Presenter Biographies

Steve Bush—Senior Technical Support Representative, Meyer Sound

Steve spends his time helping customers as a Technical Support Representative, providing phone and email support, optimizing systems, and conducting product demos. But he also loves to teach, and his extraordinary breadth of experience and an engaging presentation style make him an in-demand seminar leader. Steve brings to the classroom years of experience as a touring system tech, and a FOH mixer for "oldies" bands, large-scale corporate events, and theatrical shows. In addition he has spent time in recording studios and working for regional sound companies.

David Carmack—CM-ET Entertainment Certification Trainer

Dave is a 36 year veteran of CM and has served many roles during his tenure. His experiences range from 20 years of actual manufacturing and production of the Lodestar, Engineering Research and Development Lab Technician and Product Engineer before becoming the Entertainment Trainer. Dave has taught classes on 6 of the 7 continents.

David Chabira—Director of Show Support, Cirque du Soleil Resident Shows Division

David’s fascination with the circus began at age 14 when he landed his first job selling popcorn and cotton candy at the Arab Shrine Temple Circus in his hometown of Topeka, Kansas. After High School he literally ran away and joined the circus working first as a clown and later as an aerial artist. While performing the death defying high act; The Pirates of the Sky, he met his future wife Christine, a seventh generation circus performer. During their year long engagement, David designed and fabricated a brand new aerial spectacular to perform with his young bride. This act was an instant sensation and the duo toured extensively with circuses worldwide for the next seven years.

In 1990 David retired the act and settled with his wife and two young sons in Christine’s hometown of Sarasota, Florida. During this hiatus from the entertainment industry, David opened three restaurants in Florida but continued to design circus rigging and equipment, and take stagehand calls from IATSE Local 412.

With sawdust in his veins the desire to return to show business was just too strong. In 1997, David applied for a rigging position with Cirque du Soleil for their new production at Disney World. When the company discovered that David was not only a rigger but an avid scuba diver, he was offered a position at Cirque’s upcoming Aquatic Spectacular “O” at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

In January of 1998 David relocated his family across country to begin the arduous creation period for “O” as the Assistant Head of Rigging. In November of 1998, just days after the new show opened, he was promoted to Head of Rigging, a position he held for over nine years. In September of 2007, David was promoted to Technical Director for “O”.

In May of 2013 David accepted the position of Director of Show Support. His team oversees purchasing, training and systems support for all permanent Cirque du Soleil resident shows.

Ben Gasper—Automated and High Performance Rigging Intergrator, Tait Towers Manufacturing

An Alumni of Pennsylvania State University, Ben has been working in the field of automated rigging for over 10 years. Starting out in college building small tracking and counter weight assist systems, he moved to Cirque du Soleil’s production of “O”, at the Bellagio Theater in Las Vegas. During his time with “O” Ben performed regular maintenance on “O’s” 120 axes showroom, half of which were under water, as well as extensive automation upgrades to the entire showroom. In 2011 Ben took over as Assistant Head of Automation for O. In his new role Ben was able to streamline maintenance procedures and finish the integration of new systems to bring O’s automation system up to current industry standards.

In his current role as an automated and high performance rigging integrator, Ben travels the world for new tours primarily focusing on performing flying. This challenging field is incredibly excited at more and more high profile artists are wanting to fly.

Gemma Guy—VP Business Development, Stage Technologies

Having trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the UK, Gemma Guy has been involved in the theatre entertainment industry for more than 15 years. She has had extensive experience managing technical departments both onboard Carnival cruise ships and as technical coordinator in Carnival Corporation’s Miami headquarters. Gemma joined Stage Technologies as a Sales Manager in June 2006, enjoying two years in their London headquarters before being appointed VP Business Development in 2012. She is based out of the Las Vegas office.

Charlie Hulme—Midwest RSM, Philips Entertainment

Charlie Hulme is a 30 year veteran of the entertainment industry, with experience in professional sound reinforcement, AV systems integration, concert lighting, automated lighting manufacturing, and networked lighting control systems. He is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, the Audio Engineering Society, has received ANSI accreditation as a Certified Technology Specialist (CTS), and holds LC certification from the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions.

