Interview : From Argentina to the Oceans: Natalia Saulo’s 13-Year Journey at the Forefront of Cruise Line Entertainment
The versatile production singer shares her journey, from training to a lead vocalist onboard MSC Bellissima
Natalia Saulo: A production singer who captivates audiences every night in the grand theaters of luxury cruise ships traveling the globe. Hailing from Argentina, this talented artist has spent over 13 years at the forefront of the spectacular yet demanding world of maritime entertainment.
Since launching her global career in 2013, Natalia has toured the world’s oceans and refined her craft in New York as a Broadway scholarship recipient. With an impressive and versatile vocal range, she boasts incredible versatility, with extensive experience performing in multiple languages. Until very recently, she was bringing audiences to their feet as a lead vocalist in six main stage shows onboard the massive cruise ship, *”MSC Bellissima.”
*MSC Bellissima is a large cruise ship measuring approximately 315 meters (=1,033 feet) in length, with a gross tonnage of around 170,000 gross tons. It primarily operates in regions such as the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia, including Japan.
Could you tell me about yourself?
I was born and raised in Argentina. I discovered my passion for music and singing when I was five years old. I had a few relatives who were into music, so every holiday, they would play music and we would put on a show. So I think it was born with me and I knew since I was very little that music and performing was my place in the world.
I would take every opportunity to perform in front of people. When I turned 12, there was a tournament in my province. That was when I started to take some singing lessons. It was great because I won in my county.
By the time I was in my 20s, I heard about cruise ships. Somehow, back then, I didn't feel that I was fully prepared for that. It was demanding and challenging, and I needed more training in order to be able to perform.
A few years passed by in between, and I had been doing different things. I had been singing professionally and had been part of many different projects in my country, like different bands. I had a disco music band, and then I created some shows of my own. One of them was called Piel de Tango, which means "tango skin.”
Slowly, I was stepping into music and performance in a more professional way until I reached the point where I felt mature enough to take my career to international stages. That's when I started to look for cruises.
My first step into that world was not in the theater as I am now; I was part of a duo. I auditioned for a guitar player, so we formed a duo together, and that's when I started to work internationally.
That contract ended in Spain, and I was ready for more adventure. I stayed in Spain and met my ex-husband. He was a guitar player, so we formed a different duo together.
It was very interesting because I got to perform in Spain. In Spain, they have a lot of show bands they call "Orquesta." With those show bands, you tour around Spain.
Year after year, I was getting chosen for bigger ones, which are very similar to a cruise ship show in the theater because you have dancers and different costumes. It was a great experience to get me ready for this job.
At some point, I felt that I was ready to be on the main stage. It took a couple of years until I got my first opportunity as a production cast singer.
One day, I got my first cruise ship theater production cast job, and since then—which was like three years ago—all my next contracts and assignments have always been in the theater, which I enjoy a lot.
That was so interesting. What is it like to work in a large-scale international production on a cruise ship?
It's amazing. First of all, it's very demanding. It’s also challenging and exciting at the same time. I think there are many different things about working in a large-scale production at sea than on land. On the other hand, there are some similar things. But basically, every night we perform between two and three shows. So you need to take care of your rest, and vocal technique to make sure that you're going to be able to perform that amount of shows for seven or eight months. So it's like a marathon.
There are a lot of things that need to happen to make that show possible. When we start the project, we will rehearse all the shows mostly on land for a month. We receive the material before that so we arrive with everything studied because the time is very limited. At least in Spain, the rehearsal period will be two months for that one show. But in our case, we have one month to rehearse six shows, so it's very demanding.
And then we will present every show in an "office run" to the owners of the production company. Once the rehearsal is over, we fly to the ship and we have an install period which is another three weeks.
Basically, we take everything we did on land and rehearse it in the actual theater. We need to start taking care of the blocking, in which number on the stage you need to be on for each part of each song. We are many people on stage, so that needs to be very organized. On some ships, you will also have automation, so you need to practice that. There are just so many things going on.
During that period, the stitchers will also come on board to adjust all the costumes, and we will have sound checks—there are just many, many things. It's amazing how everyone on the team takes care of their part, so at the end of the day, we have an amazing product to show to the audience.
Once the install is over, the show keeps running. The install team goes back home, and only the cast remains on board. We always have someone assigned to take care of things, such as a dance captain who is in charge of the choreographies and maintaining the show. It needs to look clean and perfect until the end of the contract.
Now that everything is installed, the fun part begins—we start to perform the shows. It's very interesting because we perform so many times, so you can feel it in your body how you become more confident and start to enjoy it more. By the end of the contract, you can close your eyes and still dance.
Wow! That's so cool. How was working for MSC Bellissima compared to other ships? It is a huge ship.
The experience was amazing. First of all, because we have more shows. Compared to my previous ships where I was performing only three shows, now we have six. This was also the first time that I had a live band in the theater, which was amazing.
