Originally Posted By Rsey103 What happens if you are scheduled to work the performance that you have a ticket to see?
Originally Posted By kennect Hey, we will worry about such if I get the job...I may be repeating myself here and if I am forgive me and tell me I am... My next door neighboor has worked the last four Cirque shows that have hit here...As she told me, they need ushers even after the show opens since a lot of the people simply want to see the show for free and after seeing it a few times they quit...I am sure it is a nightmare for Cirque to staff these touring shows as they go from city to city...But for the folks that do quit it seems they might before the really good stuff happens...Apparently Cirque offers a really good discount on Cirque merchandise for the local people...Plus they apparently have other things like the ability to get meals at the same place they have for the performers...Special events/parties for everyone meaning performers and local hires....Years ago she invited me to go with her to the party for Varekai...I didn't go and I just hate myself for not going...She and her EX HUSBAND came back with all of the great photo's taken with the Atherton twins at the event... I just hope I get the job...One, I need the money but...Two, I really need the experience to spend two months surrounded by the creativity that Cirque represents...Even if I am simply hawking their goods some of that will rub off on me...Oh but I am forgetting the one thing I am forgetting....I have to have a resume for the interview...A resume for me? Trust me, it will be unlike any other resume in the world....It will simply consist of photo's...I hope they like it....
Originally Posted By kennect I guess I got the job along with everyone else that applied...Apparently it doesn't take much to get hired...I shouldn't being joking about such but I find myself doing so...It should be a very interesting experience and I am looking forward to it...The way the whole hiring of local's was handled impressed me big time...They seem to really go out of their way to make sure the local folks are well taken care of...Then again they also sound as if they won't put up with any bs from these characters...Looking foward to seeing actually what my job entails...It isn't what I thought it would be...
Originally Posted By beamerdog Wow, I hope you get the job, kennect! My friend has worked for them in Baltimore. She's an entertainer, too, and had a blast. She's gone partying, etc. and had some very weird tales to tell. Not all of the jobs are interesting but meeting with the people who come to the performances is more than half the fun. >> Trust me, it will be unlike any other resume in the world....It will simply consist of photo's...I hope they like it....<< Seems to me that's the kind of resume that they would love. btw, my friend tried out for one of the solo female singing jobs in the performance and made it to the last cut, but they said her range was too low for what they were casting.
Originally Posted By beamerdog agh, I took to long to type. Congrats kennect! I bet you'll have a great time regardless of the job <<<officially jealous
Originally Posted By kennect Beamer, I will keep you posted...Apparently the job is a given but they were to supposedly call today about the first day of work...As in, to say where to show up on that first day even though they said they would call this Friday with all of the details...Well, no phone call which didn't suprise me at all... Supposedly I am going to be working in customer service...Sounds nice doesn't it? Not really, all it means is I am going to be passing out corporate sponsor coupons for discounts on purchases within the onsite Cirque store...But that is fine with me...It beats running a sales counter or hawking programs...I was told they had changed what they call merchandising jobs this go round to where people actually have certain things to do instead of swapping the different jobs...That is fine with me...I really didn't want to handle anything to do with money since there is always the potential of not balancing your drawer/whatever...When it comes to money I really rather stay away from any potential problems that can come from such... Bottom line, it should be a lot of fun and I am looking foward to it...My biggest fear here is weather...I just hope we luck out during this whole thing and have some rather mild winter weather...Winter here is usually rather mild but when it gets nasty it really is...Around here it is a toss up and you really never know what you might get...
Originally Posted By beamerdog Weather can definitely be a drag - I've gone to several shows on a wet, cold evening. (with a wet dog, ugh) You'll have a great time. Most of the employees are cirque lovers. Do you get to peek into the tent during the performances?
Originally Posted By kennect Beamer, I don't know about peeking into the tent but I am sure I will see plenty of the show... I will never forget going to see Dralion on December the 3rd, just not sure what year...I remember the date because it was my partner's birthday....It was cold cold...I think I have said this before, my mind is failing...It was freezing here in Atlanta and when we walked out during intermission it was snowing...In fact, Lincoln Mercury was a sponsor and they had a car in a pond with the wheels turning spraying up water, sort of fountain style...Well the spray was creating icecicles that day off the tires!!
Originally Posted By kennect 103, It isn't too hard to get a job that everyone else can get... I just got back from my next door neighbor's to celebrate Christmas before she takes off tomorrow to visit her family...She is the one that works Cirque here everytime that I have mentioned before... Well, while we do share gifts each year, she went nuts this go round....But there was one thing she gave me that was really neat...This extremely large Cirque tote bag...Best part was she had loaded it with liquor...I was so shocked that she went overboard such as she did...But the Cirque bag was sort of the icing on the cake to the whole evening...She apparently had bought it a couple of years ago when the last show was here and had held onto it to give as a gift...She shops ahead, trust me...But it was such a thrill, as always, to recieve a gift that has some thought behind it...She knows what a Cirque fan I am...Otherwise, the whole thing was kind of weird...Her ex husband was there that I have known for over twenty years before she put him on the street a year ago...Today was his birthday, so she had taken him to dinner...I just mention this to sort of give you the overall pic of how weird things can be around here... Bottom line, I have decided the best gift I get this year is the job with Cirque...It is going to be a great experience for me...
