In With the Interns: Kristen LaCherra

Name: Kristen LaCherra

From: Long Island, NY

School: George Mason University

Long-Term Goals: I would like to work in the marketing and community outreach fields of theatre arts management, in either the DC-Metro area or New York City.

Favorite Musicals: Sunday in the Park with George, Next to Normal, Into the Woods, The Last Five Years

Favorite Plays: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

Favorite Movie: The Princess Bride

Internship Start Date: January 21, 2015

Internship Duties: Assisting with the Signature in the Schools program, social media, general administrative tasks for the Education Department

Favorite Things About Signature: I love Signature’s willingness to take on new and exciting work, and how they can make any sized show an intimate experience for the audience.

Favorite Things About D.C.: I love the theatre scene down here, as well as the variety of great non-profit arts organizations.

General Cool Things About You: I have two different colored eyes and a hardcore love of Chipotle.

If you could be a superhero or supervillain, what would your superpower / ability be and what would your greatest weakness be? Could my superpower be the ability to make Chipotle burritos both free and healthy? A bit self-serving, but that would be a great service to society. My greatest weakness would be impatience (those lines would be crazy).

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Wakefield High School - Improv Residency

Over the past three weeks, we in the Education Department at Signature Theatre have had the distinct pleasure of doing a teaching residency with the advanced theatre class at Wakefield High School in Arlington County. For over five years, Signature has joined in this unique partnership to bring topics previously untouched to the theatre classrooms at Wakefield. Previous topics have included creativity, directing  and playwriting. This year we decided to get a little bit "unstructured" and "unplanned" and settled to teach a four week long improv workshop.

For those of you that might be unfamiliar with the term "improv", let me break it down for you as simply as possible. Improv is the shortened form of the word "improvisation" or "improvise". Now, what improvisation is can best be described as "to compose and perform or deliver, without previous to preform in the spur of the moment."

Over the past several weeks, the lovely and talented students of Chris Gillespie have been hard at work under the instruction of Signature Theatre's David Zobell and Matt Strote as they explore the improvised world. With exercises including simple improvisational icebreakers, imagination sequences, character building intensives, status / relationship breakouts and source-inspired scenes, the students of Gillespie's theatre class have come quite far in such a short time. They have shown considerable growth in their abilities to play off of one another, be bold and creative in the moment, not be afraid to look silly or make a mistake and how to approach a given circumstance with little to no preparation. (Let's face it. Most of our lives are fraught with trying to overcome challenges and obstacles that we were not prepared for.)

We hope you enjoy getting a sneak peak on the fun we have every morning with these brilliant young individuals. We are sad to see this residency come to its annual end this week, but the time we have spent with the students at Wakefield has been a wonderful experience and we hope to continue this mutually beneficial relationship with Wakefield High School for many years to come.

Grace begins one of her improvised monologues.

Jose literally "supporting" Will throughout a short scene.

Lena reaching for something.

Liz accepting Jose's proposal. Finally!

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In With the Interns: Matt Strote

Name:  Matthew Taylor Strote (Matt)

 

From:   Gaithersburg, Maryland

School: University of Maryland, College Park

Long-Term Goals: I plan to work in the education and community relations world of DC area theatre and arts organizations. I also will continue to moonlight as an actor, writer, and reader when possible and take as many photographs as time allows.

Favorite Musical: 

Tommy

The Music Man

Favorite Play: 

Misterman by Enda Walsh

Farewell to the Theatre by Richard Nelson

Kafka's Dick and The History Boys by Alan Bennett

Favorite Movie: Being John Malkovich, Hot Fuzz, 500 Days of Summer and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Internship Start Date: January 6, 2013

Internship Duties: Assistant Director and Teaching Artist for Signature in the Schools with the Education Department. General administrative duties and projects as assigned.

Favorite Things About Signature: I love and appreciate the willingness to be bold and try new things. The atmosphere is a wonderful place to work, learn, and be yourself.

Favorite Things About D.C.: The diverse and rapidly expanding theatre community, variety of neighborhoods to explore, plethora of amazing restaurants, and all the free museums you could ever want. 

General Cool Things About You: I am a member of a clown troupe. If you’re lucky I might introduce you to Baxter one day.

A penguin gets off the elevator right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here?: Peter the Penguin removes the sombrero off his head and clutches it anxiously. “Yeah…hi. Umm…I was wondering if I might…and I completely understand if this too large of a request….but…would it be possible to get a slightly bigger sombrero? Don’t get me wrong…I appreciate the fact that I have one. I mean how many penguins can say they have a sombrero of their very own? But I would really like one big enough to store my spare change, fish, and lottery tickets in. Would that be possible? Peter smiles and shuffles awkwardly.

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In With the Interns: Kelley Harrington

Name:  Kelley Harrington

From:  Huntingdon, PA

School:  Carnegie Mellon University

Long-Term Goals: I plan on working full-time as a production dramaturg, or in theatre education/administration, preferably in the DC area. I also hope to publish a book at some point and travel as much as possible!

Favorite Musical: Les Misérables, Assassins

Favorite Play: 

(General): Translations by Brian Friel

(Older Play): Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Lessing

(New Play): The Convert by Danai Gurira

Favorite Movie:  The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Return of the King if I had to pick one)

Internship Start Date: September 3, 2013

Internship Duties: Production dramaturgy and teaching for “Signature in the Schools” and additional duties for the Education Department. 

Favorite Things About Signature: I love that Signature is not afraid to do new musicals and perform well-known musicals in a fresh new light. I also like the atmosphere of the office. This staff clearly likes to have fun with their work!

Favorite Things About D.C.: I’m super excited about the history and arts that I see everywhere I go in this city. From the grandiose Kennedy Center to the community contributions that allow Signature to put on awesome shows, D.C. cares about theatre, and I’m thrilled to be part of it all now. I’ve also been impressed by the sheer number of beautiful fountains in this city. Seriously, they’re everywhere.

General Cool Things About You: I know how to water-ski; I once received dramaturgy advice from Stephen Schwartz; I often listen to (and sing) Disney songs to get motivated; I am a self-professed chocoholic.

Pick two celebrities to be your parents. Who and Why?

Tina Fey & Neil Patrick Harris : My life would be one long musical comedy.

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