I am just one of thousands of stage managers who found themselves unemployed in the spring of 2020 – due to Covid19. My last job was on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Oasis of the Seas as Stage and Production Manager for the Aqua Theatre. In this true tale, I want to share a little bit of my odyssey over the last twelve months. Where these months of enforced downtime have led mentally as well as practically. This is Part 1 of my story.
Don’t let your dream of touring or working in the USA become a nightmare! Do your homework, plan well in advance and follow these essential tips to success.
We woke up in the morning in Coyhaique still a bit exhausted from the crazy snow road, but we had some breakfast and spent some time planning the remaining 3 days of our adventure. After the near disaster with the ferry schedule in Chile Chico, we were a bit more cautious when planning our route. We had been told that Chiloé island was a must-see, so we decided to go see for ourselves. We realized that we did need to take a ferry from Chaitén to Quellón, the southern tip of the island of Chiloé, and luckily there was a ferry scheduled to depart the next morning at 9:30 am. So we packed up and set out on our 430km (268 miles) day of driving.
After our first night of wind and foxes, we woke up to an incredible view of Torres Del Paines but unfortunately our luck with the weather would come to a quick end. We made some breakfast and coffee then packed up the camper and got on the road. The day was grey and windy but we got some good glimpses of the mountains as the clouds rolled in and out. We decided to drive the Y-290 and Y-150 which create a loop of the park, since it was July we saw basically no one all day. It was strange and amazing to feel like we had all of the national park to ourselves. We spent some time at the various glacial lakes and overlooks, we stopped for a bit on the shore of Lago Grey, a glacial lake that has a black sand beach. The lake gets its name from the glacier that forms it. Grey Glacier is one of the many glaciers in the southern ice field, it is 6km (3.7 miles) wide and approximately 30km (18.6 miles) high. The bright blue chunks of ice that have broken off the front of the glacier look like colorful misshapen boats floating in a sea of grey. The landscape in Patagonia is truly amazing, it’s no wonder it is referred to as one of the premier adventure destinations in the world. As the sun began to set we made our way toward El Calafate, a three-hour drive with our first border crossing. The Chile border was really easy, we just went in, got our stamps, and crossed. When we arrived at the Argentina Border it was a small building and luckily we arrived when we did because they were closing for the evening. After the camper inspection, the border agent told us that there was a shortcut to get back to the highway and that he was headed home so we could follow him. It’s good that we did because the roads are unmarked dirt paths that have no lights whatsoever, we might still be driving aimlessly in Southern Argentina.
In July 2017, Sep7imo Dia was transferring from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile which meant that Cris and I had a short tour break. We had 8 days between the last day of load out and the first day of load in so we decided to rent a camper and drive from Punta Arenas to Santiago. This was a crazy idea from the beginning, the distance between Punta Arenas and Santiago is approximately 4500 km (2800 miles), and we were going to drive it in a week! In addition to the distance, it was winter in the southern hemisphere. The southern sections of Chile and Argentina aren’t exactly the most hospitable during the winter, average temperatures are between -6 and 4℃ (20-40℉), and many of the businesses are closed because there are no tourists. More on that later…..
Romain Tarrusson is the founder and president of the annual What a Trip! festival in Montpellier. The festival encompasses an amazing selection of travel documentaries, a film competition, workshops, conferences, exhibitions, and the “Village du Voyage”, a lively tent village with information, food, events, and daily concerts.
It’s not common for women to work in the concert touring industry. It’s even less common to have a Caribbean woman behind the camera. Liselle Bertrand has been touring for ten years now and is one of the best camera operators in the business. Interviewing Liselle was a pleasure. I greatly enjoyed to learn more about her career and her views on the industry.
French Canadian Genevieve Denis joined her first Cirque du Soleil touring show in 2002. Touring with Cirque brought Genevieve many new experiences. It changed her life and her perspectives forever. Remembering her life with Cirque du Soleil, Genevieve shared some of these memories with me in this personal and heartwarming interview.
At the end of September 2020, I was fortunate to experience the What a Trip! festival in the beautiful city of Montpellier, in France. This festival is a celebration of travel and nature, presented through the eyes of documentary filmmakers and photographers.
Many aeons ago [read: 10 years], when I left Dixie and opened my career up to the great wide unknown, I learned two things: 1) US tax law is a butt, 2) I’d rather use any form of transportation other than a plane. To the first, I’ll likely cover that elsewhere; to the second, I will address my trepidation and consternations below.
