Leather-clad dancers perform during “Persephone” on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLearnings from the first two ships have influenced the types of shows created for Resilient Lady, as well as how<\/em> they were created. Virgin is notorious for pushing hard against the boundaries of standard cruise-ship productions. Sometimes it works; sometimes, it doesn’t.<\/p>\n<\/mask><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/mask><\/g><\/g><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/lineargradient><\/defs><\/svg><\/p>\n\n
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One show, “Never Sleep Alone” \u2014 a one-woman performance where a “sex therapist” asks attendees to share bits of their sexual history with strangers (no, thank you) \u2014 has been removed from the original two ships following passenger feedback. (Cruise line officials tell me it might return eventually.)<\/p>\n
“‘Never Sleep Alone’ was us pushing, pushing, pushing the limits, and a lot of people loved the show,” said Richard Kilman, Virgin Voyages’ vice president of entertainment, during an interview with TPG. “But some people weren’t sure. I think there was a perception created that wasn’t really what it was. It’s a comedy cabaret show.”<\/p>\n\nA duo performs live music at Sip, the Champagne bar on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“It also tied up a band of ours because we had a live band every time we did the show … Now we have these five musicians \u2014 we have a trio and a duo \u2014 so we’ve essentially doubled the opportunity to have live music in different areas of the ship. People love live music, and it gives us more variety with live music.”<\/p>\n
On the other hand, “Duel Reality” \u2014 a modern take on “Romeo and Juliet” that’s punctuated by rival “gangs” and jaw-dropping stunts like aerial acrobatics, hula-hooping and juggling \u2014 is so well-liked that it will tour on land. This marks the first time a show created specifically for a cruise vessel has gone from ship to shore.<\/p>\n\nDancers perform during “Persephone” on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nUltimately, all of Resilient Lady’s new main shows feel like winners to me. It helps that they were created in partnership with well-known entities like famed Brooklyn nightclub House of Yes and Emursive, which operates New York’s version of “Sleep No More” \u2014 an interactive “choose your own adventure” performance that splits you off from your group and allows you to wander through several floors of the old warehouse where it takes place.<\/p>\n
In addition, a rotating roster of musicians, comedians and magicians perform on board for a few weeks at a time before switching out. Every one of them was spectacular.<\/p>\n
“Our intention when we started this was to create entertainment experiences that people would happily pay money for if they were on land,” Kilman said.<\/p>\n
I’d say the endeavor was a success. Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from each new title on Resilient Lady’s proverbial marquee.<\/p>\n
Shows you won’t want to miss on Resilient Lady<\/h2>\nAnother Rose<\/h3>\n\n“Another Rose” attendees are each given a real rose as they’re seated. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhen Virgin Voyages tapped production company Emursive to create a new show that’s a partnership between the ship’s entertainment and food and beverage teams, the result was “Another Rose.”<\/p>\n
“The original launch of Scarlet Lady was intended to have ‘Another Rose’ on it,” Kilman explained. “And so, it’s been like three years in the wings waiting for that right moment … The world changed, and it really hadn’t been the right time to bring that kind of show back.”<\/p>\n
Now it’s here in full force.<\/p>\n\nDancers perform during “Another Rose,” a dinner theater show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs Resilient Lady’s only added-fee show and dining venue, “Another Rose” is dinner theater at its finest. You can sit in one of three locations: balcony ($55), floor ($65) or premium near the stage ($75). When you enter The Manor \u2014 the ship’s nightclub area, where the event is held \u2014 a crew member will hand you a wearable magnetic flower in a color that corresponds to your seating section.<\/p>\n\nThe most-Instagrammed area on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady was adorned with giant flowers for “Another Rose.” ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFrom there, you’ll walk down a mirrored hallway set aglow with thousands of white lights \u2014 the most Instagrammed location on the ship, I’m told \u2014 where servers offer you an alcoholic welcome drink. (It’s the first of three adult beverages included in the price.)<\/p>\n
After servers direct you to your section, members of the cast hand out real roses. They may also select you to move to another location in the club to partake in one of your courses \u2014 a very “Sleep No More” touch.<\/p>\n\nOne of four courses served during “Another Rose,” a dinner theater show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDinner is a four-course set menu that offers cruisers two appetizers (sweet potato chaat with tamarind, cilantro-mint chutney, yogurt and pomegranate seeds; and a tuna bomb with avocado green goddess dressing, spicy soy and semolina puri), a main course (choice of pan-roasted sea bass with moilee sauce, basmati rice grit and roasted okra; or braised short rib with Kashmir chili-coconut sauce, basmati rice grit and scallions) and a dessert.<\/p>\n
I left feeling just the right amount of full, although I only took one bite of the dessert \u2014 the world’s tiniest piece of cheesecake \u2014 which fittingly tasted like a rose. There’s also a vegetarian menu available. (I don\u2019t eat raw tuna, so I ordered the vegetarian celery apple bomb for my second appetizer, and it was fantastic.)<\/p>\n\nOne of three drinks served during “Another Rose,” a dinner theater show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlcoholic drinks are served throughout the meal. Tipples include Love Potion (gin, Cointreau, citrus and lavender), Elixir of the Poppy (Amaro Averna, jasmine tea and silver shimmer) and a glass of Champagne, which shows up in between the other two.<\/p>\n
The show, which happens around you as you eat, is a blend of dancing, aerial acrobatics and small-group interaction with the cast. The storyline follows a princess forced to choose between two men she loves. Ultimately, she chooses and marries one of them. Her husband then falls in love with the discarded suitor, and the trio ends up in a steamy throuple by the end of the performance.<\/p>\n\n“Another Rose” on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady ends with a metaphorical threesome. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDespite the wonkiness of it all, the show was captivating to watch, and the food was, hands down, the best I ate on the entire cruise. It was seasoned to perfection \u2014 not too bland, not too spicy and with just the right amount of flavor. The timing of the service was also impeccable, coinciding flawlessly with the show. There wasn’t too much time between courses; instead, there was just enough for attendees to watch a bit of the performance without constantly being distracted by food.<\/p>\n
