Greenville man makes music on the high seas

By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer

When Jeff Hughes first secured a contract to play piano on a cruise ship in 1992, he was pretty much the whole show.

“We had two guys and two girls who danced,” the Greenville man said. “That was the entertainment.”

But Hughes is now on board the brand new Millennium, a 92,000-ton Celebrity Cruise Line ship that features a $15 million theater. He is joined by seven other musicians in his band, four or five other musical units, four singers and 10 dancers, and will be responsible for four or five shows. “Since that first ship I’ve seen the industry just explode in terms of entertainment,” he said earlier this month during a visit with his parents, Lynn and Margaret Hughes of Greenville. With Las Vegas and Atlantic City cutting back on live music, cruise ships have increased their musical offerings.

“One thing I like about Celebrity is they really feature the band as the backbone of a lot of the entertainment,” he said, not hiding the musicians behind a curtain or off stage.

Technically an independent contractor, Hughes has worked exclusively for Celebrity since 1994, making him the senior musical director. He gets first shot at opening new ships and has a say in hiring musicians.

Hughes has opened three ships and performed on nine. He is set to open Celebrity’s Infinity in January, and the company has two other new ships under construction.

Each contract lasts eight to 10 months and Hughes gets as little as five days between contracts. “My schedule is usually lined up two or three years in advance,” said the 1979 Greenville High School graduate. “It’s pretty good job security, which in the entertainment world is pretty hard to find sometimes.”

Hughes said he gets the biggest kick out of supporting guest entertainers such as former Lettermen singer Mark Preston, Regis Philbin, Louise Mandrell and Pamela Blake, who played “Evita” on Broadway. In 1996, he was shown on an episode of television’s “The Nanny,” which was filmed on Celebrity’s Century ship.

“You get a variety of entertainers who come on board,” he said. “You have the challenge of one rehearsal and doing the show.”

Hughes took to the sea after five years teaching junior high and high school chorus in landlocked Orwell, Ohio.

“My heart was in some area of performance,” said the 1985 music education graduate of the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University.

In fall of 1991, Hughes joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Five cruises were among the band’s gigs, and he left the band about a year later under contract to Regency Cruise Lines. Hughes said it was easy to adapt to life at sea.

“My first few contracts I had some good musicians who helped me through it,” he said. But it’s not a life for everyone, he said. The ships have a military-style chain of command, and the conditions are different from a regular job.

“You are living and working in the same place 24 hours a day,” he said. “You need to find people you are compatible with.”

The entertainers on board tend to become close, he said. “I’ve made some wonderful friendships over the years. We’ve kind of developed into a family.” And while the entertainers are encouraged to meet as many guests as they can, “It’s not like ‘The Love Boat,’” he said.

Hughes has cruised the Caribbean, Europe and South America, arranging rehearsals so the entertainers get a lot of port time to see the sights. Millennium will be heading to the Baltics, Russia, eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.

The ship will be previewed in early June for the travel industry in Southampton, England, and the first passenger boards June 15.

Hughes said he wants to stick with cruise lines and would like to organize his own show, showcasing his playing, singing and big-band compositions.

“To travel and do what I’m trained to do is very addictive. With 25 ships coming out in the next three years the industry will be there for a while.”

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