Sandra Fox—Head of Wardrobe, The Beatles LOVE

Sandra grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and was highly influenced in her career choice by the variety of theatrical productions available to see in the city and surrounding areas. She attended Northern Illinois University, completing a BA in Theater Design and Technology, with an emphasis on costumes.

Before leaving school, Sandra was working three days a week at The Lyric Opera of Chicago; a job she enjoyed for four years. During off-season, Sandra spent time as a first hand at The Goodman Theater in Chicago. She also enjoyed working many different productions as a Wardrobe Attendant with the local union. During one season at The Goodman, Sandra was asked if she would consider becoming the Wardrobe Supervisor for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She accepted, establishing a costume shop for the company, and touring internationally for seven years.

After 9/11, Sandra considered a career change. While working Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and spending time checking out Pharmacy programs at Chicago universities, Sandra was approached by Cirque du Soleil to interview for a touring show. One month later, she traveled around the world to Singapore to become Head of Wardrobe on Alegria.

Sandra enjoyed touring with Cirque, but was looking forward to settling down after touring for so many years. So, she accepted a position as Assistant Head of Wardrobe for KA. This gave her the opportunity to work a creation with Cirque du Soleil, learn about corporate theater, and supervise a large crew. When Cirque du Soleil announced it would be creating a new show at the Mirage, she applied to be Head of Wardrobe.

The Beatles LOVE has been her home since creation, and continues to be a challenge and a joy to Sandra every day.

Robert Mele—Digital Products Field Support Specialist, Meyer Sound

Prior to joining Meyer Sound Robert worked in the Cirque du Soleil audio department for 14 years. His credits include La Nouba™ in Orlando, the Corteo™ touring show, and two resident Las Vegas productions,CRISS ANGEL® Believe™ and The Beatles® LOVE™. Today he spends his time supporting the company's newest generation of digital audio technology, the D-Mitri digital audio platform which have supported theatrical spectacles and diverse installations around the world.

Leonard Miller—Philips Lighting

Leonard Miller, a 27 year industry veteran and graduate of Concordia University in Montreal, has the distinct pleasure of being involved with Cirque since the very beginning in 1984 having been part of the crew bringing the original Cirque Du Soleil to life. Since those early days Leonard has gone on to work for Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures, spent 5 years at sea with several of the major cruise lines, been a roadie for major rock tours and broadcast events and even worked backstage for David Copperfield. Leonard has been with Philips for the past 10 year starting as a regional sales manager for Vari-Lite and is currently the National Sales Manager for the Philips Entertainment Division.

Krista Monson—Conceptor and Stage Director, Cirque du Soleil Special Events

Krista Monson is one of today’s most imaginative and innovative creative, stage, casting and vision directors. Her biggest challenge is pursuing a life of creativity and excellence while influencing others to reach their full potential as artists and human beings.

Krista spent the past nine years with Cirque du Soleil, first as Artistic Director of “O”, then as Casting Director for Cirque du Soleil’s resident shows worldwide and most recently as Conceptor and Stage Director for Cirque du Soleil Special Events. In 2012, she was featured in the CNN series Leading Women, an OMEGA Ladymatic sponsored series showcasing outstanding women at the top of their chosen fields. The series also featured Melinda Gates, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. A native Canadian, she directed and choreographed countless works in music theater, international special events, and multi-disciplinary genres, passionately fusing dance, music, theater and athleticism. She is the recipient of two Elizabeth Sterling Haynes awards in the category of Outstanding Choreography.

Stacey A. Myers—General Manager, "Ka"

Stacey is a native Texan whose interest in the arts started at an early age as she comes from a musical family. She has been involved in entertainment, in one form or another, since middle school. In college she studied all levels music and was involved in the Radio, Television and Film department.

Stacey has been with Cirque du Soleil for over 13 years. She initially joined Alegria in Biloxi as a technician. Later Stacey went on tour with Alegria as a Stage Manager for almost 4 years during which time she became the General Stage Manager, visiting such places as Australia, Canada, and Singapore and opened the market in Mexico.

Stacey is now the General Stage Manager for our resident show KÀ at the MGM Grand Casino and Hotel. She was involved with the creation of KÀ from 2004 and happily continues to face the challenges of one of our largest shows.

