photobyjohnbo

Cellpic Sunday – The Choir of Man

The Choir of Man.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s theater is a popular venue for musical and theatrical entertainment. I’ve never before shared images from a performance because almost every performance is prefaced with a warning that photography and videography are expressly forbidden. On one occasion, however, not only was photography allowed, but also permission was given to share on social media. That production is the British Comedy “The Choir of Man”.

Even the opening of the play is unusual. As the audience wanders into the theater, the set features a scene from a British public house (pub). The place looks closed, with chairs on tables and the set relatively dark. About 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the show, a “bartender” shows up and starts prepping the bar for opening. Then another player comes out and starts removing the chairs from the tables and wiping the tables down. Once the pub was ready for opening, and before the scheduled start of the production, the bartender began a short soliloquy and concluded by inviting the audience to come up on stage for a beer. Many of the surprised audience members started lining up in the aisles and headed toward the stage.

If I were a reviewer, I might write something like The Choir of Man is a theatrical experience packed with energy and heart. The production is a British musical created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay. Set in a traditional pub with a real, working bar that includes pouring drinks for the audience!

The musical features several multi-instrumentalist singers who take various places in the pub and a three-piece band that is at the top of the stairs. The music is a lively blend of pop, rock, and folk songs, arranged specifically for the show. A few audience members are picked at random to join the group on stage to improvise as customers in some of the numbers.

As a reviewer, I might go on to say that the uplifting and infectious atmosphere is guaranteed to have you tapping your feet and singing along. The play is a celebration of male friendship and connection, exploring various emotions and experiences through song. The diverse range of musical styles, from Queen and Paul Simon to Adele and Sia, ensures something for everyone’s taste.

The unique theatrical setting blurs the line between audience and performers, creating a sense of camaraderie. But enough about the play, other than to say that I give it two thumbs up or five stars, and it received a nomination for the British theater’s Olivier Awards in 2022. One of the advantages of cruising is that entertainment like this is included in the cruise fare.

About the photo: During the show’s pre-open, most of the audience members lined up to get a beer from the pub. Taking advantage of permission to photograph the performance and with most of the audience in line, I stood up from my seat to capture the image with my Samsung S20U cell phone. Back home again, I imported it into Lightroom Classic to catalog and crop, and then I exported it to Luminar Neo for simple tweaks of exposure, highlight reduction, and Enhanced AI. The last thing I added to this image is a slight tweak of the Magic Light tool. This feature in Luminar Neo added small starbursts to all of the stage lights at the top of the image. To pixel-peep the image in 2K HD on my Flickr site, click on the image.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s acceptable as well. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, and, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

44 comments

    • Indeed. A lot of times, it is as much to keep audience members from bothering others who are trying to watch the show. I think, if playwrights were to build in a section of the play where photography is allowed, everyone would understand and it could be a benefit to the play’s bottom line. Of course, not every program would be appropriate for that intrusion into the story line.

      Reply

  21. I’m glad you enjoyed the show.

    LinsArt: Photo Challenges – 08 04 2024 (linsartyblobs.blogspot.com)

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.