Lansing - For young actors trying to make it in the theater industry, it’s a dream come true.
Five young adults from around the nation will converge at the BoarsHead Theater, 425 S. Grand Ave., until June, building, painting and doing the dirty work behind the scenes of Lansing’s only equity, or professional, theater.
“It’s an opportunity to spread their wings as artists and explore different things,” BoarsHead director of education Nancy Rominger said.
In addition to an $85 a week stipend, members of BoarsHead’s Second Company also receive housing, attend workshops and get the opportunity to spend a season “immersed in theater,” doing professional networking with working actors and getting hands-on experience, Rominger said.
“They are so busy here with their various performances and other work that they don’t have time (for outside work),” she said.
Erin Carter, a recent graduate of Princeton University, saw the ad for BoarsHead internships in ArtSEARCH employment bulletin and said the stability of a nine-month internship appealed to her.
“A lot of theater jobs come and go,” she said. “This looked like a great way for me to gain a little more experience in several different areas.”
Carter, who grew up in Arizona, said she appreciates the feel of the Midwest.
“People are more stressed in the East,” she said. “Arizona is slower paced and people are more happy about life. I get that sense about Michigan and the Midwest as well.”
In direct contrast to Carter is fellow intern and Lansing resident Justin Brewer. He chose to stay in the city to be in close contact with family and learn what he can before trying his luck in New York.
“I realized there’s a lot more I need to learn before I rush off to some big city with my $45 in my pocket and try to make it big,” he said.
The BoarsHead Second Company internship program began in 1985. Several years later, interns decided they’d like to use their night off, Monday, to produce, direct and perform in their own shows. In the mid-’90s, Dark Nights were born.
“I’d like to get a chance to perform one of the plays that I wrote,” said Giani Clarkson, a Detroit native who recently graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans, La. “I want to learn about the different things that go into making a successful show and why.”
Dark Nights give the interns an opportunity to perform their own work, choose their own pieces and get the rights and royalties for the plays they choose. The five scheduled evenings this season are free to the public.
Rominger said the projects allow the interns to explore their own artistic ideas.
“The almighty dollar tends to govern your choices as an artist,” she said. “Even myself, after more than 20 years of professional experience, would like to have total artistic autonomy.”
To find its interns, BoarsHead conducts auditions in Chicago, New York and Lansing.
“It’s pretty competitive,” Rominger said.
Kendrah McKay, a Central Michigan University graduate interning at BoarsHead, said she appreciates the diversity of Lansing.
“The BoarsHead offers the chance to learn all aspects of the theater and will make me a more well-rounded actor,” she said. “I wanted an in-depth, hands-on experience.”
For more information about the BoarsHead Dark Nights performances, visit www.boarshead.org or call the BoarsHead Box Office at (517)484-7805.
