Hi Terry. I am not privy to the new entertainment, only that I wish Silversea great success with it. I can only give you a short history on the vocal program I created for Silversea in 2010, installed in 2011. Cliff Perry, the Entertainment Director, saw my name in Porthole Magazine when I created the first dive show for Royal Caribbean, so he contacted me to have a look at Silversea's entertainment. When I saw the entertainment, it felt very disconnected to the guest demographic. The guests of Silversea had seen the best entertainment all over the world, so why would they be interested in a song and dance review that is typical of mass market cruise lines?
At dinner one evening, I listened to one of the performers chatting with guests, a requirement of their contracts. The young lady did not have enough life experience to engage these guests in interesting dinner conversation, nor did she have a resume that would be of interest to them either. My immediate recommendation was to elevate the entertainment offerings. I come from the world of ballet, opera, and symphony and knew I could create a more compelling entertainment program for the guests of Silversea.
The Artists of Silversea was the program I created. I hired my brother Christopher, who was an Artistic Coordinator for Cirque du Soleil and Le Reve at the Wynn in Las Vegas (I was the ballet instructor for Cirque du Soleil's resident division and Celine Dion's A New Day), and Michael Brennan, Franco Dragone's music composer and Broadway conductor, to create Choozi's shows, however the key to its success rested solely on the entertainers I would hire for the program. Because my creative team was at the top of their field, we were able to bring some of the finest professional entertainers to the ships of Silversea. They wanted very much to work with both Christopher and Michael. I also doubled the starting rate of pay so that there would at least be conversation regarding taking a job on a cruise ship in the first place.
Our top hiring requirement was that they all had to read music at an advanced level, as our arrangements were very complicated ... all 6 part harmonies, arranged by Jim Belk, David Foster's arranger. The first 24 artists we hired for the program had Broadway credits, Met Opera credits, and many were AEA or AEA eligible. Their average age was 32. Our show "Fabbalicious" garnered a Best Show at Sea award by USA Today. The other shows were "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", "High C's", and "Aria" and "Hooray for Hollywood", two shows we created specifically for one of the World Cruises.
It was an honor to create this program for Silversea, most especially for Cliff Perry. Cliff was an entertainment titan in the cruise industry. He brought out the Crystal ships, as well as the Disney ships. We were working on the entertainment program for Viking Ocean Cruises when he passed. His stamp of approval on the Artists of Silversea was a great honor for Choozi Entertainment.