Bay Street Theatre Company Interns

Imagine being miles from home, family and friends, maybe for the first time, thrown into a job you’ve only read about, and living in a strange house with nothing but the belongings that could fit into your car.

That’s right: You’re a college intern.

That might be worrisome for some—if they were slaving away tirelessly at a weekly newspaper, for example—but at Bay Street Theatre the interns have positive attitudes and happy faces abound because they have found a caring and supportive home away from home for the summer. And, they’re doing something that they love, every day.

“It’s homey and family like. The cast of ‘Shanghai Moon’ is like an adoptive family,” Katie Collins, a props intern, said about the benefits of being at Bay Street. Not only do interns connect with the other employees,

but also with the people involved in the mainstage productions.

Many of the interns praised the experience because they were set onto their chosen career path right away, which helped them grow and learn more than they thought possible. “You really get to work in the business,” general intern Dani Garcia said, “I’ve been able to figure out what I’m better at.”

Some theater companies hire big groups, sometimes as many as 100 interns, to take on jobs at a theater, said Gary Hygom, the managing director in charge of production, but at Bay Street there are only 15.

Mr. Hygom said that having a small group improves the quality of the internship program because of the “one-on-one experience” with top designers from New York City, and they pretty much “run the shows.”

Lindsay Senior, a rising junior at North Carolina School of the Arts, is doing a painting internship and has been given responsibilities a senior at her school

would have. She has been “charging,” meaning she’s in control of a crew.

“This has made me step up my game,” she said.

“We could not possibly function without the interns, they do the lion’s share of the work,” Mr. Hygom said.

Interns come from all over the country and sometimes from different parts of the world. There are more interns from the U.S. and Long Island this year, but in the past they have come from as far away as Puerto Rico, Hungary and other countries.

In addition to getting to do what they love with an energetic group of like-minded people, interns are provided housing in Noyac, East Hampton or Hampton Bays, fed some meals, and paid for their time with the company.

Not only do interns stay for a summer mainstage season, many come back for another season. For intern Jessica D’Aloisio, one summer turned into four.

Her first internship in 2004 was in stage management, and then in the summer of 2006 she came back once more as an administrative intern and “really learned how to make the theater

work.”

Ms. D’Aloisio said that the skills she learned as a stage manager translated well to event planning, which brought her back to help organize and produce the Bay Street summer gala benefit bash every summer since.

The gala features theatrical entertainment as well as “silent, live and platinum auctions with guest auctioneers,” Ms. D’Aloisio said. This year, Caroline Rhea and Richard Kind will be the auctioneers, and legendary local jazz pianist Judy Carmichael and the cast of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” will perform at the gala, which is returning to Long Wharf this year, on July 19.

Bay Street is able to take good care of the summer interns mainly through the benevolence of theater supporters’ “adopt an intern” program, Ms. D’Aloisio said.

Currently, the theater spends around $75,000 on interns per year, a sum that would be out of reach without the help of dedicated theater lovers. Those who have been shouldering the biggest share of the burden include Francis and Theresa Maglio, Richard and Faye Nespola and Michael and Lizabeth Pandolfelli. A number of local families also donate money to sponsor an intern and take care of many of their essential needs.

The next shows featured at the Bay Street Theatre are “Beyond Therapy,” from July 8 through July 27, and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” from August 5 through August 31, which will be a “full build for every department,” Mr. Hygom said. The set for “Beyond Therapy” was previously put together by another crew for the show’s recent run at the Williamstown Theater Festival, but for “Ain’t Misbehavin’” every intern will have a full load to handle.

And, happily, that’s the way they like it.

Rita Childers, a rising senior at Southeast Missouri State University, is the Press Newspaper Group’s editorial intern this summer. Megan Shaw, a rising sophomore at Westmoreland County Community College in Pennsylvania, just completed a one-month internship in the Press Newspaper Group photography department.