Playbill Travel's next cruise, September’s Broadway on the Mediterranean, will be here before we know it. As with all Playbill’s cruises, the week-long trip will feature stops at fabulous destinations as well as performances by some of Broadway’s biggest stars, including Tony winners Audra McDonald, Gavin Creel, Santino Fontana, and Lindsay Mendez, plus Christopher Fitzgerald, Will Swenson, Liz Callaway, and John McDaniel.
For three-time Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald, this will mark his second Playbill voyage (he previously sailed on 2017's Rhine River Cruise), and he's thrilled to have the opportunity to make more memories with fellow Broadway performers and fans alike.
While Playbill has already sold out the ship for the Mediterranean cruise, its largest ever, there's still room on 2023’s Broadway in Alaska voyage. That journey is set to feature Tony winner Stephanie J. Block and Tony nominees Rob McClure, Kate Baldwin, and Ramin Karimloo.
Read on to learn how Fitzgerald is preparing for his excursion and which Playbill cruise memories he's most eager to recreate.
What is your fondest Playbill cruise memory?
I have a funny memory and then I have kind of a sincere memory. The funny one is, I was on the cruise on the Rhine, and I brought my mother with me for her 70th birthday. She flew from North Carolina, we met up in New York, we flew together to Barcelona or Madrid, and then transferred. Then we finally flew to Germany and somebody picked us up and we get to the boat and we check in. And it's this glorious little boat and we're like, "what is this experience going to be?" And I'm not kidding, we open the first door and Marc Kudisch was standing there in a robe. And he was like, "Hey, welcome to the boat!" It was so funny, as if he had been standing there for hours waiting.
But I think my fondest memory would be the sense of community that happened on the Rhine River. It became this kind of wonderful, communal adventure for the week. And by the time we ended it, some new bonds had been made.
What destination on this cruise are you most excited about and why?
I'm looking forward to seeing what I've never seen before—just to be somewhere different, following this pandemic. I think that's going to be the thing...seeing something that I haven't seen before, following what has been a challenging couple of years.
How do you spend your free time while on a Playbill cruise?
I love to do the excursions; I love to get off the boat and explore. That would be one thing, and the other thing would be to find a place to sit and just watch the water go by, just kind of get a little contemplative, I guess.
What can travelers expect from your show?
I think they can expect an eclectic mix of, like, my brain. I don't consider myself your standard come-and-sing-some-nice-show tunes. It's going to be a real fun mix of genres and time periods. And I'm going to attempt to do this Sid Caesar sketch, this kind of monologue song that he did, called "Five Dollar Gate," which I don't know if anyone has done since him.
It's been fun for me to open up what I'm drawn to and kind of 'see what we can do.' There's going to be some audience participation, which I know people hate, but it'll be the good version of it, the easy version. No one's gonna have to get up and no one's going to be singled out. It's going to be really fun and different.
What kind of traveler are you? Do you overpack or under-pack?
I'm probably an under-packer. I like to not have a lot of stuff. I like to say pretty minimal and lean. I probably will only pack stuff that I'll carry on board. I won't check anything. So if you see me wearing the same shirt every day, that's why.
Cabins are now on sale for Playbill Travel’s Broadway in Alaska, July 21-28, 2023, featuring Kate Baldwin, Stephanie J. Block, Ramin Karimloo and Rob McClure. Playbill Travel is currently accepting waitlist travelers for its sold out cruises: Broadway on the Mediterranean (September 7-14, 2022) and Broadway, Tulips & Chocolate (April 16-23, 2023). Call Playbill Travel to book at 866.455.6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.
