa studio in 2012, and then it took over the entire building in 2019. It opened the adjacent building in 2020.
And employees here do it all, from casting to rehearsals to unboxing and repackaging props to ship all over the world.
Chaperoned by Robert Hertenstein, NCL's senior artistic director, we began to weave our way throughout the Creative Studios complex.
The aerial studio opened onto a long hallway with studios on each side. Seven NCL shows were in rehearsal that day. Someone was thumping on a piano in one room; a singer was singing along to a live band in another.
Upstairs in the casting department, an entire wall displayed the headshots of the performers hired for each ship for the next few months. "No photos of the wall!" sang Hertenstein before we squeezed into the small office and were introduced to Franklyn Warfield, senior manager of theatrical casting, and several casting specialists.
"At our max, we have hundreds of people rehearsing here," Warfield said. Last year, he said, "we made a little over 1,500 offers to fill almost 800 positions."
The warehouse where costumes are preserved. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
Besides "Revolution" and "Elements," the Aqua cast will be onstage throughout the ship. "We have game shows, we have cabaret, 'Syd Norman's Pour House,'" Warfield said, "so we really try to optimize our talent so they are doing as much as possible for our guests; but truly it depends on the vessel's programming and itinerary how many productions they're learning."
Last year across all brands, NCLH had a 70% return rate on its talent. "That's awesome," someone murmured. "It is awesome!" Warfield said to laughter.
A few minutes later we were standing in a cavernous warehouse surrounded by boxes and props like chairs, guitars and umbrellas (trailers outside hold even more). "When I'm asked what the production department does," production specialist Casey Vaughn said, "I usually will say: 'Well, we don't do casting, we don't do operations or logistics or processes for the cast and the creatives and we don't do costuming. But we pretty much have a hand in everything else.'"
Rachel Young, the manager of supply chain entertainment, deals with more than 200 vendors and manufacturers. "Pretty much everything you see in this building and the other we have purchased," she said. "You'll see rehearsal sets, instruments, you'll see the costume warehouse ... boxes of shoes, all the equipment and fabric across the way, all of that comes through our team."
As she showed off pairs of custom shoes from the dance footwear manufacturer Ray Rose, music drifted in from the adjoining studio.
Costumes on display at the Creative Studios facility. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
Treasure trove of costumes
A highlight of the tour was the building's gigantic costume storage facility, where 70,000 pieces are kept: blue jeans, crinolines and gowns jostle for space on multitiered racks that rise to the ceiling.
After Emma Eldridge, supervisor in costume inventory, introduced her team, I wandered up and down the aisles and gaped at feathered and spangled dresses and button-down shirts, jackets from the production of "Jersey Boys" and boxes of shoes. Think of it as a vertical thrift store or perhaps supercharged dry cleaner's racks. (Speaking of which: Another area holds gigantic washing machines, steamers and rows of ironing boards for the cleaning of said costumes; it's the job of wardrobe maintenance coordinator Annie Simon to wash up to 350 costumes a week.)
Everything is meticulously stored: Bins here were labeled "rhinestone blue" or "rhinestone crystal" or "assorted bandanas." Vintage Vegas-showgirl headpieces were also on display.
Equally exciting was the adjacent building where the atelier is housed. The team showed off handmade garments, and bolts of fabric were stacked nearby, each one labeled (for example, "Le Cirque Bijou/Ruby/male aerialist vest" or "Elements/Earth"). And in the next room, the embellishments are added by costume shop supervisor Jessie Sandoval to give costumes "a little oomph and sparkle."
In the hair and makeup department, which consists of as many wigs as you can dream up, performers are taught how to apply their stage makeup. The tour even stopped in shipping and receiving, where costumes, set pieces and props are dispatched to ships around the world.
Herrera emphasized that the behind-the-scenes look at Creative Studios was unique, estimating that of the 2,500 employees in Miami, perhaps 3% to 5% had ever been in the building.
"Most people don't get a look at what we do here; they just see what the final product looks like on the ship," he said. "We've invested a lot of time and money to give Bryan, Robby, the entire team everything they need to put on these amazing shows, because entertainment has been and always will be a pillar of what Norwegian Cruise Line stands for."