Career Day 2017
On May 19th, all of the sophomores and freshman went to shadow professionals in their desired field. I contacted a couple of theater companies before setting up my career day with Skyler Sullivan. He works freelance for the most part, but he, along with his husband, operate the Diversionary Theater in San Diego. The Diversionary Theater is an LGBTQIA+ inclusive theater that hosts a season of shows with LGBTQIA+ themes or play writes. They also house the Lambda Archives, a mini museum of LGBTQIA+ history.
Going in, I felt like I knew a lot about theater professions. I knew that theater as a hobby is incredibly fickle in terms of schedule. I imagined that even in the business world, there was going to be very few, if any, daily things to be done, unless a show is to be performed on that day. I knew that even though things might change from location to location and day to day, you still have to be a responsible representative of yourself and the company. All of that turned out to be true to some extent, but the new things I figured out along the way were also very interesting. |
We started the day by meeting at an elementary school. A class of first grade students greeted us happily in the school’s library. Skyler had already done some workshops with these kids, but I had never met them. We got into the classic get-to-know-you circle and started playing games. During the workshops, Skyler would often direct them to use what he called the three tools of acting: movement, voice, and imagination. He demonstrated this by asking us to be things such as trees or animals. He always encouraged everyone to interpret the instructions with creativity. After working with three classes, all of which were first grade or younger, we headed out towards the theater, only a few blocks away.
After a few minutes of walking around town, we arrived at the theater building. It had a nice patio in the front and on the side of the building, with entrances into an indoor lobby. Off the lobby, there were plenty of offices and closets to work in. I had been to this same theater twice before my career day on field trips. I had gone to see Lizard Boy and Well with my class. Skyler had come to our school before and after each show to discuss what we thought and to probe us with questions relating to the show’s themes. After a while of touring the building, we met up with a representative from Arts for Learning San Diego at a coffee shop. They were there to discuss business, but I got to ask her about her work too.
Later in the day, I did an interview with Skyler about his life and work. He told me about his educational background first. He got his BFA in Musical theater and Acting at Emerson College in Boston, and later got his MFA in Acting at Brooklyn college in New York. Between those two, he went and studied at the International School of Comic Acting in Italy. During that time he learned a lot about the real world. He suggested that I try to learn as many things as possible while I’m young, so I would have that many more options for jobs when I’m an adult. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration, preparedness, time management, and several other life skills like respect and compromise. He enjoys his work a lot because he feels like he’s giving back to the community. He loves being the inspiration for kids of all ages, and possibly the catalyst for a child’s new mindset or change in perspective.
Overall, I found my career day to be very helpful in determining what I want to do with my life. I still love the idea of working in a small, local theater, but this experience really brought to light some of the realities of the situation. Days may be wishy-washy, and shows may get stressful. Pay may be low, meaning I may need to get a part time job somewhere else. Paperwork will definitely have to be done, and some days will be difficult. Nevertheless, I’m still very excited about my future. The integrity of theaters like the Diversionary theater never fail to make me feel at home.
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