Mike Peters—Assistant Head of Rigging, "O"

Mike started as the lead rigger of the maintenance crew for O in 2003 before being promoted to Assistant Head of Rigging in 2007. Mike currently teaches an intro to technical theater class at the College of Southern Nevada. He has taught at UNLV and has been a guest lecturer for previous engagements at Purdue, North Carolina School of the Arts, and other institutions. Prior to Cirque du Soleil Mike worked for Royal Caribbean International on several of their ships for about 3 years as an Entertainment Rigging Specialist. He ran production shows, performed maintenance, and handled all the “Flying by Foy” equipment. He also did installs on new ships. Throughout his career Mike has also ben employed by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Peter Britt Music and Arts festival, the Lied Center, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Mike has a Masters of Fine Arts in Technical Direction from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and a BFA from Southern Oregon State College in Technical Direction. In his free time he enjoys reading, bicycling and spending time with his wife and three children.

Katy Tate

Katy Tate originally hails from Longwood, Fl. Growing up on the competition and convention circuit, she was trained extensively in west coast styles of jazz, contemporary, tap, ballet, hip hop, etc. After graduating high school, she moved to Los Angeles to study at Tremaine Dance Center on a year scholarship program, traveled with Tremaine convention as an assistant and attending University of South Florida Bachelor of Independent Study program through correspondence. After the year was done, Katy signed with KSA, now MSA, dance agency and began working on such projects as the motion picture Beautiful directed by Sally Field, Ally McBeal, music videos, commercials, etc. In 2001, Katy took a full time contract dancing at Disney’s Epcot. While there, she performed with numerous events for Transcon records and started touring with Brooke Hogan as a dancer. She began to put more focus on her choreography work throughout this time, producing small stage shows and videos. In 2002, Katy accepted the role of “Go to Hell Kitty” in a production of Chicago in New Orleans. In 2003, Katy returned to Disney at the Animal Kingdoms’ production of Tarzan Rocks. In 2005, Katy moved to Las Vegas to perform in the show Fashionistas. She became the resident choreographer for Dreamhawk Productions, choreographing events for Honda, Choice Hotels, Mountain’s Edge, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Nivea and more. Her choreography took on more of a role when she started to perform in Bette Midler’s The Showgirl Must Go On. On her breaks from the show, she would travel to produce events, set choreography on studios and teach on dance conventions. Throughout her performance career, Katy performed for Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah, Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List and many more. After Bette came to a close, the position of Dance Master for Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE came open. Katy started in 2010 with Cirque where she oversees the dancers’ operations, choreographies, integrations, etc. She has staged and set pieces for Life is Beautiful music festival, Dodgers Halftime Show, CBS special The GRAMMYS Salute The Beatles: The Night that Changed America, NASCAR Awards, Paul McCartney MusiCares Person of the Year, The View and more. In 2013, Jerry Mitchell added a piece done by Katy and her choreography partner, Melena Rounis, to his production Peepshow in Las Vegas. Katy has a great passion for the art of creation and teaching. She continues to teach regularly in Las Vegas and now hosts a dance workshop called Kick for a Cure to benefit Cancer Treatment Centers of America. She is always excited to share the cyclical experience of teaching the art, sharing the love of mindful movement and purpose.

Jeff Wilson—Operations Production Manager, Mystère

Jeff’s production roots are in regional theater. Starting as a carpenter in the scene shop with Virginia Stage Company at the historic Wells Theater in Norfolk, Virginia, he soon made the journey across the country to join the crew in the shop at the Denver Center Theatre Company in Denver, Colorado in 2000. He has fond memories of coming home covered in spray adhesive, welding soot, and black paint, busily building shows day in and day out. He then took a position as Technical Director for the Education Department for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, where he stayed for 5 years, overseeing a small theater and 14 studio spaces.

The urge to move to something bigger pulled him towards Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, where he began as Head of Carpentry on Criss Angel’s “BeLIEve” at the Luxor in 2009. He spent just over 3 years learning the ins and outs of Cirque du Soleil (and magic shows – what a trip), before accepting a position as Technical Director at Cirque’s production of Zumanity, and NYNY Hotel and Casino. He is now the Operations Production Manager for Mystère at Treasure Island, where he oversees all technical aspects of “the place where it all began” for Cirque du Soleil’s Resident Shows Division. He is particularly proud to have been there for Mystère’s 20th anniversary this past December – and hopes to see Mystère do 20 more!