Hello all,
A couple photos for last time i missed out on:
Me with one of the windmills of Mykonos:
The girls and I in Ajjacio (of course in France I always have my orangina on me:
Gemma and Nina and I with the windmills in the background:
And Gemma & I at the windmills:
Well last time we left off, I was in Athens; so from there we sailed onto Irakalion Greece, where I popped off for a little greek food for the last time and wandered around the wonderful island of Crete. Nina and I found a local Greek fast food type place where all the locals were eating these amazing looking gyros, so we got a couple and boy they were delicious, stuffed with thick cut fries and tasty chicken all wrapped in pita.
Nina, Olivia, and I on Crete:
We then headed to Taromina, Italy, after a sea day; however, the water was so rocky (the worst night we had) that we couldn’t port in there so we instead went to Catania, which was apparently not as nice, but still good for a great Sicilian Margarita Pizza! So tasty! I wandered the streets a bit as it was our last day for Italy and then headed back to the ship full and satisfied. OH, by the way on our day at sea we had an amazing guest entertainer, named Michel Bell! He has a brialliant Bass voice and his wife Catherine Matejka is his incredible musical director. They performed to a small crowd because the waves were literally making things in our suites fall off shelves and slide our furniture. Anyway, I realized when he sang his Tony Nominated version of “Old Man River” that I had heard him do it 10 years earlier, at a workshop I attended in school! We chatted for a while and brought back old memories and then he asked if I would sing with him for his second show!!
So a long story short I sang “You’ve lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” with Tony nominee Michel Bell in his concert! It was an incredible experience working with him and being musically directed by the incredible Catherine Matejka, both of whom have worked countless years on Broadway. The show went off without a hitch and the number was a great success!
The next day we hit our last new Port of the Trip Valletta, Malta! I loved it! My brother-in-law’s sister-in-law (did you follow that) had said it was one of her favorite places in Europe and I can see why! It is such an amazing city because it feels so unconquered. It has been taken over by so many different countries over hundreds of years that it has really no dominating feel to it. I ran all over the city with first Nina and then with Gemma and Joanne. I witnessed the changing of the guard at the Palace (and btw did I mention Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there that day?! …I didn’t see her though lol. What, were you expecting me to say that she invited me up for tea?! Nope) Anyway Malta was a lovely place with beautiful views of the harbor and island.
ME with the ship in Valletta's Harbor:
After a calmer day at sea we headed into Palma de Mallorca, and our stager Claire came back on board! It was so great to see her again! She came back of course, to take care of the end of our contracts and whatnot. We performed all of our last shows. Sad face. They all went wonderfully and were performed with great emotion. After six months with a cast you form bonds that last and of course it was difficult to end everything.
THE CAST:
We had our last day at sea on our way to Malaga, and packing was in full swing. I headed off the ship in the rain with Claire our stager. We had a wonderful tapas lunch which included two rounds of the most delicious fried camembert with a raspberry sauce and orange slices. So good. We also found a pansy bush which we had found at the very beginning of the trip when she set us on the ship in Cadiz! Amazing, I think, a great way to come full circle:
Because of weather we skipped our last port of call and headed straight for Lisbon, where we over-nighted and did our last show. The entire cast, our wonderful international hostess, and Claire (our stager) were all invited to dinner, in the restaurant on the last night, by our on ship boss: the amazing cruise director Judie! It was a special night complete with Champagne toasts, gifts to our dance captain, and photos! A magical way to end what will be hopefully the first of many great ship contracts! I then finished my packing and signed off the ship in the morning. Went with Claire to the cargo bay to ship off most of our shows back to Jean Ann Ryan Prod. in Florida; then headed over to the passenger terminal and got onto the plane, where I am currently writing this!
THE CAST with our Cruise Director Judie (a gem):
Wow, what a journey this has been. From Miami to Europe and back to New York, with seven months in-between! It has been such a pleasure working for Jean Ann Ryan Productions, and being her principle male singer on board the M/V Silver Cloud. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her and her whole team, including Joanne, Eric, Brian, Gabriella, and especially our a…mazing stagers Heather and Claire, and musical director Manny. What a thrill this has been for me, seeing the sights of Iceland, Norway, the top of Russia, The British Isles, Denmark, the Baltic, transiting the Kiel Canal, the western coast of Europe, Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean.
72 cities in 18 Countries!!
I love singing on a cruise ship and can see myself doing it a bit more. So we’ll see what happens. As you may or may not know, the life of an actor is always up in the air so, for now, I’m taking a little vacation from work and am very happy and excited at the thought of spending the holidays with family this time!
Thank you all for reading and staying on the up and up on the adventures of my Life on the SilverSea! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading as much as I’ve enjoyed living it. I will most likely come back in a bit with some updates so check back!
Lots of love from who knows where,
Rhett
Spread love and be happy!
