Diabolical operation. Constant issues with employees getting paid. AD forced a poor latinx actress to go onstage as an understudy for BM in "South Pacific" despite her being incredibly uncomfortable because they failed to hire a single other aapi actor for the production. Biggest red flag: the AD consistently contracts a predatory photographer who dm's cast members and offers "private photo shoots" as a front for preying on young men. He even walked into our company house unannounced/uninvited on several occasions despite not being a staff member. The AD emailed cast members who had been targeted that the photo shoots were "100% legitimate"... All that to say, she is not looking out for you, trust. Only work here if you're young and desperate for professional credits. Even then you might want to spare yourself the mental anguish.

I've been working at Interlakes for four seasons. I started as overhire, then eventually on the design team. My review differs a lot than other people, since I was a local (not in company housing). THE GOOD: - Rates are relatively good for the area. - Most of the crew is easy to work with, made some good friends. - Well equipped space with ample lighting fixtures and electrics. Some older units but starting to convert to an entire LED rig. - Management always cooperated with my conflicts and schedule. THE BAD: - Insane tech schedule. An average schedule is: Sunday, performance at 5pm with strike immediately after. Monday, techs work all day and late into the night. Tuesday, tech the show in the morning and dress rehearsal in the evening. Wednesday, dress rehearsal in the morning, show at 7:30p. - Expect to work many hours in a short time period. I was pulling 13-15 hour days as a designer. Electrician work is a healthier schedule, being more like 8-10 hour calls. - Had some issues in previous years with getting paychecks, but was eventually paid. If you work here, make sure to advocate for yourself about getting paid. THE BAD (the space, not the company): - The theatre is inside of a rented high school auditorium (which has it's own set of quirks, compared to a regular theatre). - Catwalks are hard to work in. Some of the lighting positions are difficult to access. My honest review: If you're a newer tech or designer, this is the place for you. It's great theatre to "cut your teeth" in, test new ideas, and learn. Sure, it's not Broadway, and yes some of the gear is older but you'll learn how to do real theatre. You'll learn how to work within tight timelines and real world constraints. I always felt seen and heard by management, and was a good place to get started.

the worst summer stock EVER. the most toxic environment with no support and sh*t pay. did too much for too little.

I was one of their tech interns and I have to say they treat everyone on the tech side like sh*t. They would constantly bully my coworkers and diminish us, they would never get us the materials we needed to build and stiffed me out of 200$ worth of pay.

I worked there about 3 years ago and it was a pretty solid summer stock experience the directors I got to work with were fantastic and the show quality was pretty good. The artistic director can be a little quirky at times but she does know her audience and she knows how to pull a good team together and put on a fantastic show. The pay rates aren’t anything extraordinary but they are not bad either I got payed 1200 for being a principle in one show and 1000 for being a featured character/ ensemble in another production. I don’t know if in these past years the rates have gone up or down but at least 3 years ago that’s what they were like. I would recommend this theatre

I worked here summer 2023 and had an amazing time. There were some issues that came up throughout the contract that caused some bumps in the road but we got through them and produced some very good shows. It definitely depends on your cast and the energy they bring to the experience. Housing is still up in the air as they attempt to purchase cast housing. The Producing Artistic Director wears a lot of hats and does their best to navigate all of those jobs at the same time. It's summerstock so you're not going to make a ton of money but you're here to grow as a performer and gain more experience. You will work with some people that will go on to great careers so cherish those friendships that you make. You never know when someone may recommend you for a job down the road. Meredith is a fun town but it is full of tourists. Bring a car if you can or a bike to quickly get through the traffic when on a break. You rehearse and perform in the rented high school theater. There is a grocery store in town, a D&D down the road and a few restaurants as well. You'll be busy, you won't be bored and you'll have a great time. (edited)

So the artistic director is a lot to deal with. She dictates all of her emails in speech to text so don't be surprised by countless grammatical errors and misspellings which can be very frustrating. I was a tech intern but the tech interns were essentially running the place along with stage management since the department heads were usually non-existent. Housing was a little weird but not different than any other weird summer stock housing. I was not in rehearsals but I did hear some unfortunate stories of racial insensitivity from some colleagues in the casts that were very troubling. That was only one of the directors that I heard that about. (edited)

(DISCLAIMER: I have not worked a contract at Interlakes Summer Theatre. I have however, been offered a contract which I had to decline do to problematic behavior regarding professionalism and transparency in the casting process, which I consider to be important information for other prospective employees.) COMMUNICATION: I spent 3 months in back-and-forth email communication with the Producing Artistic Director. This came with repeat unprofessional formatting, which included confusing grammatical errors, emails with no body text, and simple questions (such as my status as a student and whether or not I was interested in the full season) being asked repeatedly in the same reply chain. I would receive radio silence for multiple weeks, then replies in minutes. CONTRACT: Throughout the above process, I had to request a written contract offer multiple times, while being asked to accept the position before having received any contract specifics aside from my casting. This written offer was then provided more than a month after my initial request to review it, where I again had to request a copy of the employee handbook, which was repeatedly mentioned in the contract, but not provided to me until specifically asked for. CASTING: For the summer season, my contract offer was for a supporting track and two ensemble tracks in three shows, respectively. Seeing as there were four shows total in the summer season, I had reached out again to the Producing Artistic Director simply to ensure that this was a deliberate choice. It was communicated to me that I did not dance at the level required by the director of the fourth show. This is where things get interesting. I later learned through another actor who had spoken with said director, they were told that I, myself, said that I don't dance, which was why I was not considered for casting. This was communicated to them by the Producing Artistic Director, as they were the only Interlakes team member that I can any one-on-one contact with. Meanwhile, not once in our email chain is my dance ability mentioned by anyone but the Producing Artistic Director, except in my providing a dance reel, and I have never professionally claimed not to dance. I have no qualms at all with being cut for my ability (I'm certainly not a dancer first!), but not only did my dance reel never make it to the Director casting me (when my acting/voice reels DID), but a lie was put into my mouth that could and did effect my professional employment. Cut me, but don't lie to me AND my director about why. I am sure that much of the Interlakes team is lovely to work with and hope that this was a simple misunderstanding (or that there is missing information), but the months of subpar communication from a non-equity company with hardly competitive pay left a bad taste in my mouth and I am thankful to have chosen not to sign my contract. TL/DR: 3 months of unprofessional and repetitive communication. Acquiring my contract offer in official writing was like pulling teeth. Cut from consideration for the last show of the season, because the Director never saw my dance reel and the Producing Artistic Director put false words in my mouth.

Did my first show back after the shutdown and we were all just so happy to be singing and dancing that we were able to overlook some of the less ideal things e.i. housing, pay, backstage area. The people are good and quality wise it knows what it is, but brings in some fabulously talented individuals to boost the production value. I believe the abandoned children's museum as housing is a thing of the past (thank goodness) so they most use local hosts for housing now. Meredith is a very cute little town with enough to do for a few weeks! Met some wonderful people and had a grand ole time! (edited)