Audrey Brisson-Jutras and Emily Duncan-Brown

Ever wonder what it would be like to wear incredible costumes, act, sing, dance and soar high above the crowd as a star in the magical world of the circus?  Meet Audrey Brisson-Jutras (12 years old, from Montreal) and Emily Duncan-Brown (11 years old, from Toronto, Ontario Canada). These two stars share the excitement, the hard work, and stunning creativity that forms the world of Cirque du Soleil.

Renee: How long have you been with Cirque du Soleil?

Emily: Two or three months but I've been training for a while though.

Audrey: One year.

Renee: Tell us about the part you play. What's the character like?
Emily: It's this little girl that gets carried off on an adventure. It's like "Alice in Wonderland" but more amazing because she meets different people from different times. I feel like each Act has a different meaning. One might display racism and how the poor build towers of strength. Each act is part of the girl herself and when she goes on this adventure she just loses the bad in her life and gets taken over by the good.

Renee: How did you get the part?

Emily: This is a weird story. When I first got an agent she automatically said, there's an opening for Cirque du Soleil so I auditioned and I thought oh wow! This is the best audition I've ever done. I'm gonna get the part. I'm so happy, happy, happy.  A month goes by and I didn't hear anything. So, I thought, I didn't get the part. Oh well. I come home from choir one day and my mom's like, "Emily, you got a call back for Cirque du Soleil!" And I'm like "Wow!" They told us to learn three songs. So, I learned a jazz, a folk and a Broadway song. So they flew me to Montreal and I did the call back. And another month went by and nothing. My mom keeps calling every week saying is there any news. And, they said, well, the other girl's not being considered anymore. It's you or no one. Finally I got the yes and I freaked out.

Renee: What's a day like for you when you're working?

Audrey: In the morning, I wake up at nine o'clock and at ten thirty I have school until three fifteen. Then I have practice for rope skipping or singing and then there's show call to start warming up for the show.

Emily: School for four or five hours and then warm up and putting on your make-up and then...the show.

Renee: How do you prepare for a show?

Audrey: First, one hour before the show, I warm up my voice for half an hour and then I warm up my body just to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself.

  Emily: I prepare for a show by doing exercises on a big rubber ball and that helps warm up my body and my back. Then I warm up my voice with one of the musicians who plays the cello.

Renee: What do you like most about starring in a show like this?

Audrey: Just everything.

Emily: I like the ending when people are applauding. It's nice to know that after all your hard work, they like it and that they're praising you.

Renee: What's it like being in a big show like this?

Audrey: At first it was exciting. But now (after a year) it's getting more serious. It's still exciting but not like before. But I love it. I can see all the new cities.

Emily: At the beginning I had no idea what it would be like. I kept pinching myself. I mean, being here. Is this for real? And, when I started to sing on my first performance I was shaking. But it's okay now. Being a part of this show is really amazing.

  Renee: What's the toughest thing you've had to learn how to do?

Audrey: For the show, it's not to hurt myself. When I hurt myself sometimes I can't do a show so it's gonna be tough. Also, I think to play a little girl eight years old when I'm twelve, you know to be younger than my age and be different than my own personality. The little girl in the show is all excited and likes to run everywhere and see everything. It takes all my energy and sometimes it's difficult but I just get used to it. Even though I can be excited and run around, I like to just sit and sometimes read and do nothing. I'm a girl who thinks too much sometimes.

Emily: The toughest thing I had to learn here? The words. I had to learn the words for the call back in three days. So, I'm sitting there at the tape recorder saying what? A putakwado? I'm writing it down. I listened to it at night and through the day. It was really, really tough 'cause you know there is no real language in the show. It's just gibberish. Makes your mouth all icky.

Renee: What's the coolest thing that's happened to you so far?

Audrey: Singing in front of a lot of people. I like that.

Emily: The coolest thing that's happened was the audition because that had been the first audition I'd been to for a long time. And I met Sylvester Stallone. He was nice. I liked him. That was a big change. I've never met any stars. The audition and that were the coolest things.

Renee: What's the most fun you've had so far?

Audrey: To be with the people, you know, who work here. Everybody does a big joke and you know, makes fun of the mistakes they made the night before. Just being together. It's fun being part of the group here. To have all the friends and not be in the corner doing nothing.

Emily: The beach. On tour, the places we stay in are really nice.

Renee: Where do you live while on tour?

Emily: I think in the next city, we'll be living in a trailer which will be really fun 'cause we get to stay on site. But, right now, we're in a nice big home because there are a lot of us living together. Five children and two adults. It's kind of like having a big, happy family.

