The Utah Shakespeare Festival in collaboration with the department of theatre, dance, and arts administration gathered Southern Utah University students for an employment meeting on Tuesday, Dec 3 at 4 p.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
The meeting covered upcoming employment opportunities with USF for students within the SUU art programs. Members and directors of each department at USF spoke about the positions they are looking to fill and answered any questions students had about the opportunities.
For those looking towards a career in theatre performance, Michael Bahr, the executive managing director for USF, discussed this year’s actors fellowship with the festival.
For the fellowship, five SUU theatre students are chosen to rehearse and perform in “The Greenshow” and sometimes in one or more of the upcoming season’s productions. It provides high-quality training for the actors as well as a weekly paycheck or scholarship money.
“It is an incredible opportunity to be inside a professional rehearsal room and work with professionals from all around the world,” said Bahr.
Similar to the acting fellowship, there are also five positions available for a technical fellowship. These students will be given the opportunity to work on all of the behind the scenes technical aspects of the USF productions. Students in these positions are required to take a tech class at SUU that is fully paid for by the fellowship.
For those with a love of the arts and teaching, USF is looking to employ students in multiple education positions. USF’s Education Director Stewart Shelley, described the aspects they were looking for in their future theatre educators. Students employed in these types of roles will teach classes and work with young actors at events like the annual high school Shakespeare competition.
“We want to invite everyone to be a part of an educational outreach, and we have a variety of ways for everyone to participate,” Shelley explained.
Although many of these positions are only offered to TDAA students at SUU, there are plenty of other employment opportunities at the festival. The festival is always looking for house managers and ticket salesmen, which can be a perfect job for anyone with retail or management experience. The hours for these types of jobs are flexible and the festival directors are willing to work around everyone’s classes and personal schedules.
There are also over 300 volunteer positions every festival season. Volunteering can be a fun way to be part of the theatre, and it can look great on future scholarship applications and resumes.
Anyone interested in the employment opportunities at the Utah Shakespeare Festival this upcoming season can visit USF’s website.
Applications for festival fellowships will be provided in the Spring semester TDAA classes. To learn more about the festival or TDAA, visit the TDAA or the USF website.
Author: Briar Adams
Photos courtesy of the Utah Shakespeare Festival
Editor: Tessa Cheshire
arts@suunews.net
