Theatre Internships

Career Planning

Professional Field Experience and Internships

Senior Seminar TH377
Audition Workshop TH251

A professional internship is an essential part of pursueing a career in the theatre. This is how you get your start as a theatre professional.

There are many things to be gained through an internship:

Learn new things and how to do things you know in a different way
Meet professionals who will share their knowledge and experience with you
Make contacts for future job opportunities.
Build you professional résumé
Consider registering with Actors Equity as an Equity Membership Candidate so that you can earn points toward the fifty weeks of work required to join Equity as an actor or stage manager.
Discover if you've got what it takes to be a theatre professional and see if you really want to be doing this for the rest of your life.

An internship is an opportunity for on-the-job training in a theatre-related job while still a student. The object is to apply what has been learned in the classroom and the studio and to learn further through hands-on experience with working professionals. Training is enriched and new information and skills are brought back to Skidmore. Occasionally, internships are available in specific areas such as stage management, lighting, scenic design, costume design, sound, management, directing, acting, etc. More often than not, however, students find themselves with the title Intern, Apprentice, or Production Assistant. This tends to cover every possible task one might be asked to perform in a theatre.

The Skidmore Theatre Department encourages students to participate in professional internship programs whenever possible. Academic credit is available through Professional Internship in Theatre, TH299 (3 or 6 semester hours) and TH399 (3, 6 or 9 semester hours). The total number of TH229 and TH399 credits will be restricted to a maximum of twelve over four years. Most students taking advantage of this program do so in their junior year and/or during the summer. Some people have combined a 9 credit internship during the spring or fall with a 3 credit summer experience. Others have received 3, 6 or 9 credits for each of two summer experiences. Internships may be supplemented by an Independent Study with faculty sponsorship.

Internships are possible for a full semester, during all or part of the summer, or, locally, on a part-time basis while enrolled in courses at Skidmore. Internships may be setup with production organizations (regional or summer stock theatres, opera or dance companies, commercial production companies, etc.), individual artists, radio or television stations, film companies, scenic, lighting, prop, costume or wig shops, casting directors, etc.

In addition to the valuable skills and information gained in an internship, there are a number of secondary considerations which include the development of a more impressive résumé, vital professional contacts, and the very real possibility of a job with the same organization upon graduation.

Interns are rarely paid much or anything for this work. Some internships or apprenticeships involve a fee to be paid by students to cover room and board and/or tuition. Some theatres provide living stipends and/or housing.

Some of the most valuable internships are year-long and are designed for students who have already graduated.

Summer internship applications are generally due during the month of Feruary or very early March.

Process:

Seek-out appropriate sources of information (posted flyers, resources listed below, word of mouth, Career Planning Office files, family friends, etc.)
Chosse between being a "big fish in a little pond" (e.g.: a small non-union theatre) or "a little fish in a big pond" (e.g.: a well-establish summer theatre like Williamstown or a Broadway Producer) — both can be of great value.
If you want academic credit (TH299/399) obtain guidelines from the Dean of Studies Office and talk to an appropriate faculty member who would sponsor you.
Locate target programs and research internship opportunities. Be sure t look at well known institutions like the Juilliard School, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.
If possible, talk to students who have completed internships.
Complete applications for part-time internships during the academic year and for summer (full-time). Be prepared to audition or interview for placements, where applicable.
Prepare résumé and cover letters (include SASE).
Mail material as early as possible.
Make follow-up calls.
Be flexible and consider all available internship opportunities. Many theater industry internships offer a stipend. Always ask.
Audition or interview (if called)
Obtain departmental and college approval if seeking academic credit

Things You’ll Need:

Resume
Transcripts (for full semester or post baccalaureate programs)
Letters of Recommendation

Sources of Information:

Some Placement and Service Organizations
2. Newspapers and Periodicals
- ArtSEARCH

Back Stage (weekly)
Theatre Directories

3. Books & Bookstores

Backstage Handbook for Performing Artists, Sherry Eaker
Career Opportunities in Theatre and the Performing Arts, Shelly Field
Directory of Theatre Training Programs, Jill Charles
Internships: Peterson's Guides (annual)
Handbook for Theatrical Apprentices, Dorothy Lee Tompkins
New York's Other Theatres, Mindy Levine
Opportunities in Theatrical Design and Production, Ann Folke & Richard Harden
Professional Actor Training in NYC, Jim Monos
Performing Arts Career Directory, Bradley J. Morgan and Joseph M. Palmisano
Regional Theatre Directory, Jill Charles
Summer Theatre Directory, Jill Charles
TCG Theatre Directory Theatre Profiles (TCG)
The Business of Show Business, Judith Katz
The Actor's Picture/Resume Book, Jill Charles
Drama Book Shop: 250 W. 40th St., New York, NY 10018, Tel: (212) 944-0595
Applause Theatre Books: 19 West 21st Street, Suite 201, New York, NY 10010, Phone 212-575-9265, Fax 212-575-9270
Samuel French, Inc/Ltd
Theatrebooks, Inc.: 1600 Broadway, room 1009, NYC 10019 (212) 757-2834

Skidmore College Career Services

The Skidmore College Career Services Internship Page

Career Services Majors & Careers: Theater

The American Theatre Wing

Look here for helpful career development information.

