Hundreds pursue spot on ‘The Apprentice’ at Las Vegas tryouts

Hey, Norm! We spotted Donald Trump loafing around and smoking a cigarette behind his hotel on the Strip!

OK, so it wasn't the real Donald. But local Trump impersonator Robert Ensler would sure like to play the real estate mogul on TV.

Ensler, 59, lined up Thursday morning outside the Trump International Hotel with more than 200 other hopefuls angling for a spot on Trump's "The Apprentice," an NBC show that pits 18 business owners, managers and executives against each other to fight for a job with the Trump organization.

The show's upcoming season has a recession-related angle: It specifically wants candidates who are feeling the brunt of the economic downturn. Thursday's casting call sought workers who've been let go, new college graduates who haven't been able to land that first position and overqualified employees riding out the recession in lower-level jobs.

And in Nevada -- home to the nation's second-worst jobless rate -- producers found plenty of prospects. Queued up Thursday were unemployed seniors, middle-aged former hotel workers, younger business owners whose sales have vanished and even the occasional vacationer looking to hit a Hollywood-style jackpot while in town.

Take Sompis Bsukeaw, a former cashier at the Primm Valley Resort & Casino near the California border. The hotel-casino laid off Bsukeaw in 2009, and she has received unemployment benefits for three months. Bsukeaw recently launched Nikki's Unique Art & Craft, a small business through which she makes custom gift baskets, photo albums, seat covers, oil paintings and other knickknacks. But "The Apprentice" appealed to her desire for something completely different.

"It's something new I would like to try," said Bsukeaw, who gave her age as "over the hill." "Those people on the show always look so tough. They need someone different, a person who's really nice and easygoing, who makes people want to work with them."

And then there's Young Kim, a 35-year-old Los Angeles lending officer in town on vacation. Kim, who wore a shiny silver suit to his audition, might have scuttled his shot with The Donald when he revealed why he would succeed on "The Apprentice."

"I have a personality that a grumpy, old man would like," he said.

Hmmm. NEXT!

That would be Kent Christian, 31, a Web site designer who shuttles between Oakland, Calif., and Las Vegas. Christian, whose business slowed significantly during the recession, said he's sure the show's producers will appreciate his personality and charisma, and his ability to learn quickly would score points with Trump.

Christian stood out, literally, at Thursday's casting call because he's taaaall -- at least 6 feet 4 inches. We haven't seen Christian's drop-step move, bounce pass or jump hook, but if this "Apprentice" thing doesn't look like it's going to pan out after the audition, we hear the men's basketball teams of West Virginia University and Michigan State University could use some help at the point in Saturday's Final Four.

Local trade show coordinator Allyson Newell, 34, stood out with "The Apprentice" producers before she even attended the casting call.

Newell applied for the show online. Producers liked her story enough to send her a VIP pass to the audition. Newell once directed a call center and has served in project-manager positions. But she doesn't have a college degree. That didn't seem to make a difference before the recession, when Newell found that she could prove herself and move up the ladder quickly. Today, though, with so many college-degreed prospects unemployed and seeking work, Newell said she believes her high school diploma is holding her back.

Newell didn't prepare a pitch for producers; she wanted to sound "genuine" and just planned to answer interviewers' questions as they came. Still, she had a ready answer when the Review-Journal asked her why she thought she would do well on "The Apprentice."

"I've always watched the show and watched what some of the contestants do," she said. "I think, 'They have a degree, and I could have done a better job than that.' And it's time to break out and do something different because what I'm doing isn't working in this economy."

This economy isn't working for Jim Cassidy, either.

Cassidy, a 64-year-old Las Vegan who noted that he was "absolutely" the oldest person in line, has been out of work since August.

Cassidy has manufacturing-sector experience as a chief operating officer. When he lost his job, he was working for a consulting business that helped distressed manufacturers turn around their operations.

"When companies in that (distressed) situation believe they can be making money, consultants get called in," Cassidy said. "But in a market like this, companies say, 'Well, why fix it? There's no business anyway.' They lose heart. And that's the ultimate irony of this recession: When you should really be thinking hard about your business and redefining what works, and optimizing what you have and looking at how you can be a winner in this economy, they don't do it."

Cassidy watched the first season of "The Apprentice," and he would like to set some of the show's young bucks straight.

"I would love an opportunity to swing away at this stuff," he said. "Those kids start moaning and groaning and griping. What is the matter with these people? They don't understand an opportunity when it's in front of them."

For native Las Vegan Amber Keener, fielding constant complaints is nothing new.

Keener owns a children's dance competition, and like many local business owners, she said she has to "work hard for less" these days.

Keener seemed unfazed at the conflict that often characterizes contestant relations on "The Apprentice." Infighting? Selfishness? Recalcitrant prima donnas who refuse to listen? Oh, please. Keener has two words for you: Stage. Moms.

"In my business, that's what I do. I de-escalate," Keener said. "I put out fires all day and all night. I have to take the emotions out and make everyone think logically and rationally about facts. I would not be a dramatic character on the show. I would probably be the person who gets everyone to focus on the end result."

Ensler's end result involves getting the Trump organization to notice him. He's not really unemployed: He and his wife own Pancit Adobo Restaurant in North Las Vegas, and he still has his impersonation business. But the "cash flow is not what it used to be," he said. Businesses hold fewer corporate meetings these days, so calls for his Trump impersonation have slackened considerably.

Plus, you could say Ensler's technically out of work because, well, the actual Donald Trump has his job. To hear Ensler tell it, he could move right in and handle the toughest Trumpian task: firing contestants. At a CVS Pharmacy corporate meeting last fall, Ensler "fired" about 200 people, including half of the company's board of directors.

But seriously, Ensler would welcome the chance to work alongside Trump on "The Apprentice."

"If The Donald were to hire me, I could bring a lot to the table. I have 40 years of retail experience. I've seen a lot, and I've done a lot. I'm an extremely knowledgeable person."

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.