One of the most popular spots in Geneva is the Bains de Paquis. It is essentially a bath, hammam, sauna, turkish bath at the lake in the city centre. Yet, it is so much more than just that. Especially during summer, the Bains des Paquis is a social and cultural haven. But even in the winter the Bains des Paquis has a few surprises up its sleeve.
In the fall of 2019, I was offered a contract as Senior Stage & Production Manager on the Oasis of the Seas, one of the World’s largest cruise ships. As soon as I arrived onboard, I found out that nothing was going to be as I had thought. I wasn’t too surprised. Changing plans are the norm rather than the exception in the entertainment industry, be the venue located on the ocean or elsewhere.
In January 2020, Dom Rye, a theatre performer from the UK, went to join Sleep No More, an immersive theatre show in Shanghai. Only a couple months later, his experience was cut short by the outbreak of Covid19. Albeit short, Dom’s experiences in Shanghai were enriching and something he will never forget.
The amount of waste in the entertainment industry is ASTRONOMICAL (this is a WHOLE other battle!) – but these simple, lightweight travel travel items help me to do my part in a small way throughout my days on the road (and at home!).
To be honest, some days we rock up to the airport like a complete shit show. Other days, we have our shit together. On those days, these are our MUST have travel items to keep sane and healthy for those long hauls.
We know we have to get better at living sustainably. It is hard when major corporations are not leading the charge and changing their practices to make sustainable choices easier and more accessible. Living eco-friendly still takes work for the individual and that is the direct fault of big business and governments not acting fast enough in the face of climate change.
I’m standing in the customs line at Riyadh airport at 2:50am on a Monday morning. Surrounding me are Arabs, Asians, Africans and Indians and I realize I’m one of the perhaps 3 Caucasian people in the line and definitely the only woman.
Monday 7, November 1998, Deck 6 Aft – Backstage after the first show H2O Las Vegas Revue Show 6 days after the passengers have boarded in San Francisco, off the coast of Mexico. “Tell me Barry, how is it that a tall handsome British gentleman like you isn’t already taken?” I had my arm around […]
There is no doubt that the college audition process can be a daunting one. With the cost of application fees and travel for auditions, narrowing down your list is at times a financial necessity. But how can you slim down that list and make sure that you are not removing programs that might be good for you? Have no fear, there are a few things you can do to help you find the right programs for you and make sure that you are not wasting your time or money on schools that might not be the best fit.
I’m a dancer born in the South of France.
I started my career after school at 18 years old in a French musical in Paris. I worked for different events and TV Shows, and in 2012 I started a tour in Asia with another musical, Notre Dame de Paris.
For the last week I have stared at a computer screen with the lyrics “Who am I anyway, am I my resume” playing on repeat in my head. This iconic musical theatre song has always been a favorite of mine because it spoke so much truth and now it is ringing truer than ever. As […]
In January, I packed up my many bags and said good-bye to Dubai to go back out on tour as head of automation with Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios. I was to join the tour in Tokyo, the first city of the Japan schedule. This meant that I had to do the visa run before hand. Whilst the UK Japanese embassy is located London, there is a consulate in Edinburgh so I didn’t have to do the long schlep down south to get that sorted. This is a good reminder that you should always check for both embassies and consulates and the services they provide. It was far easier and cheaper for me to take the hour-long train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh than the five hour one to London!
Long layovers might seem like major inconveniences, but with a little bit of creativity and ingenuity, they can actually provide an outstanding opportunity to explore the best a city has to offer—an opportunity to see the most desirable spots, cuisine, and culture a destination features, in a condensed period of time.
Soon it will be time to give up my passport and get a new one. No big deal, right?
Wrong. It’s a big deal for me. I know it’s only a small book with a lot of pages and stamps and my country of origin embossed on the front, but that small little book represents far more than a history of border crossings.
© 2021 TheatreArtLife. All rights reserved.
Thank you for your interest in the TheatreArtLife Archives, this area is for members only.
Our contributors are currently writing more articles for you to enjoy.
To keep reading, all you have to do is become a subscriber and then you can read unlimited articles anytime.
Your investment will help us continue to ignite connections across the globe in live entertainment and build this community for industry professionals.