On stage, tales of love, loss, betrayal and reconciliation engaged audiences during Huntsville Shakespeare’s summer 2024 productions of “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Winter’s Tale.”
Behind the scenes, students from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) made it all run smoothly. They put classroom lessons to practical use, learned new tips from the pros and earned paychecks – while building frameworks for their futures.
“We make great art, and we provide this job opportunity for our students,” says Amy Guerin, associate professor of theater at UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System. She serves as co-artistic director of Huntsville Shakespeare with Dr. Chad Thomas, chair of the UAH Department of English and associate professor of English.
Guerin and Thomas founded the company to give a Shakespeare-in-the-park experience to the community. These professional productions that draw local and regional talent also provide valuable in-house internships to UAH students.
“Our students are paid, and they receive a professional credit for their work,” Guerin says. “They get on-the-job training that is so critical for them once they graduate.”
Jace Nixon
Jace Nixon, assistant director to Guerin in “The Winter’s Tale,” sees the experience as a boost to his graduation plans in spring 2025. He’s a double major in engineering technology and theater.
“I have assistant-directed previous shows, so this time I focused more on the production side of things, like auditioning. I’m going to be directing my own show for the Capstone project in the spring.”
He expects his time with Huntsville Shakespeare to offer at least two distinct benefits:
“For theater it adds another part to my resume, having a rapport with a director who can vouch for my work. And the directing skills and working with people in a production process translate to any type of project management.”
Nixon had ample opportunity to further develop another skill with wide applications – flexibility.
“The biggest thing I learned this summer was to go with the flow as things change. This was the first time we used mics in the Shakespeare productions. On the tech side, we were fixing mic outages.”
LeAnne Bradford
LeAnne Bradford, a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in theater, took a step up to stage manager this summer after working as assistant stage manager for previous shows.
“The biggest thing I learned this summer was how to lead and delegate tasks with authority. This has given me the confidence that I need as I go into my senior year with my Capstone project this semester.”
Bradford plans to graduate in spring 2025. With job searches on her not-too-distant horizon, she’s glad for this resume addition.
“Now I can say that I have stage-managed a show. All of the skills needed to be a stage manager – being comfortable calling people, making rehearsal and production reports, emailing people just about every day, and being a leader – may seem small, but there are multiple jobs that require these skills. Having this experience and these skills opens up multiple possibilities for future jobs, whether they be full-time, summer or seasonal.”
Erin Brizic
Erin Brizic served as sound designer and worked on the sound crew.
Courtesy Taylor Reed
Erin Brizic is grateful for this opportunity to “understand what I was good at as well as the parts I can still work on.”
On track to graduate in spring 2026, they’re a third-year music major with an emphasis in music technology. They served as sound designer and worked on the sound crew for both productions.
“I learned a lot about the technical side of the equipment and running the sound and about the stress of figuring out problems as they showed up as quickly as possible,” Brizic says. “That’s the fun thing with live performances – there are no re-dos. It was very stressful during the shows when a problem would show up, but I learned quick reactions and quick problem-solving to keep the show running smoothly.”
Cassidy Silliman
Cassidy Silliman was assistant stage manager.
Courtesy Cassidy Silliman
As an assistant stage manager, Cassidy Silliman worked outside their lighting design and electrical specialization. They appreciated the chance to further grow toward a goal of “being an assistant stage manager or a stage manager at a community theater company.”
Expanding their focus for Huntsville Shakespeare’s shows did not go unnoticed.
“One of my union mentors saw me working wardrobe on one half of our backstage by myself at a dress rehearsal. They said they would probably need more crew for some of the tours coming to the Von Braun Center this season and that I had a good base. I have improved since then. They said to keep my schedule free, just in case.”
Silliman is a mechanical engineering and theater dual degree student with a technical design concentration who plans to graduate in 2027.
“I think working with Huntsville Shakespeare will help me showcase to recruiters that I have an array of experience with different types of theater productions, shows, venues and roles within production and company.”
When it’s your job to keep the show going on, the more skills the better.
