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Feeding the circus
A chat with Cirque du Soleil’s food guru
By Melissa Campbell and Alex Rewey
The way we write out menus is for one day. We’ll pick a country and stick to it. So if we pick Italy, the whole day would be Italian. And then the next day, we’ll move on to say, Greece.
Delafield, Wisc. native Frank Harroun has been feeding the cast and crew of Cirque du Soleil for the past year. He’ll be back in town next week, cooking, chopping and cleaning while the cast performs its fantastic acrobatics. It’s no easy feat feeding such a large and international group. The UWM Post sat down with Harroun via teleconference to find out what it’s like to feed the circus.
Melissa Campbell: How did you get from Delafield to Cirque du Soleil?
Frank Harroun: Well, I moved out of Wisconsin as fast as I could. Let’s see, it’s been six years since I left. In 2002 I moved to Florida and lived in Venice for a few years. I worked at an outside bar/ grill type place, like your typical Florida restaurant.
One of the owners did some tournaments for the PGA. Catering and all that stuff. I got into that a couple of years ago, and that led to this. The company I worked for called me and said, “Hey, this seems like this would be a great opportunity.” Lo and behold, a year later and I’m still here.
MC: What’s a typical day like for you?
FH: We generally start… well, there is no such thing as a typical day. But we start around 8:30 or 9 a.m. We come in, clean up, restock the dining room with various fruits, vegetables, beverages, all that stuff. Then we’ll make lunch and go from there…After lunch we do the same thing. And we’re gone each day by about 9 in the evening.
MC: What kinds of food do you prepare?
FH: It’s everything. The way we write out menus is for one day. We’ll pick a country and stick to it. So if we pick Italy, the whole day would be Italian. And then the next day, we’ll move on to say, Greece. It’s pretty much whatever we can think of that is good and nutritious.
MC: What’s the most exciting or enjoyable part of your job?
FH: Being in a different place each week. You’re in a different city and a different venue. There are different challenges you face each week.
The cast and crew, they’ll fly everywhere. But we drive so we get to see all of North America pretty much.
MC: Is that because you have to bring equipment?
FH: Yeah, we’re pretty much self-contained. The only thing we set up in the venue is the dining room. We actually cook outside. The equipment takes up the same space as two tour buses. If you were to see us, you wouldn’t believe that everything comes out of just that.
Alex Rewey: How many tour dates do you do in a year?
FH: We do roughly 40. We’re in a different city each week. We’ll do 10 weeks on, and then have two weeks off.
AR: How many times have you seen the show now?
FH: Oh, I don’t know. I’ve seen the show probably 75 times now. It’s still pretty amazing every time you watch it.
AR: What can we expect to see next week?
FH: To be completely entertained. It’s a pretty amazing show for what they do day in and day out. It’s really something to see. The best way to really describe it? Most likely after it’s done, you’ll feel like a little kid.
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