In terms of both the show itself and the delectable cuisine, Virgin’s entry into dinner theater succeeds where other lines have failed. In particular, I’m thinking of Norwegian Cruise Line, which had fantastic entertainment but terrible food when it offered a similar concept years ago.<\/p>\n
Lola’s Library<\/h3>\n\nLola of “Lola’s Library” performs a pole dance on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHold on to your favorite titles because there’s a book bandit on the loose.<\/p>\n
Three-hour-long “Lola’s Library” is a series of performances \u2014 a “nightclub activation,” as Kilman calls it \u2014 divided into three one-hour chapters that run consecutively from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. a couple of times per voyage. The experience was created in partnership with No Ceilings Entertainment, which runs the Mayfair Supper Club at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Passengers can dip in and out as they please, taking in one or two parts on one night and returning again for the rest or staying for the entire performance from start to finish. Kilman said the concept was born out of a need to make the same nightclub appealing to cruisers for more than one night on a weeklong voyage.<\/p>\n\n“Lola’s Library,” a three-hour show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady, features pole dancing, acrobatics, singing and more. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n“When people go to Vegas or New York, if you’re going to go for a long weekend or a week, you’re going to go to a nightclub on a night; you’re not going to go to the same nightclub four nights in a row,” Kilman said. “That’s just not a thing. Here, we have people sailing with us for a full week, so how do we make the nightclub more appealing, where people will want to come back [and not] feel like they’re doing the same thing?”<\/p>\n
When you arrive at The Manor, you can sit wherever you’d like and settle in to meet Lola, a librarian who keeps the library open for some after-hours hanky panky.<\/p>\n
One night, after everything shuts down, a book bandit steals several tomes, and Lola wonders how she’s going to explain their absence to her boss, Mr. Dick. (Of course,<\/em> that’s his name.)<\/p>\n\nDewey, Lola’s assistant, breaks out of his shell in “Lola’s Library.” ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhat begins as a burlesque-style show in the first chapter eventually takes a more S&M route, featuring a few amusing sexual tropes: The sexy librarian (Lola); the ugly-duckling nerd-turned-heartthrob, who’s secretly sporting six-pack abs (Lola’s assistant, Dewey); and the French maid (Mary, the cleaning lady, who isn’t French and who we find out later in the show is actually an engineer).<\/p>\n
There’s also a completely random character called Jack the Stripper, a serial flasher who’s a play on Jack the Ripper. He was my absolute favorite, simply for the shock value.<\/p>\n
It ends up being more funny than raunchy when he poses as other characters before stripping down to almost nothing. It happens several times throughout the show, but imagine my utter surprise when he, with his borderline dad bod, pulls off an entire aerial routine wearing nothing but boxers with little red hearts on them.<\/p>\n\nA homosexual version of the Seven Dwarfs inexplicably appears in “Lola’s Library” on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nI’ve never tried acid, but I imagine watching this show is similar to what would be going on in my brain if I did. Take all of the above, and swirl it around with singing, dancing, acrobatics and pole dancing to music from Blondie, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner and The Police. Sprinkle in some nods to “Star Wars,” appearances by the Seven Dwarfs (who, of course, are gay) and dirty references to polishing Harry Potter’s wand, and that about sums it up.<\/p>\n
This show receives high marks from me because it kept my attention \u2014 and kept me laughing \u2014 for three hours. The unexpected twists were impressive (Jack the Stripper) and boundary-pushing (gay Seven Dwarfs).<\/p>\n
It’s also interesting to note that Celebrity Cruises once tried a similar approach to entertainment, featuring a somewhat disturbing and hard-to-follow three-hour show in the Eden lounge on its newest cruise ships. Ultimately, the show had to be pared down to 90 minutes and was eventually replaced by a series of shorter unrelated performances. Virgin’s idea of splitting “Lola’s Library” into three easily digestible segments makes the concept more audience-friendly.<\/p>\n
Mind Mangler<\/h3>\n\nThe “Mind Mangler” show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Mind Mangler is no ordinary magician. The concept was born from a character created by Mischief Comedy, the company responsible for “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Magic Goes Wrong.” It’s one of the few shows Virgin Voyages has licensed rather than creating something new, according to Kilman.<\/p>\n
You won’t find tired illusions; instead, you’ll witness a comedy routine blended with mind-reading and other unexpected twists, including an obvious audience plant who’s part of the show and wears an “audience member” T-shirt. He frequently shows up to volunteer throughout the performance and pokes fun at accusations that magicians collude with people before their shows and then plant them in the audience to help them with their tricks later.<\/p>\n
As Kilman noted, it’s more about the comedy than the magic, but cruisers will receive plenty of both.<\/p>\n
Persephone<\/h3>\n\nDancers perform during “Persephone,” a new show on Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady. ASHLEY KOSCIOLEK\/THE POINTS GUY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn addition to Emursive, Virgin has a next-level partnership with House of Yes, the famed Brooklyn art space and nightclub that draws crowds for its bizarre shows and themed costume events.<\/p>\n
To tie in with Resilient Lady’s Greece itineraries, Virgin’s entertainment executives worked with House of Yes to create “Persephone,” a dance showcase that also uses singing, aerialists, acrobats and pole dancers to tell the story of the goddess Persephone.<\/p>\n\n
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