Student Blog: What is it Like to Do an Internship at Your Own College? NYTW Adelphi Residency!

Having an internship during the summer is common amongst college kids these days, as many of us take advantage of the time off to get a leg up on networking within our desired fields. Furthermore, getting an internship gig through your college isn’t uncommon either…but when a professional Off-Broadway theatre company does a two-week residency at your university, that’s a whole different ball game.

Adelphi University welcomed New York Theatre Workshop back to campus for its twelfth year, hosting the NYTW 2050 Fellows Retreat and NYTW Adelphi Residency. Adelphi’s relationship with NYTW stems back all the way to the beginnings of great works created by the late Jonathan Larson (Yup! That guy who wrote Rent and Tick, Tick…BOOM!) Jonathan Larson (‘82) is an alum of the Adelphi Department of Theatre, and because of his collaboration with NYTW when creating his well known works, Adelphi has kept its connection with the theatre company.

For me, this is the second year I have interned for NYTW at Adelphi. I decided to return this year based on how many connections I made last year, and truly because it was so much fun! It is quite weird however to be doing an internship during the summer months, in the same building I typically spend 30-40 hours a week in during a semester. But that’s the beauty of it all, really. Artists come from all over for access to a facility that will allow them to work and expand their new and upcoming projects. So as the expert artists welcomed several bright-faced interns into their budding projects, they looked to us, the experts of Adelphi, to aid them in all of their needs. Whether their needs included sourcing seven extension cords, hole-punching a dozen newly edited scripts, or even just a recommendation on what’s the best thing to get at the dining hall, (hint: the chicken fingers) we were there with all of the answers! I will say, from living on campus only a month ago, to then having to put a door tag on the dorm room that I called home for a full year was a pretty intense transition. But it was all worth it.

I don’t want to dive into too much about the projects I helped out on during my internship, out of respect for the artists and their budding projects. However, I think small shoutouts are necessary. During the first week I helped out with a piece written and directed by Emily Abrams, called CAMP! And in the second week, I was able to observe the process of Cowboy Bob, a new musical created by Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips & Annie Tippe. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see these projects work in process, and I cannot wait to say one day: ‘I knew that project when!’ 

The highlight of the internship of course was the Tony Awards watch party during our second week of the residency. The watch party took place in the lounge of the residence hall the artists were dorming in, a place where I’ve definitely pulled some all-nighters during the school year. With snacks and sodas in hand, we all huddled together with our Tony ballots as we viewed the broadcast from a projector. The moment Jonathan Groff shouted out New York Theatre Workshop during his acceptance speech for Lead Actor in a musical and hearing everyone scream and cheer is a memory I will never forget. In that moment, our love and passion for what we do become commonplace.