{"id":45558,"date":"2017-05-10T09:55:12","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T13:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=45558"},"modified":"2022-09-29T11:51:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:51:26","slug":"cruise-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2017\/05\/10\/cruise-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruise control"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Paige Dobkins, who earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in acting, is one of many Wright State performing arts graduates with successful careers performing on cruise ships.<\/p><\/div>\n

Singers, dancers, actors and other graduates of Wright State University\u2019s theatre and dance programs typically make their living on terra firma. But a few take leave of dry land to ply their craft on the high seas, entertaining passengers on cruise ships from Alaska to Australia and the Caribbean to Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have graduates all over the world right now from many programs,\u201d said Joe Deer, head of the Musical Theatre Program<\/a>. \u201cWe even have a pair of Wright State sisters who are working on different sides of the globe on ships as performers.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of them is Paige Dobkins, who graduated from Wright State in 2015 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in acting<\/a> with an\u00a0emphasis on musical theatre. She works for the Carnival Cruise Line in a fleet that includes the Ecstasy, Fascination and Legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve done Motown, British, pop, rock, modern, all kinds of shows,\u201d she said. \u201cThey’re all roughly 30-minute review shows with amazing production value and a whole lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobkins has traveled most of the Caribbean \u2014 the Bahamas, Grand Turk, Cozumel, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands and Key West.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis upcoming contract I’ll be starting in Alaska, then venturing to Hawaii and then end the second half in Australia,\u201d she said. \u201cI’m really excited to see more of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobkins grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Colerain. Her father is a frontman singer of a ’70s and ’80s classic rock band, and she learned to sing by mimicking Bon Jovi, Journey and Heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got interested in singing right from the start, as soon as I can remember, from singing to the guitar with my dad and siblings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Colerain High School, where she was in the school and show choirs, Dobkins enrolled at Wright State to study nursing, but quickly gravitated to theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God my parents were supportive of me pursuing theatre and actually encouraged it,\u201d she said. \u201cI get to live for my passion every day. How cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After performing on cruise ships around the world, Brandon Kelly ’10 now works as director and choreographer for an entertainment company.<\/p><\/div>\n

Brandon Kelly graduated as a dance major<\/a> from Wright State in 2010. He has performed on several cruise ships, first the Norwegian Jade and later on the Holland America Line\u2019s Westerdam. His performances included aerial acts.<\/p>\n

Kelly loved the traveling, calling it \u201cinsane.\u201d There were stops in Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Germany as well as the Caribbean, Mexico, California, Alaska and British Columbia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to meet so many different cultures and temporarily immerse myself in their country and lifestyle,\u201d he said. \u201cI tried to soak it all in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly grew up in Cincinnati and started dancing for an inner city production company that trained children in the arts and put on musicals a few times a year. He became involved in plays and musicals at Wyoming High School and was a dancer at Kings Island in various shows for more than five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that dancing was something I wanted to continue to do professionally and further my education and training,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kelly no longer works on cruise ships as a performer. He currently works as director and choreographer for RWS Entertainment Group, a full-service entertainment company based in New York City that stages performances for corporations, theme parks and cruise ships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI teach the shows for our client, Holland America Line,\u201d said Kelly. \u201cI take our production casts from rehearsals in New York City to the on-board installation process, where they will stay for around six months providing the entertainment for guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Andy Balmert ’13 has worked for Norwegian Cruise Line as a lighting technician.<\/p><\/div>\n

Andy Balmert graduated from Wright State in 2013 with a bachelor of fine arts in lighting design and technology<\/a> and for the past four years has worked for Norwegian Cruise Line as a lighting technician. The Columbus native has worked on seven different cruise ships and has traveled to South America, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, New Zealand and other far-flung places.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge was learning ship life and the general flow of working six months straight with no day off and shows that constantly change day by day at times,\u201d he said. \u201cEach culture has their own niche, and it is difficult to figure out how to work with each other at times. However, it always seems to work out on ships, and I have many friends from around the world because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Balmert became interested in lighting in grade school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time that we put on a play, and I was fascinated by how light could change an atmosphere on stage and affect people’s emotions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His career goal is to continue to do design work, become part of a national tour and later settle down and do local theater work.<\/p>\n

Dobkins said the toughest part of her career is being away from her family. Her sister, Haylee, also performs on cruise ships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only time I see her is when we use one of the weeks of our vacations to go on the other’s ship and visit,\u201d she said. \u201cShe’s my best friend in the entire world, so I’d say that’s the hardest. Our entire family is close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobkins said the most rewarding thing is that Carnival hired her and her soon-to-be husband as a package deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve gotten to do every contract, and explore new parts of the world with him by my side,\u201d she said. \u201cTo be honest, it rarely feels like \u2018work,’ and we’re getting paid to do it. Within our first contract, we were both able to pay off our student loans entirely and build up a savings to have our dream wedding and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dobkins\u2019 career goal is to continue doing what makes her happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, exploring the world while getting paid to perform makes me extremely happy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State performing arts grads find career success performing on cruise ships. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":45564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,4309,2037,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni-association","category-arts-scene","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45558"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45566,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45558\/revisions\/45566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}