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.
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unrelated parts of the article)##############
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.
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#1 ON FRONT COVER OF L.V.R.J. on 4/2/2010
