This summer, Katelen Estrada ’29, a theatre and education double major from South Amboy, New Jersey, had an internship with the Civic Theatre of Allentown, located about a mile from campus. The internship was part of Muhlenberg’s Baker Arts Community Intern Program, in honor of Charles Richter and Curtis Dretsch, and funded by a grant from the Dexter F. & Dorothy H. Baker Foundation.
Why did you decide to pursue this internship with the Civic?
Two main reasons: One, many of my theater teachers and mentors worked at Civic at some point, and they all spoke very highly of it. The second reason is that I hope to one day be a theater educator and pass along my love of theater to the next generation of talented young artists. I saw in the job description that there were two opportunities to work with students through the Dionysus 24-Hour Play Festival and Act Out Loud, a two-week-long summer theater intensive where middle and high school students put on a production of “Godspell Jr.” I wanted to take the opportunity to get some experience in being a theater educator outside of New Jersey, and it was great to meet a whole new group of amazing theater kids in Allentown!
My fieldwork placements in the Allentown public schools for my education major really helped me know how to interact with the students.
What did a typical day look like for you?
I was the production stage manager for both “Godspell Jr.” and “Evita: In Concert” at the same time, so I would bounce from “Godspell” rehearsals in the day to “Evita” rehearsals in the evening. For both shows, I had many duties. I communicated with the directors to make a rehearsal schedule and would send out daily calls to the entire cast and team so everyone knew who needed to be there and when. I also sent many emails between different creative teams on the show to ease communication and make sure everyone was on the same page.
During rehearsals, I would take rehearsal reports of what we did that day, any injuries or absences, and any notes for each department of the show. I would also take down blocking of all of the actors and record videos of choreography to be uploaded to our actor drives. During tech, I created a call script, which listed all of the lighting, sound, projection, and any other technical cues that were made during the show. As production stage manager, I was in charge of calling all of the cues. I also operated the light board for “Evita.”
How have your Muhlenberg experiences helped you in this work?
My fieldwork placements in the Allentown public schools for my education major really helped me know how to interact with the students. Playing Jojo in “Seussical” [at Muhlenberg in June] gave me something to connect with many of the students about, since some of them had actually seen me perform. It was really cool to get to talk about my experiences and have them look up to me as a performer.
What was your main takeaway from the internship?
I learned that I do really want to become a theater educator. I had worked on theater camps and youth shows in the past, and obviously I enjoyed them enough to want to major in theatre and education. But working on “Godspell Jr.” was the first time I worked on a youth show as an instructor. I was so happy and proud of what the students accomplished that I knew for sure that this is what I was meant to do with my life. I remember on closing night of “Godspell Jr.,” after watching the final scene of the show, almost crying during curtain call, and getting handed flowers by one of my kids, thinking, “If this is what I’m meant to spend the rest of my life doing, I’m so happy that this is the road my life is taking me.” That thought really assured me that I am on the right path at Muhlenberg, and I am so excited for everything to come!
