STC Internships & Fellowships: Meet Alison, Chris and Kate

Day 1 of Intern/Fellow Week. Apply for an internship or fellowship at STC today!

Introduce yourself!

Alison Ehrenreich, Marketing Intern. I’m a professional stalker/Tessitura ninja, I know your purchasing habits and I’ll be sure you’ll buy a ticket.

Favorite movie growing up and why.
My Favorite Year (1982). It’s a classic New York movie about the entertainment industry with Peter O’Toole and it has my favorite movie line: “Jews only know two things: suffering and where to find really good Chinese food.”

Most rewarding moment so far at STC/why you’re glad you work here.
Working on my first big projects, VelocityDC Dance Festival and our first NT Live presentation The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, was terrifying at first. These were my own projects and I had just started at STC. It was perhaps the most rewarding experience because these were my learning projects and they showed me my work ethic. I learned to get creative with copy and how to represent a show to a wide audience. When I saw the ticket sales for the festival and the first broadcast, I was so pleased to have been a part of these presentations. Theatre is about community. It’s the best feeling in the world when you’ve been accepted into a new one through a job well done.

Coolest place you’ve visited/thing you’ve done in D.C.
I grew up in D.C., but I had never been to inauguration. Since we all live so close to the Capitol, we walked over for Obama’s inaugural speech for his second term. It was freezing and crowded, but I got to be a part of something historical. Also, there was Beyonce, enough said.

Piece of advice for applicants.
Don’t be scared to talk about your goals/geek out about theatre, it only means you’re passionate.

If you’d like to contact Alison with questions about her job, Tweet at her @rosehren.

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Introduce yourself!

My name’s Chris Booth and I am the Graphic Design Intern here at STC. That means I create, modify, and edit images, advertisements, and branding related to this company. I’ve worked on flyers, buckslips, emails, posters, buttons, chyrons, commercials, letters, Google ads, playbills, and more.

Favorite movie growing up and why.

I guess my absolute favorite movie would have to be the Power Rangers movie. I’m pretty sure I’ve memorized the script. I always wanted to be the Blue Ranger growing up, and I always wanted to drive a zord. I haven’t found an internship with the Power Rangers yet, but I haven’t stopped looking.

Most rewarding moment so far at STC/why you’re glad you work here.

Being a graphic designer means you get to produce work for everyone to see. Walking around D.C. and being able to point at a poster or sign and say “See that? I made that,” is really pretty cool. It’s a great visual representation of the hard work you put into design.

Coolest place you’ve visited/thing you’ve done in D.C.

Living in the D.C. ‘burbs means I have been in D.C. plenty of times but not usually experienced D.C. With this internship, I’ve been much more able to see the parts of town that aren’t tourist destinations. D.C. lets you experience a mixture of all kinds of people, cultures, food, and entertainment, which is not really like many other cities. And D.C. has Truckeroo, a whole day of delicious food from the roaming food trucks around D.C. That’s pretty awesome.

Piece of advice for applicants.

I guess something really important to prepare for is to be ready to learn from mistakes. Don’t assume you won’t mess up, because no one is perfect. And when you do mess up, make it count! Rather than wasting time panicking and fearing for your job, be proactive to learn from it. Review what you did, why it didn’t succeed, and what changes would have prevented that. Ask your team for help and be communicative about what you do and don’t feel comfortable undertaking. Demonstrate that you are very willing to learn as much as you can and show that you are ready for the same challenge when you face it again.

If you’d like to contact Chris with questions about his job, email him at chris.b.booth@gmail.com.

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Introduce yourself!

Kate Colwell, Communications Intern. I talk to reporters and actors all day, write and edit press releases, blog posts and program content and make the Twitter bird sing.

Favorite movie growing up and why.

A Knight’s Tale. Medieval jousting + Classic Rock music with Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk. It’s glorious.

Most rewarding moment so far at STC/why you’re glad you work here.

My awesome bosses have given me so many opportunities to take part in the behind-the-scenes aspects of PR and marketing. Since starting in August, I’ve visited the sets of MSNBC, WUSA9, ABC 7 and WAMU, assisted with a Fox 5 broadcast and helped with the photo shoots for every show. Our department is not afraid  to give you real responsibility and I’m so grateful for the amount of trust and respect that comes my way on a daily basis.

Coolest place you’ve visited/thing you’ve done in D.C.

I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for most of my life, but I’d never really explored D.C. before I started working here. I enjoy going on adventures in D.C.’s different neighborhoods and questing out the perfect cheeseburger and cupcake.

Piece of advice for applicants.

Don’t be afraid to be enthusiastic about what you love. I’ve been crazy for plays ever since reading The Crucible in 11^th grade but I never imagined I would actually get to work with them. In my STC application I think I said something nerdy about The Taming of the Shrew and mentioned my work with ballroom dance club in college and look- I got here! When you work in a field you love, the only struggle to get up in the morning is finding your slippers.

If you’d like to contact Kate with questions about her job, email her at kec5h@virginia.edu.

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Stay tuned for more intern and fellow profiles all through this week!