Less than one month ago on our wonderful cultural immersion trip to New York City, we all had the opportunity to meet with one person who we had personally set up a one-on-one meeting with.
In early February, when I was thinking about who might be a good person to meet with, I remembered that a precious coworker of mine had mentioned that her sister works in New York doing theatre. I asked my coworker if she would put me in touch with her sister, and she was happy to do so. I emailed her and found out that she is the Prop Shop Manager at The Public Theater, -the unique and storied theater that does everything from new original work, to the famous Shakespeare in the Park.
She was really great about communicating with me and setting up a plan to meet in New York. Soon, we had plans to have Tina lead our entire group on a tour of the entire Public building the 3rd day we were there, and she would also introduce us to a number of other professionals that shared their unique perspectives with us. The tour was great, and it left me ready to ask Tina quite a few questions when we went to get coffee a few days later.
One thing that I was especially excited to ask her about was the potential opportunities for young people to be interns at The Public. She told me that they hire many interns. A good portion are in the administrative department of the theater company, and there aren't acting internships, however, there are also a number of internship positions available for people interested in stage and production management. I learned that generally people apply to be summer interns who do a variety of jobs relating to producing the Shakespeare in the Park. I was a little dismayed that while about 200 people apply, only about 20 are usually selected. But Tina, a former intern, encouraged me in saying that she thought somebody with my interest and experience in stage management, as well as my people skills, would be an ideal candidate for a position. She said that many applicants don't have any technically experience and are just actors looking to get into New York any way they can. While sometimes those people can be good interns, they often aren't quite as competent, skilled, and hardworking as people with a more genuine interest in other areas of theatre. To be sure, I am interested in acting, but I also not only appreciate technical theatre, I see it as a potential career. Later, in Seth's interview, which I was lucky to be able to attend, I learned that many people look to support acting careers with careers in stage management. This can be very effective, but it requires a tactful balance between being good at both, and not becoming known as "a stage manager who wants to act.
Right now, I am very interested in applying for a summer internship, and I have my sights set on the Summer of 2014, which Tina told me means I should look at submitting an application sometime next March. Between now and then I will have stage managed the upcoming musical here at the university, and right now I'm hoping I will be hired for a job with Event Production Crew after I interview next week! These will be good experiences leading up to an internship.
Another thing that I learned from Tina, which I am very interested in, is that if after completing a summer internship, if one has done a good job, it is likely they could move forward and become an intern at the theatre building working on various shows their over the fall, winter and spring. This would be awesome! The internship job does not pay nearly enough to support living in New York, but I would have time to get another job, and hopefully develop myself in other ways too. Thankfully, it seems like The Public is flexible and understanding of the fact that they cannot be the sole focus of their interns.
I can't count on landing an internship for next summer, but I can shoot for it. I feel like I have a chance, and I think it will be a good thing to work towards. If I can't do it next summer, perhaps I can try again in the future, or perhaps something even better will come along. It does seem like a great opportunity to gain work experience, and work with some really cool people on some really cool theatre projects.
If I hadn't been encouraged to do so by being part of this amazing adventure, I would most likely have never contacted Tina Swanberg or learned about internship opportunities at The Public. Now, I can work towards hopefully making that a part of my future.
Getting coffee with Tina was just one of the many great experiences I had in New York, but it is definitely one of the most imminently impacting ones in terms of influencing the next steps I take.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam Sirianni
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