Summer Theater Internship in Massachusetts

07/11/2011 7:05 PM

Senior Rebecca Flores is spending her summer in Stockbridge, MA with Berkshire Theatre Festival. During the school year this theatre performance major also guides future BU students as a Student Admissions Representative.

Tonight, I got back from work about an hour and a half ago.  It’s 10:00 PM right now.  For my friends’ summer internships, this would seem unusual.  For my job in theatre, this is pretty common. 

Back in February, I set my resume across the country, determined to find an out-of-state internship with a professional theatre.  Although I am a theatre performance major, I have a real interest in the administrative side of theatre.  In April, I received an offer from Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, as one of their marketing interns for the summer.  

BTF is one of the three oldest regional theatres in the country, now in its 83^rd season. It recently merged with presenting venue, The Colonial Theatre.  Not only am I working at a theatre with some major history (Lionel Barrymore and Katherine Hepburn used to perform at BTF) but I am also gaining professional experience from two significant performing houses in the Berkshires.

Working for two theatres can definitely be a challenge, but it is also providing me with amazing skills that will benefit me after I graduate.  So far, I have attended meet and greets (the first rehearsal for a play), ushered events, written subscriber packets, distributed posters, researched various marketing methods, updated the theatres’ social networks, helped with donor mailings, and organized information for press releases.   It is obvious that the office is a constantly moving environment.

This office work doesn’t include the unique aspects of my internship, like working with the press on opening nights or having the opportunity to see professional theatre around the area.  I have also met some pretty impressive people.  Last week, I met Karen Allen, Indiana Jones’ love interest in the first and fourth movies.  I also saw Ron White perform stand-up at The Colonial.  Later in July, a performer in our play Dutch Masters is Christian Coulson, the actor who played Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.    

I am constantly working, learning more about marketing and administrative theatre, meeting other interns from all over the country, and making professional theatre connections.  Needless to say, I am having a pretty exciting summer in the Berkshires.