At the end of their junior year, students at Animas complete a three-week internship called LINK to explore their interests. My internship was with the Merely Players production of Man of La Mancha. In the process of securing my internship, I wrote to many performers and stage managers involved in Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. I did not hear back from many people. I got one response that was quite angry from a local professional. I got lovely responses from a performer in Frozen the Musical, the stage managers of Hello, Dolly! and Wicked, and even from Broadway legend Patti LuPone! When I had decided I had tried enough of the “real fancy” theatre people, I tried with a company I already knew produces quality theatre: Merely Players.
Merely Players is a non-profit theatre company here in Durango. I previously worked as a backstage costumer on their production of The Secret Garden and attended their Acting I class. My goal with interning for Man of La Mancha was to learn more about the theater because it’s not just performing that I am passionate about, I am very passionate about the theater itself. I wanted to contribute to the creation of a beautiful piece of theatre by offering another helping hand to the production.
For this internship, I was an assistant stage manager. In rehearsals at the rehearsal space, I was responsible for taking note of all interactions that occurred with all of the props, who interacted with them, and where these interactions took place. When our rehearsals moved to the performance space, the Durango Arts Center, I was responsible for setting the props onstage before the show, packing the trunks with props and costumes in the order in which they are removed from the trunks in the show, being in charge of the props during and after the show, running the backstage sound monitor, and I did a couple of fast changes. During my internship, I also had the opportunity to work on the set. I got to hang my first light, sculpt and paint a rock, paint the stage, run cables, etc.
Coming into LINK, I already had some art skills, fast change skills, music skills, determination, work ethic, and refinement skills. Now, coming out of LINK, I know how to hang and de-hang lights, how to make a prompt book, to dress cables, and how to be in charge of props. I had a lot more responsibility for this show than I had with my previous technical theatre experiences and I had never previously been in charge of props. When we first moved into the rehearsal space, I was in charge of stage left and stage right props and another technician was in charge of main stage props, but one day the main stage props were not set and it held up the entire rehearsal; I learned that in the future, I would need to pay attention to others’ share of te responsibility as well. Eventually, I was in charge of all of the props anyways, but I should have been aware of where all of props went in the first place, so that I could ensure that that doesn't happen again. As an intern, I took notes really well (which was an issue for me when I first started doing technical theatre), I did everything I was asked to do, and I cared about making the show the best it could be. This internship experience had been important because I learned new things about the theater.
Merely Players is a non-profit theatre company here in Durango. I previously worked as a backstage costumer on their production of The Secret Garden and attended their Acting I class. My goal with interning for Man of La Mancha was to learn more about the theater because it’s not just performing that I am passionate about, I am very passionate about the theater itself. I wanted to contribute to the creation of a beautiful piece of theatre by offering another helping hand to the production.
For this internship, I was an assistant stage manager. In rehearsals at the rehearsal space, I was responsible for taking note of all interactions that occurred with all of the props, who interacted with them, and where these interactions took place. When our rehearsals moved to the performance space, the Durango Arts Center, I was responsible for setting the props onstage before the show, packing the trunks with props and costumes in the order in which they are removed from the trunks in the show, being in charge of the props during and after the show, running the backstage sound monitor, and I did a couple of fast changes. During my internship, I also had the opportunity to work on the set. I got to hang my first light, sculpt and paint a rock, paint the stage, run cables, etc.
Coming into LINK, I already had some art skills, fast change skills, music skills, determination, work ethic, and refinement skills. Now, coming out of LINK, I know how to hang and de-hang lights, how to make a prompt book, to dress cables, and how to be in charge of props. I had a lot more responsibility for this show than I had with my previous technical theatre experiences and I had never previously been in charge of props. When we first moved into the rehearsal space, I was in charge of stage left and stage right props and another technician was in charge of main stage props, but one day the main stage props were not set and it held up the entire rehearsal; I learned that in the future, I would need to pay attention to others’ share of te responsibility as well. Eventually, I was in charge of all of the props anyways, but I should have been aware of where all of props went in the first place, so that I could ensure that that doesn't happen again. As an intern, I took notes really well (which was an issue for me when I first started doing technical theatre), I did everything I was asked to do, and I cared about making the show the best it could be. This internship experience had been important because I learned new things about the theater.