Intern Diaries Part 2- Kadie Dennison

ABOUT ME
I’m a senior at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. A lot of you may be asking, “Where is that?” And to that I answer, in the middle of absolutely nowhere! I love going to school in the middle of cornfields and one-horse towns. But, living in Arlington has been a nice change of pace if I do say so myself.
I am a double major in Theatre and Communication Studies. I arrived at these majors after two whole years in college. I was switching my majors practically every week, but the one thing that was staying constant in my life was theatre. I decided to go with theatre (DUH!); it is my passion. I love being involved in all aspects of performing. I’ve been an actor, singer, dancer (I tried anyway), director, stage manager, and just about any other crew position you can think of. I’m a member of my school’s theatre honor society, Alpha Psi Omega, and have worked as a teacher at community theatre children’s camps in Iowa.
Before I moved to Arlington for the summer, I was in Chicago studying at the Second City. For an entire semester I had the amazing opportunity to study sketch comedy and improvisation at the training center where Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, and pretty much all of the other super-talented funny people out there studied! That was an awesome experience and I am so glad I got to live in the Windy City! So I was in Chicago for six months then moved here. And this is where our story begins….

WHY I’M HERE
As you can tell, I’ve had a lot of performance experience. This internship is perfect for me because I want to learn more about what it takes on the business side to run a non-profit theatre. My dream is to one day run a children’s theatre, much like Encore, to promote the arts in youth.

WHY ENCORE
I feel very strongly about exposing children to the arts. Encore is theatre for kids by kids. Not only are you giving kids a place to have fun and be creative, but you are teaching them about themselves and the world around them. Whether a child is in the audience or working on the production, they are becoming more culturally literate (something I feel is crucial to growing up). I wasn’t exposed to theatre until I was in seventh grade and looking back I wish I would have had a theatre like Encore to get me involved at a much earlier age. So, even though I just got involved here at Encore, the mission is one that I feel very connected with!

Aileen and I wore the same outfit to work one day!

WHAT I AM DOING
As working in a theatre usually is, I get to do a wide variety of tasks and projects. Here are some of the highlights:
-Contact local university sororities and invite them to Legally Blonde: The Musical to push group sales
-Contact local businesses and restaurants and invite them to advertise with us
-Street Marketing! Running all over Arlington hanging posters and handing out fliers for Legally Blonde: The Musical and Willy Wonka, Jr.
-Researching at the library for possible grants we could apply to.
-Buying a kiddie pool for Stage Door’s Willy Wonka Jr. (Fun trip to Toys R Us!)
-Marketing Archives—organization, organization, organization
-Social Media promotion. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
-Ushering Willy Wonka Jr.
-Website Editing
-Answering phone calls
-Helped take headshots of the Legally Blonde Cast

Taking headshots of the cast. Needed someone to reflect light. Sure I’ll do it!

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!
Thanks for reading my blog! I’ve learned so much already and it’s only my third week here. I’m having so much fun and I hope to see you at the theatre!

Kristina and I at the park hanging up posters!