And the concept of some of the shows was different because we were six singers. On my previous ships, we were only two, so having more singers means that you need to harmonize. It was very interesting in terms of learning different harmonies for different songs. It was a very nice experience.
The way everything was planned in rehearsals and the way the shows were created was very professional. I had to dance more in comparison to other companies. I felt that I grew a lot as a performer.
Working for the company itself was a great experience as well. I felt so well taken care of. The cabin was amazing. It's the first time that I had a window, and I really enjoyed that.
It was especially memorable since Bellissima was my first MSC ship, and everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I got to make friends in different departments. Most of my days off, you would see me around the lounges singing with the bands.
Did the atmosphere on Bellissima feel different from other ships you’ve worked on?
Every ship and contract is different. Itinerary and ship size can change the whole experience, and bigger ships are usually more stressful because everybody is busier. You have more guests and more places to attend.
At the end of the day, the crew is your family, and we live together in the same place we work. So if you are stressed in your job, that will translate later on into how you relate with your fellow crew members around the ship.
However, Bellissima is a big ship, but my experience with both the crew and the passengers was wonderful. Dealing with the Japanese guests was very nice and people were very friendly. My experience with the crew, with the passengers, and with everybody was amazing.
Also, as part of the cast, we have many privileges and access to public areas. That makes our life very easy and I had a very enjoyable contract.
So what do you think is the most important thing when it comes to working and performing on a cruise ship?
Definitely discipline. I always say that the most challenging part about working on cruise ships is that you live in the same place you work. For eight months, you are only at work. Even if you go outside, you always have a time that the ship is departing, so your head is never completely outside of the job.
For that reason, you need to take care of many things, like trying to build a routine; when you go to sleep and eat, to emulate a little bit of the real, normal life that you would have outside the ship.
Also, because your friends are there all the time, it's very easy to go to the bar and go to bed late at night. But if that keeps happening night after night, your voice will suffer, and we need to be ready to be on stage. There is a lot of temptation. So you need to be very disciplined in making the right choices for yourself to be ready to deliver what you need to deliver, which in our case is a great performance. Without that discipline, I think it would be impossible.
I see. Makes sense. It's easy to imagine because you showed me around the whole ship, so I can think of, "Oh, that's what you are talking about."
Yes! And another thing is to remember that we are there for work. It's not only discipline, but it's also balance, because you need to enjoy yourself. Since we live in the place we work, we also need to find ways to have some leisure time outside the workplace.
What do you think your next step is?
I was recently selected to be the lead singer of the launch cast of a new cruise line, which was a very meaningful milestone in my career. Being chosen to launch a new company after many years working at sea felt like a recognition of my professional journey and experience.
But also, I am starting a talent agency. With my experience, I want to help other musicians and artists start their careers at sea. At the beginning of the year, I started this project, and now I'm working on my agency. So I'm very happy with that.
Congratulations!
Thank you so much. And in the future, there are a few things that I'm thinking about. One of them is to build my own show as a headliner. All these years at sea gave me the experience to see how shows are built. So, I'm really looking forward to having my own solo show. And at some point, I would love to tour with a show on land as well.
Nice! For the next ship, where would you be traveling?
It is going to depart from Spain, so it will basically visit Spain, France, Italy, and also Tunisia in Africa. And then, we are going to do a crossing to Brazil as well.
Thank you. Is there anything else that you would like to share?
I would love to say that this has been an amazing journey. There have been many good things about this job, but the thing that I would love to highlight is being able to sing for the most varied audiences.
I performed for the Japanese, and for about eight years for the Americans when I worked in Norwegian Cruise Line. I performed for people from Spain, Italy, and South America. It's very interesting how as an artist you need to develop the capacity to adapt to different audiences. Through the years, that allowed me to read the audiences very quickly and know how to please them. In fact, I had to sing in Japanese during my last contract, which was amazing.
Working on a cruise ship is also amazing in terms of how you become a more adaptable and flexible person, because you are surrounded by people from 60 different nationalities all the time. Suddenly your mind expands, and you learn many things from other cultures, and you have friends all around the world. That's not only as a professional, but as a person—it's very interesting. I think my personality has changed a lot since I started to travel.
Any advice for future performers, for future cruise ship performers?
Yes, there are a few. If you are not an English speaker, please make sure that you learn English. I remember my first contract, I barely spoke English, so I was struggling a little bit.
Second is something that I said before: enjoy, find balance, be disciplined, and remember that you are traveling but you're working. So put the focus on your work while you enjoy yourself. Take the opportunity of being on board as an opportunity to upgrade your professional skills, because you will be surrounded by performers from all over the world and you can learn something from everybody. It's a great opportunity to grow and to challenge yourself.
And if that's your dream, pursue it. Sometimes it can look challenging and demanding, but it's worth it. If you put the work in that you have to put in, I'm sure you can make it.
Photo Credit :[Andres Felipe Melo HS Alan Cianfagna]
