One of my greatest experiences was working on the SS Norway in 1996-1998.  I haven’t always been a fan of Facebook, but I have to say it’s been great chatting with old friends and acquantainces from my performing days.  There’s a page actually set-up on Facebook for all of the JARS (Jean Ann Ryan Performers ). My time on the SS Norway was very bittersweet.  When I was hired as a JAR, I had to head to Ft Lauderdale with the rest of the cast, and train (3) 50-minute shows in like 2.5 weeks.  It was crazy.  We’d start rehearsal at 9am and literally dance, sing, and script read until 6-7pm.  Rehearsals were killer, but the harder you worked the easier you time you’d have when you got onboard.  So the 3 weeks of training, was always madness.  Bruises, cuts, scars – blood, sweat, and tears (oh boy were there tears). My role was always different from a “dancer” role.  Not only was I a dancer, I was an acrobat, and a singer/actress in the shows.  You can only imagine how exhausted I was by the time we got back to our Hotel.  We stayed at the coolest place in Ft. Lauderdale – The Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard.  Beautiful, and tons of famous people.  I met Tom Arnold and Cuba Gooding Jr. (the guy that says, “Show Me the Money” in Jerry Maquire).  Actually Cuba Gooding held the door for me to the Riverside Hotel.  I blush just thinking about it 🙂 
I was on the SS Norway twice.  Once as an understudy to any dancer injured, the second time as a Lead Dancer and “Tess” in our Broadway show “Crazy For You”.  The contracts were so exciting and I met some amazing people and performers.  I think of those people regularly, and wonder how they are doing and what they’re doing.  Performing on the SS Norway was incredible.  All of the dancers in the cast  had elegance, long lines and beautiful technique.  We were the tallest cast onboard any ships.  Our principles were usually the best of the best.  The SS Norway was known for an extremely talented group of people amongst the fleet.  I feel so grateful to have been hired as a JAR, Jean Ann Ryan truly does change people’s lives.  My first contract was a transatlantic, where we picked the ship up in dry-dock in Southampton England. My mom’s entire family lives in the south of England, apparently they came to see the ship and waved to me before the ship set sail.  I wish I could’ve met them, but during dry-dock, we rehearsed constantly.  So Southampton to Miami, and then we began normal cruises, and the cruises I believe were Eastern Caribbean – St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and St. John.  I left the SS Norway within a month, and was so sad to leave the ship and incredible cast of people.  I went on the MS Dreamward for 6 months to perform as a lead dancer, acrobat, and played “Anytime Annie” in our Broadway Show “42nd Street”.  I had a blast, but missed the SS Norway, and was re-hired to perform in a secure spot on the ship.  Lead dancer, acrobat, and “Tess” in “Crazy For You”.  What an awesome experience!!!  Traveling the Eastern Carribbean, and then the SS Norway at the end of the contract, relocated to the Mediteranean AHHHHH!!!  I’ve seen Pompeii (Naples, Italy), Lisbon (Portugal), Marseille (France), Malta (who the heck sees Malta), the southern tip of Spain, and Corfu (Greece).
Throughout my following of Facebook, I read some information that I didn’t know about the SS Norway.  Apparently, the boiler room exploded in 2003 and killed some crew… ugh!!!  There is a memorial at the Miami center where the SS Norway lived.  So tragic, and to think I actually lived on that ship for a year.  But I will never complain, the ship was a beauty, it was a classic 🙂
All wonderful memories of incredible experiences and beautiful people!!!