By Christine Ball

Internships are being offered at Shea’s Performing Arts Center and Studio Arena Theatre each semester to Buffalo State College students.

“There are two types of acting, good or bad,” said Drew Kahn, associate professor of theater and internship coordinator. “We teach the good stuff.”

According to Kahn, Shea’s and Studio Arena deal exclusively with students from Buffalo State’s performing arts department. Typically, 25 to 40 percent of students who apply for the internships are accepted.

Internships at Studio Arena include acting, marketing, scene design, construction, costume design and other areas in theater.

Studio Arena is a part of the League of Regional Theaters (L.O.R.T.). This means that Studio Arena operates under the Actors’ Equity Association contract. The Actors’ Equity Association is a union for actors and stage managers. Studio Arena is the only equity theater in Buffalo. The biggest acting jobs, which include touring shows, are under equity theaters. Four students that performed in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
when it played at Studio Arena in the fall of 2002, received points toward their equity cards.

Five students performed in the world premier of “City of Lights” at Studio Arena, a play written about Buffalo in 1901. A world premier is the beginning for a show that might make it to off-Broadway or even Broadway.

For an internship with Shea’s, students do not get an opportunity to act because Shea’s deals mostly with shows that are on tour. Shea’s allows internships with their program “Shea’s in the schools.” This program is for students K-12 and teaches students about productions playing at Shea’s. Kahn gave an example of the production “Phantom of the Opera.” When it came to Buffalo, students learned about every aspect of the show. One intern is currently booking “Sesame Street Live” and the “On School Time” season.

At the end of a student’s junior year, or beginning of their senior year, representatives of Shea’s and Studio Arena come to Buffalo State to talk about the two theaters. If a student shows interest in pursuing an internship they need to write a three -to five-page essay explaining why they would be the best candidate. Most students apply for an acting internship. Students who apply need to give a first choice but are not always guaranteed to get what they want. They need to be willing to take an internship in other areas of theater as well.

Students who are interested in these internships do not have to be in a theater major but need to prove that they are appropriate for these internships through an audition. Applicants accepted for acting also need to audition at Studio Arena.

Studio Arena opened in 1927 originally as a school. In 1965 it became Western New York’s only residential professional theater. Studio Arena Theatre is at 710 Main St.

Sheas’s opened in 1926 and was officially named in 1993. Celebrities including George Burns, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby have performed there.

For more information about Shea’s and Studio Arena internships contact Kahn at kahnaj@buffalostate.edu.