Studio art major flies high touring with Cirque du Soleil

Usually when someone runs away to join the circus, it implies they’re escaping a difficult reality. For Hannah Samuell ’09 it meant achieving a career dream. Samuell was set on joining Cirque du Soleil before setting foot on campus at The College of Wooster. Though her path wasn’t at all what she expected, her liberal arts foundation helped her find her way and fly high under the big top.

Samuell’s initial draw to Wooster came from its strong study abroad programming. But first, she needed an academic direction. Majoring in theatre and dance with a minor in French was the “only way in” to the global entertainment group — or so she believed. “I took one theatre tech class, and it was not for me,” Samuell said. As a lover of photography, she pivoted to a studio art major. “I thought I could become a photographer for Cirque, but I know now that’s definitely not a thing.”

Her language goals didn’t pan out as planned either. French was full so she signed up for Russian and even lived in the Russian Culture House for three years. “It was the best place to live, and great prep work for where I am now,” said Samuell. “It’s funny looking back on it now and seeing how everything played out and absolutely nothing went according to plan.”  

The study abroad aspirations turned into study away with a semester-long photography internship at Saturday Night Live. Samuell sharpened her technical skills in commercial photography and learned how to function in fast-paced creative spaces. Both the show and the big city forced her out of her shell. “It really opened my mind to new experiences, and I think that’s where I caught the travel bug.”  

The internship served as the perfect launchpad for her I.S., a study of character through portraiture. At the time, Samuell’s influences from Richard Avedon and Annie Leibovitz made her think about how she can tell stories without words but purely through visual  

narratives. “I came to school just wanting to take pretty pictures, but Wooster didn’t let us stop there,” said Samuell. “I.S. was preparing us for bigger things.”  

After graduating, Samuell worked in a photo lab and retail before moving to Nashville to work at the Grand Ole Opry. When Covid-19 devastated the performing arts and entertainment industry, she was forced back to retail to make ends meet, using her art degree as a visual merchandiser at IKEA in Columbus and Kansas City before moving to the most interesting city she could think of. In Las Vegas, Samuell found her fit as the merchandise manager for the resident Cirque du Soleil show, KÁ. Then they offered her a job on tour.  

Now as the guest experience supervisor for Cirque’s longest-running big-top show, KOOZA, Samuell has been on the international tour since December 2023. This year the 120-person core team heads to Singapore and three cities in Australia. With each move to a new city, her team unpacks and rebuilds the entire workspace. “It’s kind of like packing up your entire office, loading it into a truck, and setting it up again a week later,” joked Samuell. They repeat the process four-to-six times a year.  

Samuell handles everything that’s public facing, so she hires and trains around 150 local staff in each city, including ushers, box office staff, and other roles that help shows run smoothly. Even with the added challenge of a language barrier, Samuell finds ways to connect and enjoys picking up little bits of culture through them.  

When asked about her favorite parts of the job, Samuell said, “I love that I get to travel. Now, in a way, I get to live out those study abroad dreams, except I get paid for it.” She also finds deep meaning in the experiences she helps to create for guests. “Especially now, when the world can feel a little heavy, it’s so important to have moments of escape,” said Samuell. “Seeing the joy and amazement on people’s faces is really special.”  

Her time at Wooster was not what she expected, but like her work on KOOZA, it was meaningful (and that last-minute switch to Russian gave Samuell an in with Cirque’s Russian acrobats). “At Wooster, I learned to think differently, to push boundaries, and to take any class that sparked my curiosity, even if it had nothing to do with my major, just for the sake of learning something new,” said Samuell.  

Now, 16 years later, the value of a liberal arts education is especially clear to her in the entertainment world. Touring life requires adaptability, resilience, empathy, and constant creative thinking. “This job isn’t for the faint of heart,” she said.  

Featured image: Hannah Samuell ’09, provided by the source.

This story originally appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of the Wooster Magazine.

Posted in Alumni on March 9, 2026.