I loved my time at Millbrook, the staff is small but mighty, lots of people doing multiple jobs to keep the theatre afloat. Actors and Designers were housed in two large homes within the town, one in walking distance of the theatre. It's a small conservative town, and the show choices tend to cater towards the older demographic, but Millbrook does it's strides to be progressive through casting and their Pride themed Cabaret. The patron community adores it's actors and it was always great to hear how much people loved the shows while shopping in Walmart. It's an old barn so you can imagine what the facilities are. Dressing rooms are not gendered but they did offer modesty curtains, but that is detailed in the contract. The do offer a free dinner on two show days, but other than that you're cooking for yourself. Pay isn't amazing, but the experience was better than I could've hoped. Would absolutely return in the future.

I worked here in 2018 so take everything I say with a large grain of salt. For such a small operation, I loved that we had a live band for one of the shows. There was undeniable talent in the cast and creative team. Still, the theatre is literally a barn and the contract felt a little more like theatre summer camp. The housing was clean. It was my first theatre job post-college so I was willing to go for it. I made $150/week the summer of 2018, so after taxes and 5% agent commission it was kinda like working for free... (edited)

Overall, I had a pretty good experience at Millbrook, but I think I was one of the exception for my particular year. There was a big personnel restructure in 2023, and it came with hiccups, but that has changed again for the upcoming season, so take that as you will. I found that there was a lot of cast drama with the younger casts that they hired; not really something the company can overly control, but something to keep in mind. The pay is low, which means the ones willing to take the contracts are younger/earlier in their career, which in this case meant workplace communication can be inconsistent and that raises tensions. Housing was the dorm at Lock Haven university (with AC off for the summer) or a house that used to be a medical building. Definitely not great, but I believe they lost their agreement with Lock Haven so that will change. But access too a full kitchen in your place, and the theatre is right next to a Walmart, so you can grocery shop on your break from rehearsals, store them in the theatre kitchen, and get them home in a company van in the evening. The audiences are consistent and they have a nice community surrounding them. There definitely some conservative members in town, so the shows they choose are tailored to them. Overall, for the right project, I'd go back, and I'm glad I did my contract. If I was offered another contract I'd negotiate some additional perk (like my own room).

Overall my experience at Millbrook was pretty good for a typical summer stock situation. Everything stated in my contract was exactly how it turned out to be! First off, I worked there the year the current AD took over, and she is all for "non-traditional" casting and made me, as a queer performer, feel very comfortable the entire time I was there. The pay is pretty typical for most summer stocks (coming from a guest artist, not an intern/resident company) and seemed to be pretty negotiable. We were provided a catered dinner from local restaurants every night while we were there, although that could get repetitive it was helpful for an actor on a budget. The theatre itself IS a renovated barn as many summer stock companies are, but that being said, our dressing rooms were huge and fully air conditioned. We did end up jumping around to different rehearsal spaces (a high school gym, a tiny unfinished space, etc.) which could get confusing and frustrating when learning new blocking. I got lucky with all the costumes I ended up in, but I know there were other cast members who ended up having unfinished costumes (due to the costumer being let go at the last minute due to lack of doing their job) and ultimately people with many different body types were left feeling not prioritized and maybe a little forgotten. They do provide housing that is only a 10-15 minute drive from the theatre and will compensate actors who use their own vehicle to carpool. Along with that they did supply a travel stipend to everyone. The housing is a local dorm on a college campus which means there is no AC, and you are sharing a room with another actor. They supplied bedding, kitchen supplies, soap, and almost any kitchen appliance you can think of. Overall, the only bad part of the housing is sharing a room and the heat in the summer. Millbrook is located in Lock Haven, PA and there is literally nothing to do, nowhere to eat, and was pretty stale and boring. My experience at Millbrook was overall pretty great and I would recommend it to other actors looking for a typical summer stock contract.

I would not recommend working here as a designer/in any tech role. Major management and communication issues. Stage manager also acts as production manager, making conflict resolution among the creative and production teams difficult and often impossible. working with her often felt like a very hostile guessing game of "what information has actually been communicated to me correctly, if at all today." Rehearsal and performance reports are not sent out and it's a constant hunt for the information you needed weeks prior. Work environment was very cliquey and felt toxic half the time. No company manger for over a month resulting in many communication, food and housing issues AND a major covid outbreak after NO preventative measures were taken until almost the entire design team went down and had the rest of all technical staff working unsafe hours to stay on track during 2 major builds. Very very understaffed which led to designers being a lot more hands on than was originally communicated leaving several departments with no choice besides making major changes at the last second, often wasting materials. Changes made to design without designers opinion/say during teach and after designers departure. Often felt like you were being spoken down to and made fun of if you weren't in upper management.

There never seemed to be any real communication, design decisions were made after designers had left, didn't feel like concerns were handled well at all, place was extremely cliquey and felt like I was being talked down to multiple times. I'm glad i had this experience early in my career and was able to get multiple shows under my belt, but there is no way I would go back. The pay is above average which is the only real reason in my mind to work here.

AD, directors were amazing! It was dorm style housing but no drama & community loves their out of town actors. Pay is ok but doing work you feel proud of. I’d go back.