Our Creative HQ team has been exceptionally busy designing, crafting and curating brand new shows for audiences on board Marella’s Spirit, Dream and Discovery cruise ships.

The first of our five brand new shows, 'Private Eye' previewed live on Marella Spirit in March. Conceived specifically to appeal to a multi-generational audience, the production design is structured around a postmodern jukebox, with carefully selected musical numbers, fusing the swing era style with 80's classics. Peel scriptwriters combined a Chandleresque style with a story based around the song, ‘Who Killed Leroy Brown’ (the 'baddest' boy in town), whilst our set designers focussed on a 1930's Hollywood look, drawing on the architecture and styles of the era and incorporating a unique art concept, featuring only Primary colours throughout. Combined with thoroughly researched, tailor-made costumes, Private Eye presents a stylish, musical and visual extravaganza to appeal to the widest audience.

In 'New York New York' we wanted to bring a modern slice of the Big Apple to the stage. This is a firm favourite at Peel HQ, perhaps because it has a little bit of everything. Our creative team dreamed up an archetypal coffee shop setting, with elements of New York’s unique fashion scene, and all wrapped up in timeless ‘boy meets girl’ story. A carefully curated and diverse song list innovatively choreographed, takes us through the whirl-wind that is the average day in the life of a New York cafe worker. 'Nine to Five' commuters pop by as our heroine finds herself caught up in a 'Vogue' photoshoot, whist also trying to meet a 'Boy from New York City'! It’s a light-hearted show, but with Peel’s characteristic attention to detail, our homage to the city that never sleeps is bound to be ‘A-number one’ on any cruise.

'Radio Gaga' is a 1980's, multimedia spectacular, which utilises the full range of Peel’s in-house production services, both live and digital. The creative team settled on a Max Headroom-style character (the very first animated presenter to feature on TV!) to present the show. Peel Talent’s agency secured the services of ex-Radio 1 DJ, Andy Kershaw, as a source character. Then our Peel Interactive experts were tasked with combining live film of Andy with CGI technology, to post-process him into a digital ‘talking head’. This was then overlaid onto specially designed 80s graphics to be played on LED screens on stage. Meanwhile our set and costume designers took the iconic Rubik’s Cube as a primary inspiration for both form and colours. The show itself takes us back to the birth of MTV, opening with 'Video Killed the Radio Star', the first ever song aired on the channel, and progressing through a dazzling range of chart hits, including an insight into the most expensive music video ever aired on television. Also featuring live saxophone and dancers on roller boots, our creative team has really pulled this one out the bag!