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Feature
By Evan Henerson
Taking the Next Step
How to impress at the internship interview
Don Ipock Photography
Between School and Career
Many of the major regional houses have a steady pipeline
of potential interns via a tie-in with a major university.
The internship won’t pay, but it will earn the student
class credit.
But even a non-student can find ways to make himself all
but indispensable. And, guaranteed placement or no, interns
are well advised to approach the interview and the job as a
potential gateway to future employment, if not at this theatre,
then potentially somewhere else via a strong referral.
KC Rep’s production of August Wilson’s Jitney utilized technical interns.
Enthusiasm’s good. Don’t try to fake what you don’t
know. There’s nothing wrong with making coffee
or sweeping floors, and when the people who have
brought you in are done with their questions, it’s not out
of line to offer some queries of your own.
In other words, the process of interviewing for an internship
at a regional theatre or opera company shouldn’t
be that dissimilar to interviewing for a paying job at
that same company, according to the people conducting
the interviewing.
OK, maybe the coffee thing wouldn’t be asked or
expected if you were going out for a corner office job at a
Fortune 500 company. In the theatre, however, when time
is pressing and available manpower may be at a premium,
you may well be asked to step in with that fresh pot of
water or to stuff a bunch of envelopes with season brochures
in the marketing department.
The successful intern — the one who will get the position
— is ready for any such eventuality and turns up his
nose at no task no matter how seemingly menial.
“I’ve always been one to say that I could train you in a
task or a skill. I just can’t train general demeanor or personality
to come into a project,” says Timothy O’Connell,
production manager at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
“A lot of people are coming out of a college type situation
with an attitude of ‘I’m entitled to this. I’m the best at
this.’ It’s that overconfidence that almost comes off as
arrogance.”
“I try to avoid that,” O’Connell adds. “I’m looking for someone
who is open-minded and eager to learn.”
The Center Theatre Group’s production of The School for Scandal
“We’re always looking for new people to add to our lists
of stage managers and assistant designers,” says Dan Ionazzi,
production manager at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
“If someone calls, whether it’s for something here or they’ve
got a job at Disney for an assistant to help draft a show, if I’m
going to direct somebody somewhere, I want to be confident
that that person represents my decision well.”
As the director of production for the School of Theater
at UCLA, Ionazzi employs several students from his school
as interns. A student’s ability to schedule her classwork to
coincide with the rigors of a theatrical schedule will work in
her favor.
Mass availability, then, is a plus, particularly when a company
is putting in 12 to 16 hours a day during tech week. Even
the most professional and dedicated intern probably isn’t
going to reap extensive benefits — or make a lasting impression
— if he’s only available some six hours per week.
“The questions you ask are important: What does a typical day
look like for me? During production and tech week, what would my
assignments be?” — Jerry Genachio
Craig Schwartz
24 April 2008 • www.stage-directions.com