Renee: It must be hard to be away from your friends when you're traveling. What do you do as a family to keep together? How do you stay in touch?

Audrey: You miss your family and you need to be strong. They don't travel with me but my dad, because he's the composer, he's with me maybe five days in one city and my mom comes sometimes. I just call them and write on the Internet but it's okay.

Emily: We phone every three or four days. I write as much as I can. I miss them a lot but I know that they think this is a great opportunity for me and if they were in my situation they would be doing the same thing. I think they're proud of me, I hope.

Renee: What's it like going to school when you're on tour with a show like this?

  Emily: We have one teacher and four kids and lots of work but it's good 'cause our teacher knows that we don't have very much time so she doesn't give us any homework. There's a completely full day. You're always working. You never have time to sit and daydream because, since there's only four of us, the teacher is always there you know, saying what are you doing now? There are all different grade levels. We've got a girl in the last year of high school, someone in grade six, I'm grade seven, and there's a grade eight. So we're all learning completely different things. Sometimes we have the same subjects. It's pretty much like regular school, same subjects just more attention which is sometimes better.


Renee: Is this anything like the school you went to before joining Cirque du Soleil?

Emily: No. I went to a computer technology school. But, I didn't learn anything like history or geography. Just special advanced courses. You know, like scan-tech and learning lab, things like that. I think maybe I prefer history, geology, ecology, stuff like that because it's more normal. It's more like having a regular life. In the position I'm in, you just want to have something to convince you you're still normal.


Renee: How did you become a singer?

Emily: Well, my mom's a singer and my whole family's musical so I kind of was brought up in a musical family. I love singing.

Audrey: Yeah, my mom's a singer so she just helped and taught me.

Renee: Are there any special classes you took, to help you learn to be a singer?

Emily: Private singing lessons. Mostly choir too.

Audrey: Well, I learned piano, cello, violin and flute so that helped me a little bit.

Renee: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as an actress/singer so far?

Audrey: Physically, I think to just jump around and do the contortion and everything. That's kind of a big thing I think.  Sometimes I'm looking at them (the other stars in the show) and I'm like how did they do that? And, even if you're sad or mad or you're not in the mood to do the show, you have to be there and you have to sing. You have to do a good performance.

Emily: Doing lots of operas and a couple of musicals. In my choir I've played lots of roles, like Cinderella". I was in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in the Canadian production. I was the smallest and they threw me up in the air. I was seven when I did it. Everyone else was 15 and 16. In Pagliacci, another opera, I got to wear a bright pink dress while everyone else was wearing black. Guess I stood out to the audience. Also [I played] Fantine in Les Miserables. That was a big role.

Renee: What are some really important skills an actor/singer needs to have?

Emily: I think confidence and courage. To build my confidence I take two breaths in and blow them out slowly and just picture myself doing a perfect job and you just go whoosh and you're good. When you say things like, I'm gonna do so bad, then you do a bad job but, if you think of yourself doing a great job, it turns out always good.

Renee: Do you have any role models? Who would you like to be when you grow up?

Emily: Julie Andrews. But I want to be my own person. I don't want to be like anyone else. I want to be an individual.

Audrey: Well, I wouldn't like to be like any one person but I admire my dad a lot. My dad composed the music and my mom was my coach for singing and everything. Working with my mom it was like okay, am I with my mom or with my coach now? Sometimes you're confused and everything. In the future I think I would like to stay in singing, performing. Just doing something that I can show to the people.

Renee: What advice would you give to other girls who are thinking about a career in show business?

Emily: Try as hard as you can and if you don't make it, don't give up. Stay calm, be cool and have courage and faith in yourself.

Audrey: The show is very fun and you hang out with the people and that's exciting but it's hard so if you think that the tour is the best thing in the world, remember it's very hard. It's a lot of work and you need to just be patient.

Renee: What do you want to do in the future? What are your goals and dreams?

Emily: I haven't made up my mind about that yet. I think I want to have a career in psychology, maybe 'cause I like to make people feel better about themselves. I dreamed I would get this part and I dream I can go on to do better and more things like this.

Audrey: To be a singer.

Renee: What do you like to do just for fun?

Audrey: I like Rock 'n Roll, something that moves, not a classic... or comedy; go to the beach and look at the people.

Emily: I love to swim. I like to play the piano and the clarinet and oboe. I like to read horrors and mysteries and sometimes romance.

Renee: What's cool about being a girl today?

Audrey: I like the clothes. I like how most girls are feminine. I like mostly everything about being a girl.

Emily: I think young girls get a lot of choices. It's a lot better than what it was before, you know, with the sexism. But, being a girl today gives you a lot more opportunities and hope for the future.

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