It is easy to miss Bruce Rickerd during the Mystere show at the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, especially when there is a man balancing upside down on the foot of another, or a giant inflatable snail emerging from the massive moving stage or the gasp-inducing drops from acrobats above.
However, he is there, up high on the right or rather, stage left, playing guitar in just about the same place he has been for every one of the past 10,000 shows in the 21-year history of Mystere to tie the music and sound effects to action on stage along with a band — that’s right, he has never missed a day of work.
It never occurred to the 62-year-old musician to do otherwise.
“This is not work for me,” he said days before he would be feted on Saturday — the 1,000th show — with confetti canons and an onstage finale bow where a Guinness Book of World Records judge is expected to say Rickerd has broken the record for most theatrical performances by a male musician.
Granted, it will be for having performed in 9,958 shows, still the most, as the record-keeping body continues to pour through timesheets and employee records that might backup Rickerd’s involvement in the remaining 42 shows.
Copious stage manager notes from each performance over the years helped to confirm quite a bit, with Rickerd’s name never listed on the “out” list.
The musician is down to earth about his accolade. A member of the show joked that he has got Cal Ripken Jr, who played a record 2,632 consecutive baseball games for the Baltimore Orioles, beat.
Anyone looking for a secret to Rickerd’s longevity, including his ability to avoid catching a bug requiring a sick day, or a routine that was a motivational key, will not get one.
There is no secret, no routine. Unless you count his regularity to arrive at work and attend the sound check, eat and get his costume on before the show. He did not plan to do anything differently in the days leading up to his record-breaking appearance.
How does he do it then?
“It’s very simple. You show up,” Rickerd said.
When he discovered he had a herniated disc a couple of weeks before the production went dark in January one year, he showed up.
There was that one time, though, that his usual 20-minute commute turned into two-and-a-half hours and he got to the theater with 10 minutes to spare, throwing on his costume without buttoning the buttons.
Rickerd’s work ethic might be traced to his time spent as a band leader in his native Canada. If he did not show, the whole band would not work, he said.
The husband and father of two grown children got his start playing guitar at the age of 13.
Born in the Ottawa area, Rickerd said he spent most of his time in Canada in Montreal, Quebec. While a band leader there, he hired keyboardist Benoit Jutrus, who would go on to compose the music for some of Cirque’s shows, including Mystere.
Jutrus called one day, several years after leaving the band, to tell Rickerd that Cirque was doing a permanent show in Las Vegas — its first — and asked if he wanted to play. It would be a five-year gig, he said Jutras told him.
As of Saturday, Mystere and Rickerd remain, 21 years later, to celebrate 10,000 shows for both.
“And then lights out, we’re out of there,” he said, but just until he returns for the next show.
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