Daring new show "The Secret Silk" debuts on Princess Cruises' Royal Princess

Mar 21

Bringing a Broadway caliber show to a cruise ship stage is no easy feat. That’s why Princess Cruises once again enlisted the genius of Stephen Schwartz to produce their latest production "The Secret Silk" for the Royal Princess ship. This is their third time working with the Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer.It took two years of development to bring the show to the stage and according to Schwartz, the reward is a stellar production.“This has exceeded my expectations. The piece is original and daring. I am truly grateful to Princess Cruises for the opportunity,” said Schwartz.The story is loosely based on the ancient Japanese fairy tale "The Grateful Crane" said show creator John Tartaglia, best known for his work on the Tony Award-winning "Avenue Q" and "Shrek." It tells the touching story of a young girl Lan and the secret she hides that allows her to create magical silk fabrics.Because a bird is the focal point of the story, Choreographer Shannon Lewis made a point to research "how bird flocks fly and origami unfolds when I was putting together the choreography," she said. "So I worked to incorporate my findings into the dance numbers."Those dance/musical numbers featured familiar contemporary music including "Believe" by Josh Groban, Christina Aguilera's "Fighter," "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons and the original song "Sing to the Sky" by Jihwan Kim and Adam Gwon.Denise Saviss, vice president of Entertainment Experience for Princess Cruises said "our partnership with Stephen is elevating our product.""The Secret Silk" is the result of stunning work by Scenic Designer Anna Louizos, Clint Ramos' costume design, Consulting Producer Jayson Raitt, the creative minds from Jim Henson's Creature Shop who created the puppets along with Sound Designer Danny Fiandaca and Aaron Rhyne video and production designer.Handling musical duties are Andrew Christie, music engineer/arranger/producer and Brad Ellis, music director and vocal arranger."The Secret Silk" is scheduled to also be featured on Island Princess for the 2018 summer Alaska season and on Diamond Princess in winter 2018. Click here to watch a video about the making of "The Secret Silk" from the creators.