I chose The Emelin Theatre for several reasons. The first is that it was the only theatre I reached out to to contact me. After they interviewed me, it seemed like a good fit because I got along with the people there well, which can be hard for me. Thirdly, they are well funded, so they have a lot of the latest technical instruments available to the public. Another thing I like is that they are well known in the local theatre world. If you say “Emelin Theatre” to any real thespian over the age of 15 in the tri-state area, they will know what you are talking about.
Because of my concern about getting enough hours at Emelin, I asked if Jason, the co-artistic director of Broadway Training Center (BTC), and my mentor figure, if I could count the hours I usually spend with them in preparation for their junior ensemble’s spring show an annual recital towards my externship. Working with BTC over the last five years has been a remarkable experience. Among other things, one thing that sets BTC apart from other groups like Play Group Theatre in White Plains and Irvington Town Hall Players is that BTC hires only working professionals in their field. This means that our instructors are people who have actually made something of themselves in the business. They say that those who cannot teach, but that is not true with us.
In both sites, I am working alongside industry professionals at an equal level.
Emelin’s first impression was along the lines of “holy [cheese], this is epic.” I was thrilled that they have a lighting catwalk and really wanted to get up there. Interestingly enough, my first call was a lighting restore! Although I’m used to working with professionals because of BTC, it was taken to a new level of amazing when I found out that my supervisor, Bryan McPartlan, worked sound for the national tour of Cats and was a stagehand on a Canadian tour with Alice Cooper.
I can’t really attest to my first impressions of BTC because my first impression was made six years ago, but I remember thinking that it was something I really wanted to be a part of.
I don’t drive yet. Because Emelin is in Mamaroneck, I have to take the bus there. I’ve used the Bee-Line system before, so it isn’t the getting there, it’s the time that it takes to get there. The bus that comes in closest to my call time has been up to forty-five minutes before I was supposed to be there, and I was locked out of the building!
I am also anticipating some degree of being overlooked because I’m not a real employee. I suppouse this comes with the territory, but I can’t help but think that if they asked me something that I would be able to do it, instead of watching them do it. I’m a hands on learner, and I do really want this to be a learning experience. I’m hoping that this will pass soon as they realize how capable I am.
There really is no typical day at Emelin that I’ve observed yet, keeping in mind that I’ve only been there twice so far. One say was a lighting restore and they actually had me do things to help and the other day was a small children’s dance recital, at which I observed Bryan cueing the sound. We also spoke about illegal frequencies because the videographer had their microphones in that set of frequencies. It’s a whole interesting thing about the FCC owning airwaves that I won’t explain now because it’s a very long and somewhat confusing legality.
The normal day at BTC involves running the show in its entirety or in bits and pieces and adding things like lights and sound effects and finessing set changes.
Any job in theatre at the rehearsal level doesn’t have a typical day because if each day were trhe same, there’d be no progress.
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