Monday, April 26, 2010

Madonna AND Elvis? Only on NCL


USA Today

And the first three headliners will be ... Madonna, Tina Turner and, yes, Elvis.

That's the word today from Norwegian Cruise Line, which says the much-ballyhooed Legends in Concert show planned for its next ship, Norwegian Epic, will kick off with (lookalikes of) the three musical giants.

Norwegian announced in November that Legends in Concert -- a staple of the Las Vegas Strip for more than 25 years -- would be one of several big name shows to have a home on Epic when the ship debuts in June, but it didn't release which tribute artists would be performing.

Norwegian Cruise Lines has said the Legends cast members will perform regularly in two venues on the 153,000-ton Epic -- the line's largest ship ever. The celebrity lookalikes will take the stage in the ship's 685-seat Epic Theater for six 45-minute shows over three days during each seven-day cruise.  In addition, a cabaret-style show will be performed on three additional nights in the Manhattan Room, the ship's New York-inspired supper club.

The celebrity performers will change every four months.

Norwegian is promising to take cruise ship entertainment to a new level with Epic, which also will feature performances by another well-known icon of Las Vegas, the Blue Man Group, as well as the dueling piano show Howl at the Moon and a comedy show by Chicago's Second City.

The ship also will be home to an unusual circus-and-dinner show called Cirque Dreams located in what's billed as the first big top at sea (click HERE for a sneak peek, including video).

Bigger than all but a handful of Royal Caribbean Cruise ships, Epic will be more than 60% larger than the largest NCL ship currently at sea and dwarf the biggest vessels operated by such big-ship lines as Carnival, Princess and Celebrity.