Check out the videos by noted theatre professionals - Careers Guides

The World Wide Web: Here are but a few selected websites -- explore them and allow their links to lead you elsewhere. Some of these programs are for the summer, some for a full semester and some for after you graduate.

Some Definitions and Explanations

Commercial Theatre: Theatre for profit; generally involves trained union professionals

Broadway: Commercial theatre in the legitimate theatres in a designated area in NYC; Independent producers create production organizations for each new production and then rent available theatres for open-ended runs

Off-Broadway: A combination of commercial and not-for-profit theatres in NYC; generally much smaller than Broadway theatres; most have union contracts in force; some maintain permanent staffs and offer internship opportunities

Off-Off Broadway: Generally noncommercial theatre in the smallest of venues in NYC; nonunion; often involves experimental or alternative approaches to theatre

Not-For Profit Theatre (Noncommercial): Organizations supported through foundation grants, local, state and federal funding programs, donations, underwriting, and ticket sales; includes professional organizations and amateur/volunteer organizations

Regional Theatre: Noncommercial theatres in cities throughout the country belonging to LORT (League of Resident Theatres); Permanent production organizations; limited union contracts; internship opportunities; usually in operation Sept. through May

Arts Centers: Noncommercial performance complexes such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and Lincoln Center in NYC.; range of activities including theatre, opera, music, dance, film, etc.; permanent professional staff

Summer Stock: Hundreds of theatres in operation throughout the country during the summer; range of types involving both professional and amateur staffs including "star" houses, musical tent theatres, Equity regional theatres and nonunion resident theatres; includes prepackaged touring shows, classics, tryouts of new plays depending on type of theatre; both union and nonunion personnel; internship and/or apprentice opportunities in addition to full-paying staff positions; often involves producing one show each week; one might have large responsibilities as a "big fish in a little pond" in a small nonunion house or a "little fish in a big pond" in a well-known union house where there are opportunities to learn from trained professionals -- both situations can be valuable

Community Theatres: Grass roots local theatres that are based upon volunteerism of both trained and untrained amateurs; nonunion

Dinner Theatres: Often found in resort and suburban areas; light comedies and musicals, often packaged; either union or nonunion

Dance and Opera Companies: mostly not-for-profit; all employ administrative, production and technical personal and many accept interns; often involves national and/or international touring as well as residencies; might be union or nonunion

Children's Theatres: Companies (often touring) specializing in production for children; commercial and not-for-profit; often retain permanent staffs, usually nonunion

Equity Showcase (Equity Waiver) Theatres: Short-run productions showcasing Equity actors, directors, designers and playwrights; little if any pay; union members work under contracts allowing for inexpensive production costs; most based in NYC and LA

Industrial Shows: Productions developed for large corporations to introduce products and inform and reward franchise owners; organized by specialized production companies; all union

Equity Membership Candidate Program: A program developed by Actors' Equity to allow nonprofessional actors and stage managers to get credit towards Equity membership for work at certain Equity theatres. An EMC must complete fifty weeks of work to qualify for membership. These hours may be accumulated over a period of time in a number of different theatres. After forty weeks the EMC takes an exam. Once passed the EMC may join Equity. After the fifty week period an EMC has a five year eligibility period. Not all Equity theatres have EMC programs and the specific conditions and responsibilities differ from theatre to theatre.

Examples of Internships

Production Assistant (we regularly place students in such local summer theaters as The Lake George Opera Festival, The Saratoga Shakespeare Company and The Adirondack Theater Festival)
Semester-long stage management internship at a regional theater
Television, radio studio or film production assistant
Apprenticeship in a summer stock theater (we regularly place students in such theatres as The Williamstown Theatre Festival)

THEATRES NEAR SKIDMORE
(a combination of "big ponds" and "little ponds")

Adirondack Theater Festival (Saratoga Springs, NY)

Lake George Opera Company (Saratoga Springs, N Y)

Saratoga Shakespeare Company (Saratoga Springs, NY)

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA)

Berkshire Theatre Festival (Stockbridge, MA)

Shakespeare & Co. (Lenox, MA)

Capital Rep (Albany, NY)

Fort Salem Theatre (Fort Salem, NY)

Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA)

Lake George Dinner Theater (Lake George, NY)

Mac-Hadyn Theatre (Chatam, NY)

Park Playhouse (Albany)

The Theatre Barn (New Lebanon, NY)

Dorset Theatre Festival (Dorset, VT)

Oldcastle Theatre Company (Bennington, VT)

Home Made Theater (Saratoga Springs)

Senior Seminar - TH377

This course is offered every fall semester. It is designed to help students determine the best way to prepare for their next step forward in the theatre after leaving Skidmore. All aspects of career development are covered here including

graduate schools and other training
major theatre cities
resume development
headshots for actors
information resources
day jobs
theatrical unions
ethics
networking

Audition Workshop - TH251

This is a course designed to help actors prepare for their next auditions for professional companies and productions and for graduate schools and studio. Seniors may be invited to participate in a NYC showcase in May.

Résumés

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Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theatre
Phone: (518) 580-5430 | Fax: (518) 580-5444 | kmendenh@skidmore.edu