Some design and production students returned to school late this semester from jobs in set and costume design.
Celia Kasberg, design and production senior, took a summer position with Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colorado.
“It was a nice break to get out of Oklahoma, and I’ve never been to Colorado before, so it was really nice,” Kasberg said.
Kasberg worked various positions at the theater.
“I had the opportunity to design my first show outside of school,” she said. “I also got to wardrobe supervise and be on the wardrobe crew for three of the mainstage shows, and I got to work as a stitcher in the costume shop.”
Kasberg’s internship was through the entire summer and overlapped into the school year.
“I left the weekend after school ended, so the first week in May,” she said. “And then I got back the week after school started.”
Kasberg said she had to email her professors to tell them that she was going to be away for the first week of school.
“I tried to get a head start on classes and read up on the syllabi and try to catch up on classes as much as possible,” she said.
Jason Foreman, professor of scenic design and the head of design and production, said more than 20 design and production students took jobs and internships across the country this summer.
“We really encourage them to go out and work in the summers, in professional jobs,” Foreman said. “Some of them get positions where they’re an intern, some of them get full positions, so they’re props artisan or a scenic painter or a stitcher.”
Most student positions do not run into the school year, but some do, Foreman said.
“Every now and then, we’ll make requests of faculty to permit students to miss some of the class on the first week of classes,” he said.
Logan Jacisin, design and production senior, had a job with Music Theatre Wichita as a prop artisan.
“It was a large amount of variety in the job. Every day I could have been working on something different,” he said. “I did a lot of carpentry. I was primarily their furniture builder. I also did a little bit of work with metal and some sewing work and some painting.”
Jacisin said he enjoyed his time working there, even though the job was difficult at some points.
“It was usually a lot of fun working there, even when the days got to be longer,” he said. “We were doing 12 hours a day of working with two hours off for food.”
Jacisin said he was grateful for the program and that he enjoyed the opportunity.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for anybody who is trying to get into this career path to get professional, hands-on experience and to put something on their resume,” Jacisin said. “And also, they’re just genuinely enjoyable ways to meet people with similar passions and to really hone your skills.”
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