Legendary Lyricist And Award Winning West End Musical Star Join UK's First Musical Theatre Cruise

Legendary lyricist Don Black and award winning West End musical star Marti Webb will join some of the world's most celebrated West End and Broadway stars onboard the UK's first ever fully immersive musical theatre festival at sea.

Musical theatre lovers will be spoiled for choice when they join Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas on the four-night Floating Festival Stages cruise in October 2018.

Stages will feature an incredible array of West End and Broadway stars including the nation's favourite, two-time Olivier Award winning, musical theatre star Michael Ball, the world's most successful musical theatre group Collabro, and the divine Beverley Knight, award winning soul singer & star of The Bodyguard, Memphis The Musical and Cats.

And it is announced today that Stages will also present a new show - In Conversation with Don Black while Marti Webb will perform some of his biggest hits.

Stages is the brainchild of Jonathan Blackburn. He said: "We are honoured that Don Black and Marti Webb will be joining our amazing line-up for Stages.

"Their careers are phenomenal and for us to be able to welcome them onboard Stages so our passengers can gain an insight into their illustrious working lives is fantastic."

Don Black is probably best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber and for the James Bond theme tunes he co-wrote with composer John Barry - Thunderball, Diamonds are Forever and The Man with the Golden Gun.

But in a career that spans more than 50 years, Don has picked up an Oscar for his song Born Free, five Academy Award nominations, two Tony Awards plus four Tony nominations, six Ivor Novello Awards, a Golden Globe and many platinum, gold and silver discs.

During Stages, Don will be the feature of an In Conversation With when he will be regaling the stories behind the songs and highlights of his illustrious career. This will be interspersed with performances from West End star Marti performing some of Don's greatest hits.

Marti Webb is one of Britain's most popular stars, having performed leading roles in numerous West End Musicals including Stop the World I Want to Get Off, Half-a-Sixpence, Oliver, Godspell, The Card, The Good Companions, Evita, Song and Dance, Cats, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Tell Me On a Sunday, Blood Brothers, and The Seven Deadly Sins for the ENO.

Marti received critical acclaim for her unforgettable performance in Tell Me On a Sunday which was written for her by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don, when it was televised as a Music Special for BBC2 back in 1980. The album reached No.1 and the single Take That Look Off Your Face reached No.2 in the UK Charts. She recreated her role as the first half of the hit West End Show Song and Dance for which Marti was nominated for an Olivier Award.

Marti also has numerous TV credits including Diamonds Are Forever celebrating the work of Don Black, and has recorded nine solo albums.

As well as headline performances from Michael Ball, Collabro and Beverley Knight, Stages also includes shows from Lee Mead (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Wicked), Sophie Evans (The Wizard of Oz, Wicked), John Owen-Jones (Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera), 'diva' impressionist Christina Bianco and a truly unique performance from the Olivier Award-winning West-End production Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.

The Floating Festivals Stages cruise will depart Southampton for four nights from 15 October 2018 and includes a full day in Amsterdam

Packages are on sale now. For more details go to www.FloatingFestivals.co.uk

To post a comment, you must register and login.