Tuesday, June 27, 2007

We had a great celebration lunch yesterday with our Gary Musick Company cruise ship production team! After an incredibly busy spring remount season, we wanted to take time to say "thanks" to the folks who helped make it happen. The future was a big topic of conversation, and we talked about things we can do to insure that future is bright. There are many exciting days ahead for us as we embark on a quest to realize one of our company's BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) - and that is to become one of the premier, globally respected production companies in the cruise ship industry. Here are some of the key folks who are on board to help us make that goal a reality. From left to right (seated) are David Patton, Bruce Stegmann, Kelly Hirt Evans, Curt Wallen, Brandon Thomas, and (back row) Jeff Lisenby, Leanne Dierckson, Dale Rutherford, Keith Brogdon, Garis Wimmer, Mindy Johnson, Bert Hensley, Erin Boyd, and Stephen Kummer. I can't say enough about how proud we are of these folks. And things are only going to get better!

Saturday, June 24, 2007

The party's over. We just arrived home from vacation. It was a great week, but all good vacations have to end at some point. We stopped at Peach Park in Clanton, Alabama, on the way home from Florida. Peach Park is this fruit-stand-turned-restaurant that has amazing fresh fruit pies, cobblers, and ice cream. It was 100 degrees outside, so the peach ice cream tasted great! Pulling away from Peach Park has signalled the inevitable end of vacation for the past 10 years. The peach pie somehow always helps ease the pain, though.

If you're wondering what's going on in the world of pop culture and music, just take a car trip with a bunch of teens. After watching the teenage kids pour over every pop entertainment rag this week, I got to listen to 10 hours of pretty much non-stop hip-hop and rap music today on the way home. When I protested about some of the lyrics, I was told these were the "edited" versions for radio. Amazing! As the father of 3 daughters, it is appalling to hear how women are referred to in a lot of the rap music I heard. Makes me sad that our culture seems to think this is ok.

Tomorrow, its back to the gym and back on the health wagon. Ok, health wagon would be a stretch. I'll settle for getting off my junk food binge that comes with vacations. Sigh...it was great while it lasted...

Friday, June 22, 2007

One of GMC team members is leaving us to pursue a new life and job opportunity. Julia Meador, our scenic ATD for the past 3 years, is moving to New York to be with her fiance Wil Moss. She will be working with a scenic company there called Showman Fabricators. Julia has been a great asset to our scenic team, especially in helping coordinate our scenic shop activities over the past 8 months after our TD's departure. She is a talented designer and artist, and will be a great addition to the Showman staff. We will miss her and we all wish her the greatest success in her new life adventure!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Just another day in paradise...these are shots from my walk on the beach this morning. I can't get over how quiet it is here, especially in the morning. I was the first one up today...made some coffee...took a walk on the beach...and enjoyed some quiet time. The weather has been perfect all week! Only 2 more days to go...that's the bad news.

There are dolphins swimming right off the shore almost constantly. They travel in fairly large groups and seem very comfortable swimming close to people. These were only about 50 feet from shore. Our neighbors caught a sand shark yesterday - needless to say, that cleared all the kids out of the water for the rest of the afternoon!

Time to rest.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I am on vacation this week. YAHOO! Every year for the past 10 years we have vacationed at a little known island in Florida called "St. George Island". It is a beautiful strip of pristine white beachfront on Florida's "Forgotten Coast" just off the tip of Apalachicola, Florida. We share a house with another family from Nashville - the Quinns. We've been great friends for many years, and our kids are around the same ages, so that has always made it very pleasant for everyone. The weather has been fantastic so far this week. Early morning walks are perfection. There are hardly any people here, so it feels very relaxing. There are no go carts, video arcades, amusement parks, or other "attractions" that mar so many of Florida's tourist destinations. Nothing but pure relaxation. Its great! Even our cell phones don't work!! Here are some shots I took this morning...

This is our house...

