Student Blog: Summer Stock Central: Step #2 | Research, Research, Research

Hey hey!

I hope you all are enjoying the start of your summer :)

Before continuing on, be sure to read Step #1| Define "Summer Stock" in this 8 Steps to Booking Work Next Summer series. To find all the steps in one place, Click Here. It'll take you to my profile, which will be the home base for all my articles in the Summer Stock Central series.

Alright, so you've already defined your terms and you feel a little more comfortable with the terminology and industry lingo surrounding Summer Stock. So now it's time for...

STEP #2: Research, Research, Research

The term "research" is one that gets thrown around a lot, but I feel like there is rarely ever any specificity or clarification given as to how to go about researching.

But never fear, that's what I'm here for haha.

So the name of the game for researching as it pertains to Summer Stock is all about, literally...names, Venue Names that is (be sure to re-read the "Venue Types" section of Step #1| Define "Summer Stock" if you're a little confused).

So how to go about acquiring these Venue Names?

- MT IGs

- Facebook Groups

- Master Lists

MT IGs

Musical Theatre Instagram accounts, if you're not an acronym fan. I know a lot of us went through the craziness that is Musical Theatre College Auditions, so I know we're all following programs that aren't our own. While a lot of us are trying to take a step back from Social Media (ft. The Social Dilemma via Netflix), which I totally encourage and try to practice myself, when you do go on social, why not use it propel your career? If you're not following a lot of college MT programs, go ahead and follow all the colleges you auditioned for, and even a few more if you're game! One of Instagram's benefits is that it's a literal digital catalog so you can search as far back in their feeds as you want. All these MT accounts post "Alumni Updates/News/etc." and most importantly mention where they are working. So get ready to do some scrolling haha, but go into each of those accounts and jot down those Venue Names :)

Facebook Groups

Another social media tool, I know, but "groups" is probably one of the strongest features of this entire platform. The name will probably change, but Summer Stock: The Musical is the go-to FB group for these past two summers. People pose questions, chat about theaters, and most importantly...post Venue lists. Either they're in a posted document or in a big thread on a post, but jot down all the Venues that are mentioned.

Master Lists

It's a little outdated but Cengage Summer Theaters has a good chunk of Venues to get you started. You heard me rave about it in the last post but Up-To-Date Actor is one of the best tools I've seen for actors, especially for researching, the amount of Venues in their database is incredible.

So after you've jotted down those names in Notes, Excel, a binder, etc. You could organize them, or not honestly, but if you organized them by type it could look something like this...

I tried to include well-known, as well as lesser-known, for each type to help kickstart your researching journey.

Summer Stock Venue Types

1. Amphitheatre

• The Muny, Tuacahn Amphitheatre

2. Camp

• Summer Stock Austin, Everblue Arts

3. Dinner Theatre

• Alhambra Theatre & Dining, Arizona Broadway Theatre

4. Opera Company/Festival

• Utah Festival Opera & MT, Glimmerglass Festival

5. Shakespeare Festival

• Alabama Shakes, Utah Shakespeare Festival

6. Theatre in a Barn

• New London Barn Playhouse, Winnipesauke Playhouse

7. Theme Park

• Cedar Point, Hershey Park

8. Traditional Summer Stock

• The Rev Theatre Co., Tibbits Summer Theatre

9. University-Affiliated

• Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, Tent Theatre @ MSU

10. Year-Round Theatre

• Phoenix Theatre Company, TheatreSquared

Follow along over the next few months as I'll be addressing 1 of the 8 Steps to Booking Work Next Summer in each of my posts. To find all the steps in one place, Click Here. It'll take you to my profile, which will be the home base for all my articles in the Summer Stock Central series.

If you want to geek out about this stuff more or want to talk about your personalized goals and aspirations with regard to your Summer Stock journey and/or career writ large, hmu on IG @mattguernier. Get ready to dive into Step #3 | Finding Auditions on my next post, but until then, stay safe and Happy Summer! :)