Meet world class Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter and Dancer Dan Middleditch who created his dream gig.

What’s that dream gig you might ask? Well, he’s created an Elvis tribute show, and he’s currently rockin’ it out on Princess Cruises all over the world. Now, you might be picturing the stereotypical “Elvis impersonator”: heavyset, bad wig, sideburns, and a bedazzled jumpsuit that’d make even a figure skater cringe. His show? Not like that. It’s a high-energy rock concert celebrating the King of Rock and Roll, preserving Elvis’s legacy. It’s also something he never expected to be such a big part of his life,and now it’s something he couldn’t imagine living without. So, let’s dive into the story of how he got into this awesome thing we call ship life. Buckle up, it’s a wild ride.

Here’s the lowdown on his upbringing: born in Georgia, but Orlando, Florida will always be home. His parents split when he was young, but they’re the best parents he could ask for. He’s also lucky to have an awesome stepdad and ex-stepmom who are huge role models. He was always into music, but found his groove as a guitarist and singer in his teens, playing in rock and metal bands throughout high school. It was a bit of a split personality thing because he also somehow became the leading man in his high school theater program. This led him to Ithaca College’s fancy Musical Theater program,which he dropped out of after 3 and a half weeks. Yeah, that went well. (Side note: He was a total jerk back then, thought he knew everything. To anyone who knew him in college, he apologizes.)

After dropping out, he ended up back in Orlando with a half-baked dream of rock stardom and zero clue how to achieve it. A year of couch surfing and living in his car later, he was no closer to that dream than he was to his BFA in Musical Theatre. He finally got a place and started selling watches at Fossil in Universal Citywalk (RIP) with no real prospects.His bank account was dwindling, so he needed a second job. A coworker mentioned an audition for Disney World and suggested he tag along because his long hair, goatee, and sarcastic vibe totally screamed Flynn Ryder from Tangled. So,he went and after a bunch of callbacks, he was pulled aside, thinking he was done. Nope. They asked if he’d be interested in Disney Cruise Line, to which he responded, “Disney has a cruise line?”. They put him in a costume, gave him lines to read, and a week later his life changed. He got a contract to be “friends” with Captain Jack Sparrow on the Disney Wonder, where he’d see Alaska for the first time. He was on top of the world. But, just like his college experience, his ego led to a crash—literally. Two days before his contract started, he hit the back of a semi at 70mph, fracturing his C7 vertebra. He still doesn’t know how he’s not paralyzed, let alone alive. It was a wake-up call to be humble and appreciate life. He was told he couldn’t go on the contract, but after recovering, he was cleared the day his replacement failed the background check. So, he stumbled into his first contract, sparking a decade-long love affair with cruise ships.

Now, some of you might be wondering, “How do we get to Elvis from this?”. Some of you might not be, but you’re reading this, so you’re gonna hear about it anyway. A lot of guys decide they’re going to be Elvis when they’re 8 or 9,sometimes even younger. Not him. He got started in his mid-twenties through a musical called Million Dollar Quartet.The Million Dollar Quartet is Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. On December 4th, 1956, all four were together at Sun Records in Memphis, the only time they were ever in the same place at the same time. It was made into a musical, and he auditioned for Carl Perkins (spoiler: he didn’t get it). They asked if he’d audition for Elvis,and like any desperate actor, he said “SURE” and sent in a video of himself basically convulsing on camera. Either they saw something in him or were desperate, because he got a callback with the music director, Chuck Mead. Turns out,Chuck is a three-time Grammy-nominated artist and has been involved with Million Dollar Quartet since the beginning.So, he’s on Skype with Chuck (pre-Zoom days), and Chuck says, “alright, man let’s hear ya sing That’s All Right Lil’ Mama”…which he hadn’t prepared for. Frustrated, Chuck asks him to sing Blue Suede Shoes, and then says, “so you’re clearly not an Elvis guy”. Things were going great. After some music talk, Chuck says, “alright, can ya do this? Sorry I’m in mah jammies”, and points the camera at his legs in red flannel pajama bottoms. He starts doing Elvis’s signature moves.So, he copies him, and it’s basically two headless pelvises communicating in some weird ritual. Chuck says, “alright, ya got it”, and he had to hold back his shock. Chuck told him to absorb everything Elvis-related and gave him two books to read. This sparked his love and obsession with Elvis. If Chuck’s reading this, he thanks him in every show because he wouldn’t be doing it without him.

So, how did he go from that musical to his own show? You guessed it, another happy accident. He was thinking about creating his own show during his last MDQ contract, but wasn’t sure if anyone would care about an Elvis tribute in 2022. Then Baz Luhrmann’s ELVIS came out. Austin Butler’s performance brought Elvis back into the spotlight, and he saw the chance to turn his little obsession into something. Within days of submitting his show idea, an agency signed him. Princess Cruises wanted his show for their Japan season, and he was thrilled since he’s been obsessed with Japan since he was 6. He had no idea what to expect on that first contract, just two dates lined up. The show was a hit, but he can’t take all the credit. He had amazing people on board and on shore who believed in him. Since then, he’s performed for 10,000 people every month, taken the show to 4 continents, and by January 2025, he’ll have performed on every Princess ship. He’s forever grateful to everyone who’s been a part of it.

You know why he does this show? It’s because he has a blast doing it. He didn’t create it because of the Elvis movie, he did it because he wants to keep Elvis’s legacy alive. It’s not about him, he just gets to have fun. Everything fell into place perfectly. Maybe you’re reading this and there’s something you want to do too. A skill to learn, a show to create, a screenplay to write. Do it because you want to. You’ll stumble into what you need to, just like he did.