Life’s a circus for this Cirque du Soleil wardrobe head

Marketplace Morning Report’s “What’s That Like?” series is exploring the odd, unusual and downright weird jobs that help prop up our economy.

Alexandra Mancini first saw KOOZA, a traveling show from Cirque du Soleil, during her first year studying at university.

“I remember being like, ‘Oh my god, this — this is what I want to do,'” she recalled.

That dream has become a reality. Mancini now works as head of wardrobe for KOOZA.

Starting out, Mancini worked at a theme park, which provided her a second sort of education. She was able to work with musical theater performers, acrobats, mascots and even developed prosthetics for Halloween events.

Some of the acrobats Mancini worked with began getting hired with Cirque du Soleil. So, she thought why not try her chance?

“I started hustling a little bit, and I was very bold. I don’t think I would do this now, but at the time, I got the artistic director’s email address, and I was like, ‘Hey, here’s my CV. Here’s my portfolio. Can you have a look? I’d love to work with you,'” she said. “I did that enough, and then kind of got a break.”

Working as KOOZA’s head of wardrobe is no easy gig — there’s travel involved, as well as the time, effort and creativity that goes into and constructing and maintaining costumes for performers who do elaborate stunts and movements.

“In each show, you’ll see about 1,200 costume pieces,” Mancini said. “We have 53 artists, each of them have about three to four costume changes, so you can see how it multiplies quite quickly.”

To hear Mancini describe some of the fantastical costumes, characters and moves her job involves, click the audio player above.