Student Blog: All About A1’s Summer Stock Conference

Every musical theater student comes across summer stock in their early career. From May to August, you are getting paid to work intense rehearsal schedules and put up a bunch of shows in a short amount of time. Meanwhile, you are living with your cast and surrounded by the same people every day. Sounds like theater camp to me! These companies hire a mix of college students, recent graduates, and seasoned equity performers. Summer stock theaters are typically in beautiful mountain or beach towns in the United States, a common summer tourist attraction. Summer stock is great exposure and experience for a performer’s early career because many larger companies have big names in the industry, and alumni from these companies go onto perform on Broadway or other notable theaters later in their career.

If summer stock is such a great early career opportunity, then how do you book one of these summer seasons? Many people attend a summer stock conference. This past wintry weekend, I attended the A1’s summer stock conference at the Norwalk Conservatory in Connecticut, located in a quaint town just an hour away from New York City. At this networking event, up to thirty professional theater companies gather to watch a single weekend of auditions. The weekend is fast-paced, intense, and packed. You will somehow run into everyone you know. Your audition day is long, and at times, it will feel like a cattle-call. Companies are looking for actors to fit right into their summer seasons. Actors are looking to secure summer employment.

A summer stock conference is a great first exposure to what large NYC auditions might look like in an actor’s early career. Learning to thrive in this environment, navigating the wave of people and stress that come with mass auditions, is a useful skill as a performer. It makes me think about all the crazy things we do for this business.

Arriving at the conference on Saturday morning, I was not shocked to find hundreds of actors lined up across the halls of the huge lobby. Nervous energy was bustling throughout the air. A sea of headshots, resumes, character heels, colorful leotards, and curled hair scattered across the room. Everyone was trying to look “ahead of the game.”

I darted my way through the mess of people downstairs for a five-minute headshot session with celebrity photographer, Michael Kushner. Michael was welcoming, kind, and ready to take some fierce photos. I explained to him exactly the vibe I was trying to achieve, and I was surprised with how many eye-catching shots we captured in such a short time.

I headed straight back upstairs to check in, receive my number, and locate my audition group. There, I luckily ran into one of my close friends from theater camp! We somewhat carelessly followed our group, trenching through the snow to another building, only to lose them halfway through. When we finally found our way, the next step was practicing our audition cuts with a pianist. In a crammed room, we organized our music into plastic sheet protectors, sang through our songs one by one, and made sure our cuts did not exceed 90 seconds.

After an hour of waiting around, it was time to audition. The proctors announced my name and number as I confidently walked into the room. I sang my two pieces, focusing on the character and circumstance rather than everyone watching, or, in some cases, not watching. Then, I confidently walked out. I know the casting directors and companies behind the table had been sitting there for hours already, so I hoped to give an interesting and lively performance to wake them up. After all, you only have 90 seconds.

Finally, I could relax. I met up with some friends for a 2 p.m. lunch to fuel our jazz and tap call at 3:30. We had plenty of time to learn and rehearse the dance combinations, but there was no way I could have survived the call without my tap class this semester! The room was sweaty, humid, and crowded, but nothing that I hadn't seen before.

Almost directly after the dance call, emails popped into my inbox of official callbacks for companies. In callbacks, theaters had us read sides from the shows, sing cuts from their seasons, or simply have professional conversations to learn more about their companies. What surprised me the most was how varied and particular each callback became as the night progressed. Some theaters wanted specific British or Southern accents to fit the style of the shows. One wanted an additional movement call where we puppeteered with a chair, pretending to be a hunting wolf. I realized these theaters prioritize pure artistry and bold, smart choices. I felt my BFA training shining through in these callback experiences. From 6:30 to 10:30 pm, I learned material for shows ranging from Carousel to Cats.

At the end of the day, I slumped onto my hotel bed for the most peaceful sleep ever. To finish off the weekend, I squeezed in a few masterclasses and workshops on Sunday. After more singing and monologues, I caught my train back to Boston to start the spring semester at BoCo. From headshots to callbacks to masterclasses, I am satisfied with my A1's Conference experience.