Hey ixDreamxofxDisney! Remember me? lol
I hope you read this before your interview, but if not, I hope this helps anyone else looking for this advice.
I applied again and had my phone interview two Thursday's ago (Jan. 27) and my number one choice was Character Attendant too! Here are some of the questions my interview lady asked me:
1) What do you think is the most important thing to being a Character Attendant? (Like, imagine if you were one, what adivce would you give to a new CA?)
I said things along the lines of, you have to be able to understand your character by reading their body language. You'll have to be a quick thinker for when your character has to leave and expect questions from children like, "WHY?!"
2) Imagine you were the Character Attendant for Mickey Mouse, and the line was getting longer and longer, but Mickey had to go offstage. What would you tell your guests?*
Quick advice for this question, the characters have strict time-schedules that they have to keep so that Mickey isn't on Main Street while a different Mickey is performing in front of the Castle. So it's important that he gets "off-stage" in time to keep the magic alive. So your answer should involve something along the lines of, "Mickey would have to go, no matter what, but I could explain to the rest of the guests that Mickey will be back and give them specific times and the specific place he'll be at that time." (or something along those lines.)
3) Do you have any experience in theater, like being a backstage manager? Did you prefer being backstage or a performer? Why?
This one was asked of me because I did happen to perform with a theater group for nine years and I've done over 15 stage performances with shows lasting two to three weekends. So I'm guessing the experience I've had with being a backstage manager is the fact that I have told performers when to go on and off stage, any changes that have been made, etc.
Another thing to keep in mind is that a character attendant is basically the bearer of bad news. They present the character and everything is fine and dandy, but when you have a particularly popular character, you'll have to tell the guests that the character has to leave and there are NO exceptions. You can't let "one more" guest because then it is seen as "Well, you let them through, why not me?" and that just sounds like a mess. And often times there is a language barrier so, all that guest understands is there is someone preventing them from seeing their "all-time favorite character." So, in that aspect, it's kinda scary. But then again, you get to see the smiles on people's faces when they finally do see the character, you get to interact with the little princesses and pirates seeing their heros and I think that, for me, would get me through the "bad" things.
But keep in mind that this is just me thinking about the role and I haven't actually expereinced this for myself, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just super excited.
I hope this helps!
Any phone interview tips for this role? What sort of prior experience do they look for when casting for this role? My current job is as an usher at the local concert/show venue in my town (a pretty big place, actually) and I've had a previous job as a horseback trail guide giving spiels to the guests and what not. Do you think these would help my chances?
