Over the course of three months I was trained in live sound, fall safety, OSHA, and the culture of Cirque du Soleil. I had the chance to visit every resident Las Vegas production and take in-depth tours of the spaces, learning about how the shows were constructed and how they operate. My “home show” where I spent most of the summer was Michael Jackson ONE. They trained me to take over their audio deck track; I was responsible for guitar handoffs during performances as well as preparing and monitoring all guitars, microphones, and IEMS used in the show. I also spent two weeks with the audio team at Kà learning their audio deck track as well.

A couple of weeks before the start of the internship, I participated in the USITT Training Ground program where I traveled with a group of college-age theatre technicians to visit most of the Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas. Each day was dedicated entirely to touring and learning about one show, and the audio-centric people including myself had the honor of having the sound designer, Jonathan Deans, be a part of our group each day. He provided heaps of fascinating insight, wisdom, and anecdotes from both his work with Cirque du Soleil and otherwise.