Starcruiser Performer Shake Up

Vipor51

Active Member
Original Poster
Just curious of any insider intel on the performer shake up's at Starcruiser and the motivation behind it.

Visited the Cruiser last May and have to be honest the performers such as Sage Starkey and Matt Pablo really made the trip incredible. Their talent is off the charts.

Both have recently announced their departure from performing at Starcruiser.

Is the Cruiser going away? Is the staff upset which in return will impact the guest experience? When is the last day both Sage and Matt will perform?
 

mm52200

Well-Known Member
Should we wonder any about their contracts not being renewed or it's just SOP?
Literally SOP. Equity contracts come up for renewal every year for every offering. There were frequent switch ups at Citizens of Hollywood every year.
Lots go into it that we aren’t privy to, how they are as employees at the work place, whether casting still likes their performance or not, all kinds of stuff.

Hot take on my end: the fact that these two performers have such a cultivated following on Tiktok probably didn’t do them any favors…Disney doesn’t want people to know who the actual performers, they want the guests to separate the two, and I imagine especially on such an immersive offering such as Starcruiser…but that’s just my opinion.
 

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
Literally SOP. Equity contracts come up for renewal every year for every offering. There were frequent switch ups at Citizens of Hollywood every year.
Lots go into it that we aren’t privy to, how they are as employees at the work place, whether casting still likes their performance or not, all kinds of stuff.

Hot take on my end: the fact that these two performers have such a cultivated following on Tiktok probably didn’t do them any favors…Disney doesn’t want people to know who the actual performers, they want the guests to separate the two, and I imagine especially on such an immersive offering such as Starcruiser…but that’s just my opinion.
I’ve been following Allears forever and I didn’t even realize that Sage was a performer on the Star Cruiser. I only know him from Allears, he does a lot of videos with their YouTube channel. So that could definitely be a factor.
 

Zummi Gummi

Pioneering the Universe Within!
Literally SOP. Equity contracts come up for renewal every year for every offering. There were frequent switch ups at Citizens of Hollywood every year.
Lots go into it that we aren’t privy to, how they are as employees at the work place, whether casting still likes their performance or not, all kinds of stuff.

Hot take on my end: the fact that these two performers have such a cultivated following on Tiktok probably didn’t do them any favors…Disney doesn’t want people to know who the actual performers, they want the guests to separate the two, and I imagine especially on such an immersive offering such as Starcruiser…but that’s just my opinion.
I think you hit the nail on the head. It wouldn’t be the first time a performer became too “well known” for Disney. Thinking of a certain Orlando based actor/comedian with quite the social media following.
 
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MagicHappens1971

Well-Known Member
Just curious of any insider intel on the performer shake up's at Starcruiser and the motivation behind it.

Visited the Cruiser last May and have to be honest the performers such as Sage Starkey and Matt Pablo really made the trip incredible. Their talent is off the charts.

Both have recently announced their departure from performing at Starcruiser.

Is the Cruiser going away? Is the staff upset which in return will impact the guest experience? When is the last day both Sage and Matt will perform?
The job has very high burnout rates for both the actors and the crew, which is one of the reasons the majority of "passenger services" is CPs. The actor's equity contracts are over, and they're probably looking for something new, there may also be some truth to the fact that those who have established prominent online presences. Disney typically does not enjoy performers saying they play as those characters, I wonder why this has been different as most of the entertainment befriends previous passengers on social media and actively post who they play.
 

kingdead

Well-Known Member
For the amount of effort the actors put in, Disney kind of has to let them use it as publicity or at least as a way to build a following, right? I'm sure the actors want to use this experience as a stepping stone to something else, nobody wants to do 12-hour improv with a bunch of costumed Star Wars fans forever.
 

DoleWhipDrea

Well-Known Member
I don't know how much the actors leaving were being paid, but I remember looking at two job postings for female performers for the Starcruiser and Disney was only going to be paying $19/hr. For what these performers have to do and for how many hours the experience runs, that's way too low...
 

kingdead

Well-Known Member
I don't know how much the actors leaving were being paid, but I remember looking at two job postings for female performers for the Starcruiser and Disney was only going to be paying $19/hr. For what these performers have to do and for how many hours the experience runs, that's way too low...
I thought that you were confusing this with the server staff but you're right... there has to be some sort of sweetener here that I as a civilian don't understand, like some of the actors are getting union membership or a share of the tips. Or maybe it's just that the market is so bad that this is a plum position? I guess you're not putting your back out in the warehouse and you don't have to smell like the fast food fryer?
 

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