CHS grad lands dream job working for Bruno Mars

As tour manager for Bruno Mars, Shaun Hoffman has a job he loves, coordinating travel arrangements and personal appearance details for a talented and popular singer. Hoffman’s success is a combination of strong friendships, being in the right place at the right time, the loyalty and generosity of a talented 19-year-old female keyboard player and singer, but most importantly, hard work.

Shaun Hoffman on the U2 360 stage at Wembley Arena in London

A 1996 Canton High School graduate, Hoffman moved to Canton with his family when he was in fourth grade. “I really liked Canton,” he said in a phone call from New York City. “It’s a quiet, family-driven suburb. It’s a short hop into the city. It has a great sense of community.”

Hoffman enrolled in the Hansen School, where the school musical that year was Smike.

“I started out trying to act and trying to sing,” he said, “but I was really bad.” He missed some rehearsals due to his Hebrew School schedule and then began spending time backstage where he learned how to handle the lights. He went on to the theater program at the Galvin Middle School and Canton High School, where he performed in shows and worked backstage. By the time he was a senior, he was in charge of the tech crew and handled the tech work for the plays at the Kennedy School.

Senior year also meant that Hoffman needed to make a decision about his future. “I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do,” he said.

Bryan Perrault had graduated from CHS a year earlier and suggested that Hoffman join him at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire. Hoffman followed his friend’s advice. He went on to earn a degree in theater in 2001, gaining experience with stage management and lighting design.

After graduation, Hoffman worked as an assistant basketball coach at Franklin Pierce and began to do substitute teaching in Rindge and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, and at the schools in Canton. He especially enjoyed his time back at CHS.

“I had a lot of fun,” he said. “Most of my teachers were still there. They approached you as an adult. It was very cool.”

Hoffman worked as a substitute teacher for two years and then moved to Boston, where he waited tables and eventually managed Whiskey’s Smokehouse on Boylston Street. It was during this time that he started to work with the New York City rock band Semi Precious Weapons, whose drummer is CHS graduate Dan Crean, another friend of Hoffman’s. He became their tour manager and moved to New York City on one day’s notice. He took a job at Planet Hollywood in Times Square to help support himself.

The opening act for Semi Precious Weapons was a 19-year-old singer and keyboard player who sometimes set hairspray on fire while on stage. Hoffman described her as a huge fan of the band who promised that if she ever made it big, she would take them with her. Her name was Lady Gaga.

The roles were reversed as Lady Gaga’s career grew. Semi Precious Weapons went on the Monster Ball Tour with Lady Gaga, and Hoffman went along as the band’s tour manager for several months. On Thanksgiving Day 2010, he was enjoying a holiday dinner when Lady Gaga’s tour manager told him that Bruno Mars needed a tour manager. Two phone interviews later, he had the job.

The first two performances that Bruno Mars did with Hoffman as tour manager were on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and the Grammys. Last month Mars headlined the halftime show at the Super Bowl and he will soon take off on a two-month tour of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Asia. Hoffman loves working for him.

“He’s great,” Hoffman said. “He’s super nice, very caring, very professional. A genuinely nice guy. You never see him in the tabloids or on TMZ.”

Hoffman’s job runs on a 24-hour schedule, setting up plane, hotel and ground transportation for Mars, the eight members of his band, his assistant and security people. He also handles the day-to-schedule of appointments set up for Mars by his management company, the Creed Company, and his record label, Atlantic Records.

Hoffman’s message is that hard work leads to success. “We didn’t come from a lot,” he said. “But anything is attainable if you work hard. What was I doing with my free time? Meeting more and more people to make this happen. I love it.”

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Feb 20 2014. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.