CREDIT: PROVIDED BY CARRIE SAGER FROM FLIP PUBLICITY
A Fanshawe grad is working behind the scenes in Cirque du Soleil's upcoming amazing CORTEO tour, which will be sweeping across Ontario this summer.

Fanshawe alumnus, Zachary Fraser, is on tour this summer as a rigger for Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo show.

The show pays homage to the classic circus round.

As a rigger, Fraser will be working behind the scenes, helping setting up the stage and responsible for the maintenance of the performance equipment in the Corteo tour.

When younger, Fraser said he enjoyed live shows and was enthralled with the lighting and effects that went into making the performances.

Throughout his school days, he involved himself as much as he could with tech related stuff in shows and decided to attend Fanshawe for its electrical engineering program.

While at the College, he worked at the old [London] Tap House as a club promotor, then moved on to becoming a stage hand for London Music Hall, loading in artists at the music hall for various events.

He stayed in London for two more years as he attended the newly created theater arts-technical production program at Fanshawe.

After graduation, Fraser wanted to expand his horizons in the industry.

“When it was finally near time for graduation I knew I wanted to keep learning, growing and being able to explore moving to a bigger community theater,” Fraser said. “One night I saw an ad online for a stage hand position with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and once I looked into it, I knew it was what I wanted. I applied and after a few interviews I was on a plane to New York to board my first ship.”

His trips led him from the U.S. to Asia and was trained as a rigger during his travels.

Seven months after beginning to work on a cruise from Asia to Australia, Fraser ended up in car accident and was flown back to Canada from Sydney.

Not long after coming back he was contacted about a new job.

“Two days later an old boss of mine that now works for Cirque called me up and told me the following weekend that Cirque du Soleil was having a recruitment event to hire technicians, so I applied for an invite and got accepted and was on a road to Montreal the day after. After a full day of different challenges and tests and interviews I was asked to join the company. It has now been just over a year working for Cirque du Soleil and I love every minute of it. I have always dreamed to work for Cirque when I was younger but never thought I would ever make it here,” Fraser said.

According to a media release by Flip Publicity, the name Corteo is derived from the Italian word cortege, which means ‘a joyous procession’ and is a festive parade that has been imagined by a clown.

Fraser said that he is thrilled that CORTEO will be showing in Canada.

“Corteo is a classic Cirque du Soleil production, besides to be one of the biggest touring shows. It is a tribute to the traditional circus. It tells a story of a clown who is dreaming about his funeral, but in a festive way. It shows all the greatest moments of his life through amazing acrobatic performances. It has an amazing stage where the audience will be seating on both sides of it. It is definitely something that people enjoy,” Fraser said.

CORTEO will be appearing in these locations in Ontario this summer:

• Oshawa on June 21 to June 24 at the Tribute Communities Centre

• Ottawa on June 27 to July 1 at the Canadian Tire Centre

• Kingston on July 4 to July 8 at the Rogers K-Rock Centre

• St. Catharines on July 11 to July 15 at the Meridian Centre

Tickets can be bought at cirquedusoleil.com/corteo.