Preparing for the Boston Common
Hi, my name is Katelyn and I am the Assistant Front of House Manager for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company‘s production of Free Shakespeare on the Common. My internship with this non-profit theatre company initially began in February; I was their Development Intern. Theatre has been a passion of mine since I can remember, but I had only ever worked on the artistic side of the productions (performing, choreographing, producing, directing, etc.). It was time for me to combine what Babson has taught me so far with all of my theatre experience, so this opportunity was perfect for me.
After my semester as the Development Intern, I was asked to continue through the summer as the Assistant Front of House Manager. At first, the job duties were very similar to my original internship, but as we have been getting closer to the big production on the Boston Common, the office has been getting pretty busy. We have two other interns working on the Common who are in charge of the volunteers and the Friends Section*. These two interns will report to me with any questions or concerns on the Common, but for now we are all working together in the Development office to prepare for our move.
My daily tasks consist of posting on Social Media sites to promote the show and thank our sponsors, checking and responding to the info email account, various projects including poster creations, lanyard making, contacting specific people about special performance nights, preparing a Front of House training packet for the Apprentices** and anything Melissa (the Development Associate) needs me to get done. We have set up boxes for each tent on the Common with checklists so we make sure that we have everything prepared for our big move on July 18th. The date is coming soon and I am so excited to see how it goes.
Well that’s all for now! Be back soon with another update on this incredible summer.
-Katelyn
*Friends Section: Since the production of Shakespeare on the Common is free, we create a section of chairs called the Friends Section for those who would like to contribute a $50 donation to support this non-profit organization. We set up about 150 chairs each night for those donors.
**Apprentices: Young adults in the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Apprentice Program for the summer where they improve their artistic abilities for their future in theatre. They will also be assisting with Front of House duties during the production of Free Shakespeare on the Common.