I am on vacation this week. YAHOO! Every year for the past 10 years we have vacationed at a little known island in Florida called "St. George". It is a beautiful strip of pristine white beachfront on Florida's "Forgotten Coast" just off the tip of Apalachicola, Florida. We share a house with another family from Nashville - the Quinns. Our kids are around the same ages, so that has always made it very pleasant for everyone. The weather has been fantastic so far this week. Early morning walks are perfection. There are hardly any people here, so it feels very relaxing. There are no go carts, video arcades, amusement parks, or other "attractions" that mar so many of Florida's tourist destinations. Nothing but pure relaxation. Its great! Even our cell phones don't work!! Here are some shots I took this morning...

Monday, June 18, 2007

As many of you may know, we have been actively searching for a new Technical Director for our scenic division for several months. We are pleased to announce that Eric Cardwell has recently joined our staff as TD for Gary Musick Scenic.

Eric joined the Gary Musick team on June 1. He came to us by way of North Carolina, where he completed his Masters Degree in Technical Production at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May of this year. This is actually a homecoming of sorts for Eric. His first time in the Nashville area was as an undergraduate student in theater at Middle Tennessee State University. And, his wife was born and raised in Madison, TN. Eric is very excited about the challenges that have already come his way in the last two weeks and he's looking forward to working with a great scenic team in the future. We promised Eric there would never be a dull moment at GMC, and I think he's already experienced that to be true!

A big shout out goes to our scenic team, including Julia Meador, Phil Barnes, Blair Binkley, Chris Lyle, Curt Wallen, David Patton and our vendor partners for helping cover all the bases while we searched for a new TD. Thanks for the great work!

Sunday,June 17, 2007

I promised some shots of Bermuda taken during my visit there last week, so here you go. The MAJESTY departs Boston and docks in St. George, Bermuda, where it stays for 3.5 days every week this summer. In order to get into the port, the ship has to pass through an incredibly narrow opening in the bay...it felt like there was only about 10' on either side of the ship between the rocks and us as we sailed through. St. George is the smaller of the two main towns on the island. Hamilton is the other. St. George it incredibly quaint, with 20-30 small shops and restaurants that cater primarliy to cruise ship passengers. The port looks like it will only hold two ships at once. We were there with the Norwegian CROWN on one day, and RCCL's EXPLORER OF THE SEAS on another. Bermuda is one of the best islands to visit because of its friendly people and safe, beautiful environment. It also has some of the top-rated beaches in the world. I didn't get to try those, but maybe next time!

This is the MAJESTY docked in St. George. The NCL CROWN was docked behind us.

Each Tuesday during the summer, St. George has a Summer Festival night with local music and entertainment. The guests from our ship really enjoyed the taste of local culture!

Life moves at a slightly slower pace on the island. This carriage takes guests from the ship on a leisurely tour around St. George. Its a great way to hear about the island from one of it's own resident tour guides.

Here is the cut that all ships must pass through to make it into St. George. It is even more narrow than it appears in the photo. Only smaller ships can make it through the pass - its a lot like threading a needle!

Dale Rutherford, Kelly Hirt Evans (Kelly just got married to Steve Evans) and I went on a couple of long walks around the coast near the ship. They are both major health freaks and went on long walks a couple of times a day between rehearsals- I went along for moral support! All of the beaches have rock outcroppings like these. Very striking!

Here is a small beach in an alcove near the ship. The locals come here to sunbathe and snorkle.

Congratulations to the cast of the NCL “MAJESTY”! They opened their first show last night while the ship was docked in Bermuda. All the weeks of rehearsal came together at the right time to create a high-energy show the audiences really enjoyed. Ashley, Dale, Jeff, and Kelly did a great job of preparing the cast, and Cheryl, Judy and Meta worked diligently to get all the costumes refitted and repaired in time for the opening performance. Congrats to the entire team on a job well done! They have two more shows to open this week before arriving back in Boston on Sunday. Here are some shots from "Night on the Town"…

Dave and Emily singing a duet in the New Orleans segment of the show.

Cheri and the cast in the Latin finale - "muy caliente!"...That's for Dave :)

Kate and Stacey in a can can production number - great job, ladies!

