Today was actually a really good day.
Well, most of the day was just work, but that’s rather better than fielding complaints. As I had planned, I woke up early and spent a little time in the gym. As is my norm for getting back to the gym after a long time of idleness, I only worked all the major muscles once, but worked them pretty hard. And, as is the norm for getting back to the gym after a long time of idleness, I’m sure I’m going to feel like a giant walking bruise tomorrow. Hrm. Maybe this whole “gym on board” thing wasn’t such a great idea after all.
I went to pick up Pat from the spa after my workout, but found out that she’d already left. Huh. Turns out she forgot I was coming to pick her up and ended up asking someone down in room service to push her back to her room. I’m actually feeling a bit for Betsy now – I also went to pick up Pat for the post-lunch show and ended up spending twenty minutes helping her put on makeup. She definitely needs a full-time escort – someone whose job is to take care of her, and not just an actor trying to double as a caretaker. Philip seriously needs to stop trying to cut corners with this one.
The show itself was terrific. Our cast got to show their stuff, and I thought they were all quite wonderful. Well, by our cast I’m referring to Lee Roy, Richard, Susan, Betsy, and Donna, since Laurence and Brian don’t do any performances until after Dubrovnik, and Lucie doesn’t do hers until Elba. I’ve been noticing this weird sort of totem pole among the actors, based upon this and past Theatre at Sea cruises, where actors with more “star” power seem to get by with just one show, while the others fill in our other performance days with additional singing and dancing. I can’t imagine it’s really a chore for these guys, because our audience absolutely adores them and gets to see more of them, but I still find it sort of…I don’t know…sort of strange and sort of irritating. Meh, maybe that’s just the Libra in me talking.
Oh! In more spectacular news, the dining situation seems to have sorted itself out. Philip apparently persuaded Leo to allow our Theatre at Sea section to have open seating, and people seem to have been able to fill the table space without leaving anyone out or ending up in a bad spot. I spent the better part of half an hour floating near Norm and Ron, muttering commentary about the seating while referring endlessly (and uselessly) to my seating notes. Since this was also the first of our formal nights, I think I just ended up looking like a fretful penguin in my tux while the waiters did all the actual work.
After it looked like everyone was happily seated, I finally took an empty seat and sat down to an excellent meal of chateaubriand with some remarkably lovely company. I got to know David, Sumrall, and Rita over dinner – David was rather miffed earlier about the Fenice Theatre debacle, since they didn’t find out about the time change until after getting back to the ship, but he was easily ready to let it slide by the time dinner rolled around. We had some great conversation, the contents of which are completely lost to my memory, and afterwards Sumrall and I decided to check out the evening karaoke.
Now that was a blast. The place was fairly empty at first, but even so I was really nervous about singing karaoke on board a ship where musical numbers were being shown on a daily basis. It didn’t help that there were a couple of very, very good singers in the crowd, Sumrall being among them, as well as a tall blond Norwegian guy who, despite a thick accent, managed to do an incredibly mean Elvis. Now that was a tough act to follow. A couple of drinks later, however, I ditched my reservations and sang my perennial karaoke favorite, “Losing My Religion.” I got a rousing round of applause for my effort, a declaration from Sumrall that she was very impressed with my voice, and that grand sensation feeling of having sung karaoke wearing a tuxedo.
Yessir, this penguin rocked out tonight.
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