Originally Posted By Rsey103 I think being in and around the grand chapiteau every day will be inspiring. Hope so, anyway. >>...But it was such a thrill, as always, to recieve a gift that has some thought behind it...<< I was glad to hear you say that. All day I've had this idea in my head about a new thread I might start on that very subject. Didn't know whether I should do it or not. Maybe your post is a sign that it's okay to let loose with a little rant on Christmas gift-giving....
Originally Posted By kennect 103, I try always to give a gift with some thought behind it...But these days it seems harder to do such...The few characters that I do give gifts to have become harder to shop for over the years...My father in particular, he has everything and doesn't want anything...So what do you when that is the situation? In reality I got the best Christmas gift already this year that I could possibly get...This job with Cirque...It sounds nuts but it is true...I have spent over twenty years working for myself and it is time to get back into working for someone else, simply to remind me what it is like...As I said before, I will learn some things by doing this...And those are things I need to learn...This past year has been tough for me for various reasons but this job will prove to be of great value personally...I am looking foward to it....
Originally Posted By kennect Well, Today was the first day of my running away with the Circus....I am beginning to believe I need to create a blog to sort of chronical this event... Not that I expected anything different but Cirque is like everything else...Very pretty from the outside, then there is the backside...Not attractive at all... One thing I wasn't aware of initially is to how they have sort of redone their whole approach regarding the touring shows setup...With this show you enter into an enlarged area that houses a ton of seating for folks that want to enjoy what is apparently a very new approach to the food they offer....The two smaller tents you might have entered before are gone...You can enter the main tent from this area without having to go back outside...While somewhat nice it didn't strike me as anything special...For me it seemed that the whole things best purpose was they keep people out of the elements on bad days....Also saw the infamous Tapis Rouge tent....It looked like a worn out Disney attraction...Hopefully without the house lights on it looks a lot better...Not impressive at all to me....Have more to say but do that below.....
Originally Posted By kennect What really blew me away were the local hires that I am supposedly to work with....Let's see, where to start? One guy feel asleep during the training session...There was some idiot that simply wore a short sleeve tshirt and spent the entire time with his inside the shirt making him look like a double amputee....Personally I would have asked him to leave immediately after seeing that....This was the sloppiest group of people I have ever seen in my life in regards to knowing what was expect of them...You have wear all black...Well everyone did have some black on mixed with red and other colors...Everyone bitched and moaned that the official Cirque charges by the pound for the food and the rate is ten dollars...I mean, when that was said people started complaining...Even though it was already noted in the orientation guide given to us weeks ago....Before I run out space I am going to add another response below...
Originally Posted By kennect God, I am typing way too fast and making major typo's in what I am saying...One thing I need to clear up for sure is the idea that the food from the Cirque kitchen is ten dollars "per pound"...When we left tonight people were complaining about that...Why, I am not sure since we can even go in there unless we are working a two show day.... They were also complaining that all they wanted to do was go home...And they were doing this vocally while the training people were talking...The whole thing was bizarre....One of the best ones for though was this...Midway through the whole thing someone asked could they get discount tickets for family and friends...Sorry but I don't think of these folks need this job it that is all they are interested in....One final comment below....
Originally Posted By kennect I hope you can all read through all of my major typo's above..And there is a ton of them....Bottom line here is I have never seen a lazier group of people at a training session before they even start the job... Final word here....I found the evening to be a great deal of fun...I was very dissapointed in the onsite Cirque store...It seemed to me they had scaled back somewhat on what they used to offer...Example, I want to say there are only two different tshirt designs for kids....No high end clothing such as leather jackets...But all of that is really a good thing for me since I love picking up items from them.... Best part of the whole thing is being able to go tonight to a full dress rehersal of the show for free...Not mandatory but they are suggesting everyone attend so they will be able to talk to customers about the show...I doubt many from this group will show up....
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Kooza's already in Atlanta? If the 2 smaller tents are gone, where's the cirque store? I thought Tapis Rouge was a Cd. It's a tent, too? Is $10/lb for food a lot? Come back and tell us about the dress rehearsal!!!
Originally Posted By kennect Rsey, After that rant above do you really want me to get into the dress rehersal that I saw tonight? It would take hours talk about the whole thing...Most interesting....
Originally Posted By kennect But Rsey, A few tidbits to tell...I have no rant based on what happened this evening the overall event went very well without anything for me to complain about... But there was a problem this morning when I got a phone call from the local firm handling the local hires...They wanted to know why I walked out of the training session mid way through it lastnight...I was blown away...I was there for the whole thing but so some reason they didn't seem to think I was...I am under the impression the whole thing/confusion is over with....Long story I will explain on the blog if I create one...I personally found this rather disturbing of being accussed of such when in fact I was there the entire time.... But back to the dress rehearsal...Showed up on time, with a few minutes extra to try clear up the problem mentioned above...Now this was for all of the local hires to attend...You weren't paid for going but it was highly recommended to attend to make sure you were familiar with the show...I doubt there were even one hundred people there...I saw only one person there that I had trained with the night before....It was the full show minus one element...None of the performers were in makeup...I can understand such but it would have added a lot more to the show...I went down with my neighbor that I have mentioned above...More below
