Rebecca Mansueto chats Broadway musical GREASE at sea

Royal Caribbean international sets the industry standard by unveiling more live productions a year than Broadway and the West End combined. The world renowned company boasts full scale performances with state-of-the-art technology and are the only cruise line offering awe-inspiring Tony Award winning Broadway shows at sea.

Rebecca Mansueto, a professional dancer from Sydney Australia talks to AussieTheatre about what it’s like to work for internationally renowned company Royal Caribbean including her lead role as ‘Cha Cha Digregorio’ in the David Ian production of Grease the musical onboard one of the largest cruise ships afloat in the world ‘Harmony of the Seas’.

I first joined Royal Caribbean International as a dancer performing the lead duet and solo roles in the production shows ‘Gallery of Dreams, ‘Center Stage’ and ‘Now and Forever’. In November 2021 I was invited by lead, talent casting Greg Graham a 20 year veteran of Broadway theater to attend the audition for Grease the musical in New York City. It was here that I passed several rounds of dance combinations and was given the lines for ‘Cha Cha’. Competing against hundreds of dancers from all over the world including New York and London, two weeks later I woke up to an email stating that I had booked the role.

It is a competitive industry as Broadway and West End performers are progressing their career through Royal Caribbean and in many cases reprising the same roles from land to sea. Nick Weir, Senior Vice President of Entertainment states that Royal Caribbean culls talent from 75 cities a year. The focus has shifted from destinations to entertainment and cruise audiences have become accustomed to a pinnacle level of performance which is now the set expectation.

My role as Cha Cha in Grease is critical to upholding this expectation for the audience. It’s a dream role for me combining both dance and character and I really get to showcase my dance skills that I’ve worked so hard to build up in my career. I have loved the musical Grease for as long as I can remember, it’s universally iconic which makes it that much more special to perform. The Theater holds a total of 1400 seats which are filled every night followed by standing ovations. We perform in the ‘Royal Theater’, a modern theater with sublime technology and a 12 piece orchestra.

During my contract I was fortunate enough to work with Broadway veterans and director Patrick Boyd who was in the original Broadway revival cast of Grease and worked alongside Bette Midler in the motion picture Gypsy as well as Tony Edge, associate director of the West End and the American tour of We Will Rock You and assistant director for Saturday Night Fever Broadway. I also worked with Loren Van Brenk who’s worked on productions co-directed and choreographed by the West End’s Racky Plews (Footloose, American Idiot). Loren wrote and directed the Royal Caribbean original musical Columbus in which I also got to perform lead dancer roles and characters.

Prior to Royal, some of my career highlights also include dancing for Paula Abdul, Toni Basil and Dick Van Dyke at the Professional Dancer Society Awards in Beverly Hills under the choreographic direction of Michael Roney – son of actor Mickey Rooney, New Years Eve Shows at the Aria and Venetian Las Vegas with Eplus productions, The Locreado Dance Company’ touring Australia as both principle dancer and choreographer and performing alongside record-setting, award-winning Reggaeton singer and songwriter Ozuna in music video Enemigos Ocultos with a commercial success of 115 million views on YouTube.

Performing in Grease the musical, Royal Caribbean has been a pivotal point in my career and has allowed me to not only work with some incredible people in the industry but also perform for, including most recently American singer and choreographer Todrick Hall (Kinky Boots Broadway). Looking forward to what’s in store next.
.