Some words from the STC Interns

How did you hear about the internship?
(MC) I went to college at University of Mary Washington, which is about an hour South of D.C. When I started becoming interested in Marketing, I decided that I wanted to find an internship in D.C. at a nonprofit theatre. I spoke with my advisor, and he gave me a list of theatres who offered year-long internships. I went down the list, researched the programs, and picked my top choices. STC, of course, was my first choice because of the theatre’s reputation, the competitiveness of the program and the fact that they offered a travel stipend. I still feel lucky that I was selected!

Describe a typical day at the office.
(MC) My day to day tasks tend to change based on what’s needed for different marketing campaigns, so I’ll just hit some of the more common tasks. One of the my favorite things about my internship is that I get to moderate the theatre’s Twitter account, @ShakespeareInDC (follow us!), and I usually start my day by logging on to tweet announcements and answer any questions or concerns that patrons have tweeted to us. Another important aspect of this internship is being able to write well because you’ll be writing copy for many different things. I often write the emails we send out to patrons about our HD Screening series NT Live. NT Live is one of the projects that the Marketing intern often handles on his/her own (but not without guidance). It’s a great hands-on project that has really taught me how to stand on my own two feet in the Marketing department. Other than that, I often contact companies about possible media trades and partnerships, help out at events, and take care of smaller projects, such as having signage created for the theatres.

Describe a fond memory you have of STC.
(MC) One of my fondest memories at STC would have to be the 25th Anniversary Season Gala. Our publicist asked me to help work at the event, but that mostly included being friendly to people and keeping track of the photographers. For the most part, I was able to just enjoy myself, and it was so, so great! There were so many aspects of the Gala that were fantastic (the beautiful performances, the delicious food, being in the same room as Patrick Stewart, etc.), but my favorite part of the night was when Avery Brooks appeared out of nowhere and introduced himself. Confession: I’m kind of a nerd. So, it was a big deal when the Captain from Deep Space Nine not only shook my hand but also chatted with me for a minute.

What is your favorite thing about living in D.C.?
(MC) The food. I’m originally from New Orleans so I was raised in a food culture. I can’t live anywhere without good food, and D.C. definitely has an abundance. Near our Administrative Offices in Eastern Market, for instance, there’s Spring Mill: home of the most delicious red pepper and Gouda soup I’ve ever had. There’s also Tortilla Café (maybe you’ve seen it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?) where I can get a beef burrito with two sides for $6.00. I could seriously go on for another page about all the great places to eat near our offices…

What do you hope to do after your internship is over?
(MC) While at this internship, I’ve been accepted to the Actors Studio Drama School in New York for the Fall, so that’s what I’ll be doing when I leave. However, interning at STC has given me a lot of hands-on experience with the resources and tools needed for digital marketing and social media, so I plan on continuing to work part-time in the field while receiving my MFA.

How did you hear about the internship?
(ES) I was looking for another job after my last one ended and was looking at the regular places (indeed, idealist, and etc) and I found the listing for a Graphic Design intern. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do another internship, but as it happens, a former co-worker of mine was working here at the time and she suggested I apply and I did and here I am and I love it.

Describe a typical day at the office.
(ES) When I come in to work, I check my to-do list to see if there is anything due; ads, posters, brochures etc. I work on those and I send out proofs of the projects throughout the respective Department (it depends on the project) to see if there are any errors, design changes, etc. And when the project is approved, it goes out to print. It’s always great to see a piece you worked on printed and complete.

Describe a fond memory you have of STC.
(ES) I really enjoyed going to the 25th Anniversary Gala in honor of Michael Kahn the Artistic Director. Seeing all the great performances and being so close to all these celebrities that came through for the event was really amazing.

I also like the new things I’ve done here; like the intern video. Before this, I had never worked with video or Final Cut before and now I have a new skill under my belt!

What is your favorite thing about living in D.C.?
(ES) I like that everything is so close. You can take the train or walk anywhere you want to go.

What do you hope to do after your internship is over?
(ES) I don’t have any plans as of yet but I want to get more freelance projects; maybe get a graphic design business off the ground. It would also be great to get some experience working at a design agency since I haven’t done that before. I’m really just going with the flow right now.

How did you hear about the internship/fellowship?
(JS) I heard about the stage management internship through a posting I found on ARTSEARCH this time last year. However, I found out a great deal of information from one of our Production Assistants, Hannah O’Neil, who I worked with while attending Emerson College. She had a lot of positive feedback to offer and it was due to her praise for the company that I decided to apply.

Describe a typical day at the office/theatre.
(JS) A typical day for me begins with arriving to the rehearsal hall to prepare for rehearsal with the rest of the stage management team before the cast arrives. I tend to arrive between 45 minutes and an hour early to ensure that I have enough time to complete my tasks. These include making coffee, setting up water stations, checking and distributing mail, printing and distributing the cut list and new pages and updating the master script. During rehearsal my primary task is being on book and prompting lines to the actors as needed to ensure that they stay true to the text. During run-throughs of a scene or act I will take line notes and distribute them to the cast at the end of the day so they can see what errors they made. Other tasks throughout the day may include picking up costume pieces from the shop, running lines with actors, printing paperwork to be proofed, running rehearsal in another room (ie. music and dance rehearsals during Much Ado), and completing any other tasks that come up. At the end of the day it is my job to clean the coffee area, strike the water stations, record the rehearsal hotline, print and distribute the daily call and the rehearsal report and help set up for the next day’s rehearsal. This means either setting furniture in place for the scene we are starting with or setting up for a production meeting. Once all tasks are completed we are free to go home and get some rest before we come back in the morning!

Describe a fond memory you have of STC.
(JS) There are so many memories but one of my favorites has to be our evening performance of Much Ado following our Christmas break. Two of our lead actors decided to drive back together from New York City and hit some major traffic along the way. We received a call from them at 4:45 p.m. that they were still pretty far out and wouldn’t make it in time for our 6:00 p.m. brush up dance rehearsal. Turns out they didn’t make it in time for the start of the performance either, so our brush up rehearsal turned into a put in rehearsal for five understudies. To make things even more interesting we had to prepare to switch out the two understudies playing the leads with the actors once they arrived. It was a chaotic night but in the end it was as successful as any other performance and surely one to remember.

What is your favorite thing about living in D.C.?
(JS) I would have to say that being able to walk into any of the Smithsonian museums at no cost is a personal favorite of mine. As an intern with not a whole lot of money to spend it is wonderful to be exposed to so much art and culture around the city for free. I also enjoy just taking the time to walk around and explore different areas of the city. There is so much to see and to this day I still find things that I haven’t seen since I moved here.

What do you hope to do after your internship/fellowship is over?
(JS) My hope is to continue working in D.C. as a Production Assistant with one of the local Equity theatres. D.C. has a wonderful theatre community and I’d be happy to work with any of them. And I hope to continue working with STC in some capacity!