I had such a fun time working there and hope to do it again soon. While the pay isn't great, the experience and the friends you make there are worth the time there. You get to perform in 4 different shows every week and you have the opportunity to work in the children's theatre camp if you want to earn a little more money. When you get cast in their core season you can expect to be used as much as you can in a production regardless of the size of your role. I had the opportunity to play three different named characters in two of the shows which really helped me stretch and grow as a performer. I will note that sometimes cliques end up being formed and it can be a bit isolating but if you just stay true to yourself the right people at Starlight will want to hangout and spend time with you. The friends that I made there are going to be in my life for a long while I am sure and I wouldn't have it any other way!

This is hands-down my favorite company I’ve ever worked for. It’s basically like summer camp for theatre. It’s your typical outdoor, summer-stock style work. You’ll do 4-5 shows and they’ll typically give you one lead, one major supporting role and then ensemble for the other shows. All the shows run in rep so you won’t have to play a lead every night of the week and you’ll get some time to rest. Things are very all hands on deck here, as everyone is expected to help construct set pieces and help in the costume shop. Every night after the show, company members clean the theatre as well as change over the set for the show the next night. They have a tech crew, but it is very limited and the cast has to help when possible. The theatre is pretty bare and grubby and sits on a campground/RV park. Rehearsals are all outside and your dressing room is basically a locker with your name on it in one of the wings.They provide you with recordings of all your vocal parts, full scripts, and cast assignments before you arrive so you can show up off-book with all your material learned. This is helpful as the rehearsal schedule is very demanding and you’ll have little energy after dancing in the hot sun all day to work on lines. The family who owns the place has run it for years and they’ve put their whole heart and soul into it. Every member of the family is either a performer, choreographer, or music director and you’ll get to know them well both professionally and personally by the end of your time there. They have lots of wonderful traditions at the place like singing the national anthem before each show and making up musical medleys for their sponsors. You also get to sell concessions during intermission as your character which can be fun or difficult, depending on the night. For extra money, you can help teach classes at their musical theatre summer camp for one week. The talent level varied greatly during my two summers. They supplement their out-of-town cast with local actors who can sometimes bring the show down with their lack of training. The casting director cares more about the personality of the people he hires than about their technical skills. This means the cast will generally get along really well and be incredibly kind, supportive, and collaborative. This also means that there can be a huge discrepancy between the strongest and weakest links. It’s a great place for young professionals to work on their weaker skills, take a crack at some challenging roles, and add some other positions to their resume (I got to choreograph for the first time). Housing is a major downside here, as you’ll either be in an RV, portable construction worker housing, or a converted box office. You’ll have to share a room with at least 2-3 other people and a bathroom with basically everyone your gender. Bugs and critters are everywhere (it’s basically summer camp) so you can’t be squeamish. Not a lot of room here but you’re spending most of your time out and about. The pay is unfortunately non-liveable for someone past their early 20’s. You make next to nothing during rehearsals then a bit more once the shows open. What doesn’t bug me about that, though, is the theatre gives their actors everything they can. When they have the funds once the ticket sales start, they use it to pay their actors. Everyone locally involved with the company is predominantly Mormon (or LDS), and lots of your audiences will be LDS as well. This is something to know as it influences the the work they do. Obviously, they hire people of all faiths and welcome you to practice your own, but you’ll never have shows or rehearsals on Sundays and they don’t allow alcohol or swearing on site. The shows they produce also promote more traditional, conservative worldviews that are in line with the thinking of many LDS practitioners (think 7 Brides, Wizard of Oz, Hello Dolly). The theatre backs onto a river and whenever it gets too hot, the cast just swims during breaks. The back of the stage is open so the backdrop for all your shows is the beautiful mountains of Idaho. The community loves the theatre, you’ll have full houses nearly nightly, and you’ll be a local celebrity in Garden Valley. Once the shows are open, the artistic director will lead fun cast excursions like white water rafting and camping trips. They’ll also celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks and a BBQ! The town is tiny with 3 restaurants, a coffee shop, a few stores, and a grocery. The town is walkable if you don’t want to bring your car - you‘ll just have to hitch rides to Boise every few weeks if you need something at Walmart. Overall, you’ll have an amazing experience, but you have to be prepared to work really hard! The kind people here make the whole thing worth it!