This was my first time on the NCL MAJESTY. The MAJESTY was built in the early 90’s, and the theater was originally designed to be a lounge. It was retrofitted later to add backstage dressing rooms and additional stage lighting and audio to accommodate production shows. We were all surprised to see how the stage was actually almost “in the round.” The ship is very comfortable and seems to appeal to a New England based clientele. There were a lot of guests from the Boston area, and no international passengers. It was also a younger overall crowd than we were accustomed to seeing, and the shows have music that appeals to a broad range of guests. I will post some shots of the ship tomorrow.

If you haven’t been to Bermuda, you need to go! It is a fabulous place, with incredible beaches and beautiful retail and residential areas. It is very clean, and feels completely safe. The people of Bermuda are quite accommodating, but you would expect this in a country that replies completely on tourism as its economic engine. The days are generally partly cloudy or clear this time of year, and the temperatures are perfect for lying out by the pool (not that we had time for any of that foolishness ;)

I am at the airport headed for San Francisco to do a site visit for a show coming up next year. Jet lag is about to happen in a big way, I’m afraid!

Wednesday, June 7, 2007

A big birthday "shout out" goes to Sam Thomas on his 2nd birthday. Sam is Brandon and Sheryl Thomas' son. Brandon does some vocal directing for our cruise ships. Is Sam a cutey or what!? He is my buddy, too.

Tonight, my wife and I had dinner at her brother's house. What special people! Byron and Vanessa Massie are about the sweetest people in the world. And we met their daughter Christy's boyfriend Matt - just graduated from UVA - he's a great guy and a perfect match for Christy. Also there were Sarah Jane (my daughter Anna's first college room mate and a recent Belmont grad) and her boyfriend Craig (also a recent Belmont graduate and my daughter Eliza's orchestra student teacher - small world!). Topping it off was cousin Johnny Richards, the drummer for the band "Zoso", one of the best Led Zepplin tribute bands in the country. What a diverse group we were! Being with the Massies makes me appreciate how important families really are. Byron even invited the "cable guy" to stay for dinner when he finished repairing their Internet line. The cable guy was stunned, but that's just par for the course for Byron. Mr. Comcast opted for a 'to go" plate...boy did he miss out on the family fun!

David and Denise Patton left for Celebrity's SUMMIT today. They are spending a week on board the ship to check out the new cast. The Summit was our first solo venture in cruise ship production so it has a special place in our hearts. I hope they have time to check out some of the ports while they're in Alaska. Send us some pics, Dave!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

We had a corporate show in Toronto, Canada, this weekend. Our client, Orion Performance Group, was working with a company called CYDCOR to produce their annual awards and sales training meeting. GMC producer Bert Hensley and I went up on Thursday and staying through Sunday morning. CYDCOR's employees were really young, so it was fun to get to play music that we would never get to use at a traditional corporate show. We actually had the sound cranked as loud as it would go! Pretty cool! We have abother show for them in Atlanta at the end of the month. Here are a couple of shots from the awards show.

Our scenic shop is blazing ahead with work on the scenery for the new shows on the NCL GEM. The sets are going to be great! Orlando Theatrical is making major progress on the costumes, and our own David Patton is busy in the studio getting the musical arrangements and recordings ready to go. These new shows are going to be big fun!

I'm headed out to the NCL MAJESTY this weekend to see the new cast in action. Can't wait to see the cast actually performing! This is a young, high energy group with boundless talent. We sail from Boston to Bermuda, then I go to San Francisco for a site visit for another show. I get back on Friday and we load up the family truckster and head to St. George Isalnd (FL) for vacation. Whoo hoo!

Friday, June 1, 2007

The NCL MAJESTY cast is leaving for the ship tomorrow. Here is a picture of the cast taken right after their farewell dinner. Our rehearsal studio features a gallery of photos of every cruise ship cast from the past 7 years. This shot will be proudly displayed in the lobby for posterity. All of us at The Gary Musick Company wish them the very best for a fantastic contract!