Day 43 – THE MAN THAT DOESN’T TALK
There was a lot of buzz about tonight’s show during the day.
“He doesn’t talk!”
Not sure how not talking is a feature for an entertainer other than a mime, I inquired further about the show and learned that tonight’s performer, Naki Ataman, plays piano, non-stop, for 45 minutes taking the audience on a musical journey around the world. Grahame, the HAL drummer, and Tyler, the HAL bass player, would accompany him.
COFFEE CHAT
My day started with Coffee Chat with the cast of ABBA FAB as the guests. We learned that this is the first time that this version of ABBA FAB has performed together and may be the last, depending on how the touring ABBA FAB shows get cast in the future. The creator of ABBA FAB, TAD management, has 2 or 3 ABBA FAB shows touring along with several other tribute style show. They cast the shows based on who is available at the time and on the show’s requirements. Chris, the piano and sax player, used to be a member of the HAL Cats and has extensive cruise ship experience in a variety of roles. The other members, Matt, Hollie and Kathryn, are experienced performers but relatively new to cruise ships.
HAL CHORALE
During most sea days the HAL Chorale, a group of passengers, practices in the Piano Bar, in preparation for the Passenger Talent Show at the end of the cruise. Conor, the HAL Band keyboard player, conducts the group with Musical Director, Michael, accompanying on piano.
NOON UPDATE
Captain Jonathan warned us that the Easter Island Harbor Master told him that tendering was expected to be “marginal” with a chance of thunderstorms. Not the best forecast, but at least we were still planning on giving it a shot.
NAKI ATAMAN
The Mainstage was more crowded than usual for the 9:30 PM show, with a lot of new faces who came to see Naki Ataman. One woman was saving 9 seats with copies of the Where and When because she wanted her friends to see the show from the front row of the balcony. Nearby passengers grumbled and growled as she stood her ground claiming that ‘everyone saves seats’. Despite all this, only 2 of her friends ever showed up and the rest of the seats were eventually taken by other passengers. Additionally, there were plenty of seats available right up to show time.
Before the show started, Hamish talked about the tendering plan for tomorrow and read, word for word, the notices in the When and Where that explained that no one who used a mobility device or walker would be allowed to board the tenders until open tendering. To help enforce this, the elevators would not go below Deck 2 requiring all guests to negotiate several flights of stairs in order to reach Deck A. As expected, the show started with an explanation from Hamish that we would experience a musical journey around the world in 45 minutes, with the transition song “Around the world in 80 days” played between countries. To help out, there was a large screen at the back of the stage displaying the flag of the country from where the music he was playing originated. Starting in Spain, Naki Ataman brilliantly weaved together songs representing 19 countries before completing his journey in the USA to strains of I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Dixie, Oklahoma, America the Beautiful, New York New York closing the show with It’s A Small World and finally the ditty – “That’s All Folks”. After his performance was over, he rose, gave the audience a bow and exited the stage, never saying a word before or after the performance.
