Author Topic: About to graduate in the Midwest!  (Read 1639 times)

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AudraK

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About to graduate in the Midwest!
« on: Mar 20, 2014, 02:46 pm »
Hi, everyone!

I'm so excited to have stumbled along this site in my search to find examples of prop tracking forms (of which I found many, so thank you!)

I am wrapping up my undergraduate education at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, IL with a BA in English Literature and a minor in theatre arts. I, again, sort of stumbled into stage managing and can't seem to get enough of it. This semester, I have stage managed/am currently stage managing four shows (I open one a month from February-May). I'm looking to relocate to the Chicago or Milwaukee area upon the closing of my last show for IWU at the end of May. While I'm elated to be graduating having found my passion, it's a little nerve-wracking leaving the "bubble" of support I have at a tiny liberal-arts school in central Illinois to work professionally. Any advice or soothing anecdotes about getting your first professional job?

Short personal story time: My parents, bless them, know nothing about theatre life ("Oh, do you have practice again, honey?"-My mother when she's on the phone with me before rehearsal), but realized I was 100% serious about this when I got a symbol of a hurricane tattooed on my forearm--just as a reminder to always be the eye of the storm and the calm in the chaos...which was a great reminder when my headsets all shut down mysteriously 20 minutes into a 73 minute show during our second performance. I learned I'm VERY good at hand signals and, thankfully, the space allowed my board ops to see me well.

I look forward to being on here during all of my free time!

Audra Kuchling

Maribeth

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Re: About to graduate in the Midwest!
« Reply #1 on: Mar 30, 2014, 01:24 pm »
Welcome to the boards, Audra! Glad you found some useful forms.

I recommend using the personal connections that you have to reach out to theatres you are interested in. Do any of your professors have ties to theatres in Chicago or Milwaukee? A personal connection will go a long way to getting your resume noticed. I think 95% of the jobs that I get are through personal connections, and definitely when I was first starting out it was always my "foot in the door".

You can also see if either of those areas has any job fairs/open interview days set up that you could attend, or a theatre job website that you can scour for available positions. I also think an internship/apprenticeship is a great way for a theatre to get to know you, while you're getting to know a new area. It also helps jump-start your personal network in that area.

Best of luck with the job hunt, and looking forward to seeing you on the boards!


 

riotous