From Central to Cirque du Soleil

by Courtney Durst ‘19

Central graduates are known to venture far and wide after tossing their caps on commencement day. For theater graduate Cat Rebelskey ‘16, it only took a little charisma on a Central theater trip to land the internship of her dreams with Cirque du Soleil.

Q: How did you get to Cirque dr Soleil?

A:  It all started when I went to USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology) in Salt Lake City in spring 2016 with a small group of theater students and technical director Tom Thatcher. On our last night, the convention hosted a party to celebrate the end of the event, so I went to the dance floor. I met a women who had FABULOUS shoes on. Of course I told her that, and we got to chatting like we were best friends and then she began to ask me about my theater interest. I explained my interest (I was preparing for graduation in less than two months), then she tells me, “I am the company manager for Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE, and I would love to be your mentor — here is my email.” I emailed her the following week. After interviewing with LOVE, I was recommended to interview for the SPARK internship which I am currently in!

Q: What is your internship like?

A: As SPARK’s Logistics Guru (that’s code for “intern”), I manage many details of our client experiences from ticketing and meals to invitations and gift bags. I have worked with top-performing companies, including Kmart Australia, OpsGenie, MGM Resorts International and Expedia.

The best part of my experience so far is all the people, corporations and clients I have met and worked with. I enjoy learning the office and corporate side to theater while still being able to use my theater background. The most challenging part of this experience is accepting that I am young, and that is okay. I remind myself that it is a journey. It won’t happen overnight, but one day I will be seen as an equal and not just as a young person.

Q: What are your future goals?

A: My dream, and I mean BIG DREAM is to be like Oprah, but the Latin version, and have my own talk show! But I can also see myself being a company manager or production admin for (maybe one day) a Cirque du Soleil show, or just running my own theater. The future is so unknown, but I am just ready to experience it all and see where life takes me.

Every experience in the theater department at Central grew me into the professional I am today and I will forever be grateful to Mary Jo Sodd, Tom Thatcher, Ann Wilkinson and Greg Gillette for getting me to this level.