FORT LAUDERDALE — Princess Cruises’ new ship Star Princess will debut out of Port Everglades later this year, but a spate of new theatrical stage shows are working out the kinks now at nearby Nova Southeastern University.

The cruise line entertainment team put on display some of the performers’ efforts giving students and media a taste of what’s to come on board the sister ship to last year’s Sun Princess, the second in the line’s Sphere class of ships, which at 175,500 gross tons are the largest in its fleet with a 4,300-guest capacity based on double occupancy.

Two original productions will be headed to the main stage, and something the line’s head of global entertainment, Rebecca Thompson-Foley, said will embrace storytelling that really fits the theme of the ship.

“Anybody who’s had a little sneak peek so far from the company has said, ‘We’ve not seen this. It feels fresh. We haven’t seen this on Princess before,” she said.

Princess partnered with British production company Black Skull Creative, which has worked on among other things the 2012 London Olympics ceremonies. Cofounder Dan Shipton was on hand to discuss production of the shows.

One titled “Illuminate: A Spectacle of Joy” will be set as if in a nostalgic circus tent with players following a ringmaster’s queues.

“‘Illuminate’ is a show all about bringing a contemporary spin on the circus iconography that you know and you love. We’re reimagining it with our pop sensibility,” Shipton said noting it will mix aerialists, lasers, and dance all set amid a heartfelt story. “It’s gonna be playful. It’s gonna be a joyous celebration of what makes a live performance truly special, which we believe is the bond between the performer and the audience.”

The other titled “Meridian” leans into the ship’s name “Star Princess” with the tale of a fictional journey on a ship named “Celestial” sailing in an era that feels like “Titanic” come to life, minus the ending, of course.

“I do feel an epic, cinematic performance like this isn’t happening everywhere at the moment,” said Thompson-Foley. “I feel that a lot of people have scaled back, and we feel like we’re amping it up, and in a very contemporary way. What we want people to do is feel that it feels kind of traditional, but with a fresh new vibe.”

Shipton introduced the storyline that accompanied four of the numbers from “Meridian,” and the energy on display from the cast promises to translate well once at sea. The production combines original music as well as some modern songs such as Ed Sheeran’s “Celestial” and Coldplay’s “Adventure of a Lifetime.”

It’s not just song and dance, though, with dialogue to move what Shipton described as an “sweeping, epic, cinematic spectacle of love.”

“Amidst aristocrats and outlaws, masquerades, moonlit decks, a young noblewoman — Arabella Dovewood — finds herself caught between a legacy she’s born into and the destiny that she’s going to write,” Shipton said. “As the duty to save her homeland pulls her in one direction, and the mysterious sailor pulls her in another direction, she uses her heart as a compass to find a way back and sail across the meridian.”

What was on display was a whirlwind of crisscrossing, athletic performers hitting their marks. One number with mops as props was particularly entertaining, although left the small Nova Southeastern room awash in floating dust from what were never-used, thankfully, mopheads. It was all high energy, with performers all smiles showing off the results of three weeks of rehearsals.

Thompson-Foley praised the performance at its conclusion.

“When you create a show from scratch. Watch. It’s about the audience, but it is also about the talent, because this show was built on them, each and every single one of them has put something special into the show for you today,” she said. “And again, first sneak peek. So excellent job.”

The cruise line partnered with the university that will allow not only for a practice space for the performers, but to enhance the school’s arts program because Princess “wanted to make sure that we added to the community and the arts community and the future of entertainers,” Thompson-Foley added.

“That means that during this collaboration, we will bring some of the students from Nova,” she said. “They will shadow our professional performers, will have master classes and will even have career panels for music and dance and art. It’s very important to us that it’s not just about using a facility, but it’s creating the beautiful performance of the future, and we couldn’t have done that without a fabulous partner at Nova.”

The two new shows will be joined by “Viva La Musica,” which debuted on Sun Princess as the main stage options in the Princess Arena, but the line announced other entertainment as well.

In the glass-enclosed ship space called The Dome atop the top deck will be the Candlelight Concert Series that will mix classical music with visual enhancements while a 15-member Princess World Orchestra will put on 45-minute concerts in the ship atrium, The Piazza.

That’s also the home for the new Celestial Champagne Soirée, “a multimedia celebration under the stars that promises to mix immersive light, sound and visual storytelling,” as well as a traditional champagne waterfall.

“We have hand-picked 77 expertly cast, multidisciplined entertainment crew members with skills that we’ve never used before: dancers who sing, aerialists who fly and dance. And also we even have activity staff that have additional skills, one who actually was trained in circus school, who will be teaching our guests how to ‘be the circus’,” she said,

There will even be graffiti classes on board.

“Legal,” she said. “Just want to throw that in there so you know — and safe. Honestly, if you knew from my team what they’ve done to try and get these graffiti cans and make sure that they’re safe for the ship. They’re safe for the ship. Nobody else is doing graffiti classes out there let me tell you.”

The ships has other unique features including an expanded nonsmoking casino area, more seats in its Irish pub and a larger version of new art-inspired dining venue Love by Britto.

The ship will debut on Oct. 4 in the Mediterranean but make its way to Port Everglades to begin seven-night Caribbean sailings in November.