COLLEEN
DOYLE
PROPS
Touring The Country
When I ran away with the Circus for the Holiday Season
After leaving the Ships, I needed time to figure out what I wanted to do next. I looked back on my life, looking for inspiration. Experiences that touched my passion for the spectacular.
From the time I was nine years old, my family would regularly visit Las Vegas, where I got to see some of the greatest shows ever performed. By the time I was an adult, there were few acts in Vegas I hadn't seen. But there was always one company who stood above the rest, their shows a playground for the imagination, leaving us with a lingering feeling that the well of our potential runs so much deeper than we thought.
Cirque Du Soleil
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Fast forward two years later, after many revised resumes, connections, visits to USITT...after many attempts to knock on Cirque's door, ​an opportunity arrived. I was reached out to by Vstar Entertainment Group; they were in need of a Head Props to join their touring show: Cirque Dreams Holidaze very suddenly. At the time I was working full time in a Hotel. But I felt the pull so strongly there was really only one option for me. I quit my job and ran away with the circus.
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The contract was only for a month, but I didn't mind. After two years of not being in theatre I was happy to be back in my field. And this was hardly the first time I had taken a leap of faith. Some part of me worried I had been away too long, that I was stunted by the gap between the ships and now...but the fire in my belly burned away any doubt.
By the time the contract was over, I had done what I set out to do: be the best Head Props I could be. And it showed. So much of my cast - who were incredibly talented acrobats and athletes - thanked me for coming into the show halfway through its run with a seamless transition. They felt like they could approach me with their prop needs and trust I would see them through. I am grateful for the time I had with these incredible people. My cast, my fellow crew, I was blessed be with you.
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I don't know what the future has in store for me next, but I am ready.
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Working On A Cruise Ship
Eight years ago I made an incredible leap of faith...
...and was hired to work for Norwegian Cruise Lines as a Props Master for Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It was a dream job in every respect: I was doing the job I wanted to do for my favorite musical of all time. It just happened to have the extra bonus of traveling rent free and meeting people from all over the world.
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I worked with NCL for five years and in that time I saw the lonely props position grow. My first year there was only one position in the entire fleet, by the time I left there were four. I came for Priscilla but I stayed for Burn the Floor, Jersey Boys, and Choir of Man. I even had the honor of opening Kinky Boots on the Norwegian Encore as a member of the inaugural company.
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We had a saying on board, "Ship Life isn't easy," because it... isn't easy. Every day was a new challenge, or an old one with a new face. It takes a special breed of human to be on call, ready for the next obstacle, every day for six straight months, and a well of relentless ambition to stay with it as long as possible.
When I look back on the life I've lived on ships, I marvel at how far I've come as a professional and as a person.
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Ten years ago I wouldn't think I was capable of such strength.
Today I know I am capable of anything.