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
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.
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.
I don't know what the future has in store for me next, but I am ready.
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.
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.
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.
Ten years ago I wouldn't think I was capable of such strength.
Today I know I am capable of anything.