Manhattan Theatre Club Scholarship Essay

I have always had a passion for theatre, even from a young age, but I did not start working in stage management until high school. As a newly graduated stage manager in May 2020 during the pandemic, I was worried about how I could start my career when our industry had to shut down, leaving so many professionals without jobs. But luckily, I landed my first professional job after finishing college as a Stage Management Intern at Gulfshore Playhouse from Sept 2020 to May 2021. Struggling to do in-person theatre safely and learning how to adjust as a stage manager for this pandemic changed my perspective on what I envisioned for my future career. It made me reevaluate many of the goals I had for myself. And as an early career stage manager, I believe that the Stage Management Fellowship program will help me become a better and more well-rounded stage manager and theatre artist.

Continuing to learn and improve my skills as a stage manager is an important career goal for me. With every show I do, I strive to support my stage management team, cast, and crew, create clear and concise paperwork, and find new and innovative ways to make sure the show's process goes smoothly. Having worked in technical theatre for the past seven years, I do my best to make sure the production runs and runs well, from the first table reading right through to the very last performance. I believe that by working as a Production Assistant with experienced and professional AEA stage managers for Broadway/Off-Broadway shows, I'll be able to learn how to new and better methods and ways to stage-manage large-scale AEA productions. I could use the knowledge and expertise from working at Manhattan Theatre Club on future shows and be a better stage manager in the process.

Another way this fellowship can help me achieve my career goals is by learning better ways to work and communicate with other theatre departments as a stage manager. Throughout college and my time at Gulfshore Playhouse, I made it my goal to work and help out in as many different theatre departments as possible. I worked as a wardrobe head multiple times, took multiple sound design classes, assisted in creating sets with Scenic at Gulfshore Playhouse, and more. I did this to learn new skills I could use in the future, better understand the needs and perspectives of others in those roles, and how to better communicate with them as a stage manager. When working with future production managers, I would use the skills I would learn from my experience in production management at Manhattan Theatre Club and aim to make their job easier. I have never worked in production management before, so I am intrigued to learn more.

In conclusion, my ultimate goal is to become a better stage manager and theatre artist. To do that, I have set goals for myself that I will continuously try to achieve throughout my career. So, the opportunity to learn and improve as a stage manager through working with Broadway/Off-Broadway professional stage managers is exciting! Also, the ability to gain experience in production management would contribute to my goal of learning and working with various theatre departments. I would improve my communication and how I work with others in those roles in the future. Overall, I am thrilled about the opportunity to work as a Production Assistant at Manhattan Theatre Club. I believe I would be a great asset to your team and hope you grant me the chance to prove myself to you. Thank you for your consideration.