Summer Theatre Jobs 2014


09/05/2014

This summer, many of St. Ambrose's theatre students had jobs working in the theatre doing what they love! It is so great to see students apply what they learn here at SAU to the outside world. Then, they come back to school in the fall and they have even more knowledge to share with the department.

Robert Poston '15

Poston was a directing intern at Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse in Rock Island, Ill. He also was an ensemble member in their production of Fiddler on the Roof.

"I learned what professional theatre is like and I gained a lot of experience with both acting and backstage work," Poston said. "I also learned that professional theatre is not as family-oriented as collegiate theatre."

It sounds like he really feels like a part of a family here at Ambrose!

Shannon Rourke, junior

Rourke was the assistant stage manager for Men Should Weep with the Griffin Theatre Company at Raven Theater in Chicago, Ill. The show got four out of four stars in the Chicago Tribune from Chris Jones. He said it was a "masterpiece" and "one of the performances of the year in Chicago theater."

Once performances started, it was just the cast, Rourke, and the stage manager. She and the stage manager did all pre-show and post-show set up and during the show, she did the very fast act changes. She said there were more props in this show than she's ever seen before in a straight play and she was in charge of all of them.

"The people I worked with could not be better," Rourke said. "Right from the first read through, I thought 'wow,' this show is going to be something special. And boy was it ever. The actors I worked with did some of the best acting I have ever seen."

Specifically, she said, the lead actress: Lori Meyers. Rourke developed a great relationship with Meyers running lines with her outside of rehearsals and even taking a trip to Michigan! Rourke learned so many things she is already applying while stage managing the musical Working here at SAU!


Cami Sackett, senior

Sackett went all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and worked as a stage crew apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera. This is her second consecutive summer working for them!

"The Opera is set in the mountain/desert area of New Mexico," Sackett said, "which leads to a gorgeous setting for the shows and great place to spend time off exploring the incredible expanse of nature. And if nature isn't your thing, the area is flooded with art galleries of all varieties and copious amounts of great local restaurants."

Her responsibilities at the opera included working with other apprentices and staff to do changeovers (load-ins and load-outs of the sets) to accommodate the needs of rehearsals and shows.

"The Opera runs in a strict repertory fashion," Sackett said. "So the same show never runs two nights in a row. This meant that we had at least one changeover every day."

In July, they did two changeovers per day because of the need for a different show to be on stage in the morning for rehearsal and a different one at night for a show or tech rehearsal. She worked on the run of four out of the five shows that ran this summer.

She had the opportunity to work on automation for the show Don Pasquale and she was the operator for the turntable automation as well as helping with the setup and strike of the automation. By attending seminars on Automation, Vacuum Bagging/Stress Skins/Carbon Fiber, Shop Math, Blacksmithing, and Auto CAD, she learned so many things beyond what she's already learned at Ambrose.

"I'm so excited to bring back all of the things I learned to my work at SAU and beyond," Sackett said.

We can't wait to see her apply all that knowledge!


Kelci Eaton, sophomore

Eaton was cast in two shows this summer with Bonzi Productions Theatre Company in Rockford, Ill. She played a servant in Annie and Adelaide in Guys & Dolls.

Adelaide has been her dream role for awhile now, so we're so happy her dream was able to come true! She said she was able to work her voice and dancing a lot this summer. Specifically, she said her belt voice improved and she learned how to learn many different dance routines in a manner of a week or so!

"With Adelaide it was fun getting to learn how to perfect my New York accent and learn the fine line of when you sound a little too obnoxious," Eaton explained. "These shows also taught me that it is definitely possible to produce quality theatre in a very short time frame."

We can't wait to see all that information applied to her work acting, singing and dancing in the musical Working! Eaton said her summer was busy, but "it was filled with things I love!"


Madison Auge, sophomore

Madison was an actress in Peoria, Ill., this summer. She was in Peoria Player's production of Little Shop of Horrors. She played Crystal, one of the Urchins. She said it was a small cast, which brought challenges when trying to sell tickets.

"I learned a lot about marketing a show and how to sell tickets when there is a small cast," said Auge. "I got to work with a lot of really talented people!"

We can't wait for that excitement and talent to hit the SAU stage in Children's Hour and Working!


Allie Stecklein, sophomore and Rachel Hohneke, junior

Allie and Rachel worked in the Galvin Fine Arts Center this summer here at SAU! They built rooms, worked as stage hands, helped Dr. Corinne Johnson move into her new house, cleaned up the theaters, and chased a mouse! Yikes! (It's gone now, don't worry!)

"I learned a lot from all three of my supervisors (Kris Eitrheim, Matt Elliott, and Aaron Hook)," Stecklein said, "about sound, lights, carpentry work, and much more."

Hohneke also worked with Stecklein on lighting, circuiting and building tool rooms.

"I also learned you can only get half-priced cherry limeades at Sonic during work hours which means we made a lot of Sonic runs ... for working purposes only."

Stecklein also talked about the Ambrose family.

"This job allowed me to spend the summer with amazing people who really make you feel like a part of the Ambrose family. I highly recommend this summer job to students who are interested in becoming more knowledgeable about the theatre world."

"The soft goods storage and the gel storage took Allie and I forever and a half," Hohneke said, "so please be nice and clean up after yourselves!"

You hear that, students? Keep things organized!


Amanda Zweibohmer, junior

This was Zweibohmer's second summer worked as a teacher's assistant for the PUEO Program (Partnerships in Unlimited Education Opportunities) at Punahou Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii! She helped teach a performing arts class to rising high-school juniors.

In the six-week class, they learned all types of performing arts and wrote and performed their own show.

"As strange as it sounds," Zweibohmer said, "I learned a lot about who I am and how that differs from who I want to be.

"For example, we were having problems with one of the other teacher assistants being rude to pretty much everyone and we worked to stand up for ourselves."

She also learned more about sound and created the sound effects for the show, set up Q-lab, and then run the sound. Now, for Working she will be working on the projection sound-scape, and we can't wait to see what she learned about sound in Hawaii and apply that knowledge to our musical!

Brooke Schelly, senior, Zach Meyer, junior and Sam Jones, sophomore

Schelly, Meyer, and Jones worked at Davenport Junior Theatre this past summer as camp counselors for five, week-long summer camps. They created three of the camps from the bottom up!

"There is never a dull moment when working with children," Schelly said, "and I had a lot of chances to spend with them. After working five camps, I dealt with many different types of children. The one thing I learned is that every child is different and they each have a unique way of learning. It is important to learn to adapt and accept all types."

Meyer also did light design and taught two weeks of movement and learned a lot about commedia dell arte.

All three also had the chance to travel with the company's main stage students to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minn.

"The complex is amazing and definitely worth the visit," Schelly said. "We went on a backstage tour, met the artistic director, and saw a fantastic production of My Fair Lady."

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