Exploring a Career In Arts Administration at Lyric Theatre

Hello!

My name is Emma Jarvis, I am a member of the class of 2021 and I am majoring in Business and Management and have a minor in Theatre Studies. This summer I was fortunate to have the opportunity of interning at the Lyric Theatre Company in South Burlington Vermont.

Working in a theatre in the wake of Covid was fascinating, it allowed for me to help my coworkers navigate and create new events, plans, and programs in order to still serve the surrounding community. I was so proud of the work that Lyric was able to do this summer and am elated that I was able to help make this work happen. So, what did we do??? Lyric became a bit of mask making factory. Lyric was able to use its resources to produce thousands of masks for the community with the help of hundreds of volunteers. I joined at peak mask making time, volunteers had already used stencils to pre-cut hundreds of fabric mask pieces, and I was in charge of sorting, counting, and giving the stencils to more volunteers who would sew together the pieces and deliver them back to us so we could disperse them throughout the community.

There was also the highly successful Mystery Movie Musical Night, where a mystery musical was projected in the Lyric parking lot for a socially distanced audience.

I oversaw the set up and coordination of this event. This meant making 8ftx 8ft squares marked by small orange cones. My anticipation and planning of this cone spacing became an office inside joke, that is now materialized in the form of this lovely painting my Co-worker Ryan gave to me on the last day, that is now displayed in my dorm room!

My spacing skills were further used to help in the execution of the LyricKids socially distanced summer camps. Where I also helped to make sets, coordinate costuming, and construct programs.

My two coworkers/ mentors Erin the Executive Director of Lyric, and Ryan the Development and Marketing Coordinator, also taught me many valuable lessons about being professionals in the theatre sphere. They gave me hands on opportunities to help work with fundraising and development, taught me more about theatre licensing, provided me with the opportunity to attend board meetings, and let me take charge of social media marketing. It was an incredible experience, and I will take with me many fond memories, new skills, and sound advice that will help me as I pursue a career in Arts Administration.

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