TI's sirens come from colorful backgrounds

Stunt woman and singer find their places in show

It takes a lot more than a pretty face to be a siren at Treasure Island's Sirens of TI show.

Victoria Taber and Charidy Sullivan-Lafontaine, aka Sinnamon, have colorful backgrounds in several other areas. Taber is a stunt woman with a mortuary technicians license, while Sullivan-Lafontaine spent the last few years as a principal singer/performer at some of the Strip's most popular shows.

Taber was born in England and moved to California with her family before she turned 1. She was physically active from the time she could remember, swimming competitively and playing water polo in high school. But the rush of sports competition just wasn't enough to satisfy her. She wanted to be a professional stunt woman.

"I made the decision that that's what I wanted to do," she said. "In the summer of 1998 I went to the United Stuntman's Association training camp."

The grueling camp teaches stunt trainees everything from how to safely be lit on fire to combat fighting. She also appeared on the first season of the MTV reality show "Tough Enough," which followed several people through the training to become a professional wrestler. Taber injured her sternum and had to leave the show.

She knew that in the dangerous line of work she was preparing for, getting injured was a possibility. In between training and working she pursued a career in forensic anthropology from San Francisco State University.

"I was reading a lot of true crime books at the time and became interested in anthropology," she said. "I have a mortician's license, which I got in May of last year."

But she wasn't ready yet to delve into her second career choice. A friend told her about a stunt clinic available a year ago in Las Vegas that was looking for girls to star in the Sirens show.

"Two weeks later I was here for the audition," she said. "It was the best decision I ever made."

For Sullivan-Lafontaine, becoming a Siren was a break from the same type of performing she had done for years. Sinnamon, is the sassy red-haired female lead in the show. Although she doesn't fly through the air as much as Taber, she had to go through intense training to learn how to climb ropes, sword fight and use ship terminology.

"I was searching for something new in this town," she said. "I'm a singer and dancer, and I was tired of doing the same old song and dance. I have a musical theater background, and I'm an athletic person as well. I play the lead character known as Sinnamon, the captain of the ship. I go up and down, in and out, the only thing I don't do is jump in the water."

Both Sirens agree that finding a consistent stunt job in a show of this nature is rare. Taber said at her first performance she was a little shy about performing in front of the crowds the free show consistently draws. Performing in television and movies had allowed her to remain behind the scenes. But her inner show person has since emerged.

She can be found adding little changes to her stunts to please the audience. Despite all of her experience dangling from ropes on the enormous ships, Taber is still afraid of Ferris wheels.

"We cable fight. We can't have a fear of heights. You need to be able to sword fight but 45 feet in the air, there's high diving," Taber said. "Many people come and see it every night. I was very shy at beginning for the first time when I saw the crowds, but I change things here and there to keep it new. You just can't get comfortable, otherwise you get hurt or you make a mistake."

Sullivan-Lafontaine has enjoyed mastering a new craft. Although performing has always been something she's done with ease, in shows such as "Midnight Fantasy" at Luxor, "Tease" at the Aladdin and "Airplay" at the Tropicana, being a Siren adds an interesting dimension to her career.

"I've truly enjoyed the athleticism of the show, everything I've learned from sword fighting to using a bull whip," Sullivan-Lafontaine said. "All that knowledge you get is a plus, and I'm always in for the challenge. It's incredible, going from indoor theaters to outdoors. In this environment there's thousands of people lined up out there."

Sirens perform nightly at 7, 8:30, 10, and 11:30 p.m.


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