Meet a Character Supervisor
In the Night Garden Live 2017
Company profile
Minor Entertainment was created in 2009 to create spectacular family theatre events in unique spaces. Over the last seven years our first production, In the Night Garden Live (ItNGL), has toured across the UK in a purpose-built inflatable theatre and has been seen by over 800,000 people. In 2017, ItNGL tours again to 4 venues in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
Role summary
ItNGL tours in an inflatable showdome and, after the show, ticketed family groups can meet Igglepiggle or Upsy Daisy in our Meet a Character (MaC) Experience. Customer service is extremely important to us and your contribution will be crucial to making the MaC experience special for every family. You will coordinate the MaC experience on performance days, making sure that every family enjoys their visit whilst ensuring everything runs smoothly & efficiently to keep waiting times to a minimum. You will report jointly to the Venue Manager and Front of House Manager.
Dates and hours:
Contract dates would be Tuesday 23 May – Monday 28 August 2017. You’ll spend approximately three weeks based at each venue the tour visits.
Rehearsals will be in London for three weeks from Monday 1 May.
Current tour dates are as follows:
• Blackheath, London (Performance dates: Thurs 25 May – Sat 10 June)
• Old Deer Park, Richmond (Performance dates: Sat 17 June – Wed 5 July)
• Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham (Performance dates: Wed 12 July – Sun 30 July)
• The Trafford Centre, Manchester (Performance dates: Sat 5 August – Mon 28 August)
When performing, the weekly schedule will include 4 shows per day with 1 day off per week (usually Tuesday). Show times are 10.00, 12.00, 14.00 and 16.00. Anticipated hours on site for the MaC Supervisor are 09.30 – 18.30 daily (breaks included in this period). During the weeks where the Showdome is moving from one venue to the next you’ll need to arrive on site by 12pm on the Thursday.
Person specification
Whilst you might not have toured in an inflatable showdome before, you’ll have experience in a supervisory role in a theatre, event or retail environment. You’re friendly, good with people, great with children and confident in supervising the other members of your team. You’re an excellent communicator and calm under pressure, so you can deal tactfully and efficiently with any customer queries or complaints. You’re IT literate, adept at learning new systems and handling photographic equipment and hardware. You have some experience working with costumes, so will feel confident doing minor repairs and costume maintenance on a regular basis – you’ll also be happy to spend some time with our costume supervisor on learning how to take excellent care of our character costumes.
Job description
• You’ll coordinate the smooth running of the FOH MaC sessions at the end of every show.
• You’ll supervise and motivate the team of MaC performers and MaC staff.
• You’ll manage the list of ticketed family groups using our queuing app. You’ll liaise with our Box Office Coordinator to ensure that the app is always running effectively and any issues are quickly resolved with the app developers.
• You will be the first point of contact for families meeting a character after the show, and will deal with any enquiries or problems calmly, tactfully and promptly.
• You’ll confidently and clearly make announcements over our PA system to keep waiting family groups updated.
• You’ll work closely with the FOH Manager and Projects Manager to set up and maintain the photo system and photographic equipment in each MaC booth.
• You’ll be responsible for the day-to-day cleaning and maintenance of our MaC costumes. You’ll receive training from our Costume Supervisor in advance to ensure you can undertake basic maintenance tasks.
• You’ll liaise with our onsite Wardrobe Manager to ensure any more complex costume maintenance requirements are handled as quickly as possible.
• You’ll assist during the FOH training sessions to ensure that all MaC staff and performers are familiar with our MaC procedures, policies and health & safety arrangements.
Fee and expenses
For a standard 6-day week at the Showdome you will earn in the range of £425-£450, depending on experience.
When you are working in Birmingham or Manchester we’ll provide one standard, off-peak return rail ticket from the station nearest to your home address to each venue and pay a living away allowance of £34.29 per night subject to a minimum of 7 nights (equivalent to £240 for 7 nights). If you don’t live in London, we may also be able to pay a subsistence allowance to assist with accommodation expenses whilst you are working in London.
Holiday
You’ll usually have a few days off between performance venues so holiday dates will be designated throughout the tour in line with statutory entitlements. On holiday days you’ll be paid in line with your average earnings throughout the tour.
How to apply
Please email a covering letter (no more than 500 words please) and your CV to macsupervisor.job@minorentertainment.com with “MaC Supervisor application” in the subject line.
In your covering letter please explain:
1) Why you want to work in our touring inflatable theatre;
2) Why you’re the person we should hire to look after our Meet a Character experience;
3) How you’ll manage this role’s demands, making sure that every family enjoys their visit.
Deadline
Minor Entertainment will be holding interviews at our London office on a rolling basis over the next few weeks, so please apply ASAP for the best chance of being appointed. If this job is still advertised on our Vacancies page) we are still open to applications.