LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Coloradans are one step closer to watching cliff divers, plundering Black Bart's Cave and eating sopapillas at Casa Bonita, but first the restaurant needs to hire hundreds of employees.
"South Park" creators and Casa Bonita owners Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Executive Chef Dana Rodriguez, announced last month that the iconic Lakewood restaurant is opening in May after extensive renovations.
Ahead of the reopening, the restaurant needs to hire more than 550 employees including about 150 kitchen team members, 140 servers, 40 bartenders, 40 cashiers, 30 entertainers including cliff divers and many others.
Some positions will start immediately, while others will start over the coming weeks and months.
Casa Bonita listed the requirements for interested cliff diver applicants on the website including the following:
- Creating a magical experience through interactions with roughly 1500 guests, aged 2-100 a day, with an upbeat and pleasant attitude.
- Diving from platform heights of 16-25 feet.
- Consistently perform the following dives from 16 feet: Front (Half, Twist, Pike, Flip) Back (Half, Twist, Flip,) Inward dive (Tuck/Pike/Straight).
- Must have at least 2 years' experience and experience diving at school, club, or competitive level. We will additionally consider those trained in gymnastics, extreme sports or other acrobatic backgrounds if they can complete the dives consistently from the platform.
- Consistency in performance across the required dives.
- A passion for safety and following diving rules and regulations.
- The ability to know your limits, speak up and do not dive if feeling ill or injury.
- Being in character for 3-6 consecutive hours at a time (with appropriate breaks).
- Speaking loudly, articulately, and clearly to roughly 1500 guests.
- Wearing Company approved costuming created for performer.
- Memorizing scripts, learning cues, and associated activities.
- Staged stunts, staged romance, or choreographed combat.
- Light improv and approved character interactions.
- Must have a good sense of humor and the ability to laugh at the absurdities of life.
- Must be able to change in and out of wet swimsuits quickly and get to Meet and Greets.
The restaurant also listed requirements for interested "dry entertainers" including the following:
- Welcoming and interacting with all guests to help create a magical experience.
- Acting in Skits - able to portray and remember all characters.
- Consistently recreate character to exact specifications.
- Puppeteering.
- Ability to sync your spoken work with the motions of the puppets.
- Has, at minimum, one additional entertainment skill like juggling, slack line, poi balls, singing, dancing, hacky sack, etc.
- Comfortable with portraying staged romance and staged combat.
- Comfortable with speaking loudly, articulating lines well, and clearly to up to 1500 guests.
- Comfortable jumping in pool if needed from 16 feet.
- Comfortable in full costume, including a mask that covers face/ears/head and limits visions (like a gorilla mask).
- Can learn dance steps to a minimum of one traditional dance and perform in public, additional dance added every 6 months.
Casa Bonita released a video featuring Rodriguez and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis:
The "South Park" creators previously said they had plans to dive off the restaurant's famous waterfall and improve the notoriously bad food.
“Casa Bonita has brought so much joy to so many people over the years – we wanted to share the news of our May reopening as our holiday gift to the people of Colorado,” Rodriguez said.
Parker and Stone entered into an agreement to purchase the restaurant for $3.1 million in September 2021.
9NEWS obtained documents detailing the $12 million renovation plans that have been underway since the purchase
PHOTOS: Old Casa Bonita displays and 'Penny Pincher' machine for sale
Casa Bonita renovation: Photos from inside the iconic restaurant
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