Soozievt, what kinds of work did your D do in the summers in NYC? I know she has a lot of other talents aside from singing, acting, and dancing (i.e. songwriting, playing instruments, etc.), so I’m curious.
I’ll try to remember most of the things she did those four summers, though it has been a while (she graduated in 2009) and I may forget some of it but I recall some of the more significant jobs.
Summer after freshman year…performed at an Equity theater in CT and was given housing and a small weekly stipend. After the season ended, she came back to VT where she directed and taught a summer program for girls approx. ages 10-14 in MT for two weeks. She created this program the summer before entering college and this was her second year. Besides teaching classes, she helped the students create and stage their own original musical. This was a big money maker for her.
Summers after soph, junior, and senior years in college…in NYC…main job was what is called NYU Reality Show (which is not a reality show!). You must audition to get into it and it is a paid job. It is directed by Tony nominated Broadway playwright/director, Liz Swados. The cast of approx. a dozen students are given housing and food for the summer in NYC and paid a good salary. My D was paid more than the other students cast, because in addition to being a performer/writer, she was also the musical director. The cast spends the summer writing and rehearsing original monologues, sketches and songs for a show about starting college and all that entails. The show was put on at Madison Square Garden (subsequently has been staged at Radio City Music Hall) and is required for all incoming freshman and transfer students to attend during orientation. It is also put on for the NYU faculty at another date. The 3rd summer (one after graduation…she spent her summer doing this in NYC but already was cast in an Equity tour the week of graduation to begin in October following graduation)…she musically directed a version of NYU Reality Show for the Abu Dhabi campus and traveled to Abu Dhabi for the performances. She got a great deal out of this experience writing original sketches and songs and performing on stage and working closely with Liz Swados and the other talented students, many who have gone onto great success. It led to further work for my D post graduation.
Additional summer jobs in NYC and performance opportunities those same summers…
She was an accompanist for the NYU/Tisch pre-college MT program. She was in a staged workshop of a new musical for a show created in the NYU/Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing program…there were performances for the public. As well, the Dean of Tisch chose to have a number from this show put on for all incoming Tisch students too. She was also in a musical staged in a professional theater venue in NYC, but directed/produced by fellow Tisch students who were studying directing, etc. The cast of this musical production was comprised of fellow college students, the majority of whom have gone onto great success on Broadway, tours, national awards, and the like. Other performance work included cabarets and singer/songwriter gigs in clubs. That’s all I recall that happened during the summers in college. Her summers never cost us money. One summer, since her job included free housing in NYC for the summer, she sublet her apartment share to her sister who had an internship that summer in an architecture firm in NYC.
Regarding Strawhats, I believe last year there were a good bit more than 20 something theatres/companies in attendance. It is possible that the numbers have gone down a bit, as I think they did decrease from 2013. I know that our son saw the NETC company numbers decrease significantly from 2013 to 2014. But I believe Strawhats company attendance is still quite high. If I get definitive numbers, I’ll try to post.
There is a new company that has formed that will be doing their inaugural summer stock show this year. The production is 42nd Street.
Auditions are to be held as follows:
March 6-8, Lexington, KY; location tbd
March 28-29, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, OH
April 3-4, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK
April 10-11, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
A limited number of equity contracts are available.
The group is called The Lexington Theatre Company and is located in Lexington, KY. The company is being led by Jeromy Smith (Producing Director) and Lyndy Franklin Smith (Artistic Director). Both have worked on Broadway, in National tours and numerous regional theaters both on stage and behind the scenes. More about them can be found on the website which is www.lexingtontheatrecompany.org.
The Lex just had their inaugural performance, a fundraising event, which featured Laura Bell Bundy (Hairspray and Legally Blonde) and Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening). It also featured recent graduates of University of Michigan, Oklahoma City University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Kentucky Opera and other regional schools.
According to the website: “The Lex plans to eventually present a three-show summer season. We will bring professional Actors from New York and Los Angeles to lead our productions and work alongside bright, young college students from the region, as well as local talent from our community.”
Just thought it may be of interest to some looking for summer stock opportunities.
S got an NETC acting slot today. Doesn’t look like they’ve done the MT slots yet.
@Jkellynh17, I have also heard that the straight actors have their slots. MT slots should be coming soon…
Any NETC MT’s get a spot yet? Any news on any of the apprentice summer program decisions?
My d hasn’t heard from netc mt…but than again it would not surprise me that the results (and mail) are delayed because of the snowfall in the area. In fact she has has not had a single Monday class since she returned from winter break. That’s 4 missed class days in 4 weeks and another storm is expected this Monday.
Last year we were traveling at this time for college auditions and had to reschedule one due to flight cancellations. I don’t even want to imagine navigating Boston with its reported 6 feet of snow. Ugh!
I learn something new every few minutes about this “biz” I swear. Yesterday S spent the day (and I MEAN the day 5AM to 11:30PM) in NYC auditioning. It started with two open calls at Pearl Studios, then on to Strawhats. Anyway one of his Strawhats callbacks was for Weathervane in NH. I did not realize that for some internships there is a fee. If he got an offer to intern it would be $2,000 for 11 weeks. I didn’t expect this. Anyone done this or have any feedback?
I have never heard of someone having to pay to intern! That is ridiculous.
There are a number of these “opportunities.” Just say no.
Weathervane is a pretty good theater, as far as rural NH goes, in a lovely location and it’d probably be a good time, but I feel like we’re done paying for theater camps at this point, don’t you?
I don’t know about ‘this biz’ but paying-to-intern has been a thing in DC politics for a while. The kids in Poli-Sci that pay for these internships are worried about graduating and having no work experience in the field. They get scared; so they pay. I’m against unpaid internships for anything other than non-profits. But pay-to-intern?
There are lots of articles in Forbes and CNBC that unpaid internships have no greater benefit to your employment than no internship. I doubt a pay-to-play would do any better.
MTMajorCook~ check out Weathervane on the website gigandtell. There is some info there.
We went through this last year with Weathervane, and to top it off a very confusing letter went out that SOUNDED like kids had been made an offer when in fact they hadn’t. (I’ve heard the person in charge has since been replaced). I did talk to some people who had been there and had a good experience. And yes, it is pay-to-play, but you get 9 Equity points which is nothing sneeze at. Pay-to-plays are not unusual; there are some way more expensive than Weathervane. So while the pay part stinks, sounds like a decent place if you are willing to pony up the bucks…
Unfortunately pay to play is common in this industry. Theaters (and I’m sure some of the interns who have participated) feel it is worth it to get training, build up equity points and add the credit on their resume. Personally, I feel it could be worth it but not for BFA students. They (we) pay enough! Barrington Stage’s fee is $3500!
http://barringtonstageco.org/education/musical-theatre-conservatory-program/
Glad I asked, thanks everyone. He had several other callbacks that were not “pay to play” so we’ll see what falls out, if anything. It was the Equity points that made me want to look into this further, not to mention the $2K since I would be footing the bill.
He had a great experience at an audition for Capitol City Theatre in WI (open call not at Strawhats). He said the accompanist was incredible. And the Director/Asst Director could not have been nicer people. I wanted to get a “plug” in for them that.
D got her MT NETC appointment this morning.
Yes, there are several pay to play that offer EMC and some good credits, some so so credits and some bathroom cleaning! Gig and Tell is a very interesting read on this subject!
Did you get a day and time for NETC? We are still waiting on that.
@Jkellynh17 I heard a few people received emails last night/this AM with their NETC audition day/time.
My S says he hasn’t yet. He got his invite last week, but no time yet.