Do not work here. Let’s begin with the $550 stipend for the ENTIRE 12 weeks. This contract requires you to learn a new fully staged production in one week, every single week. 9 different shows. For $550. Total. The orchestra gets paid triple that. And the costumes team is paid over quadruple. But as soon as you show any sign of unhappiness or frustration with how they run the place, you’ll be booted from the company and replaced with someone who’s less “whiny.” They kick out and replace several company members every summer because of this. They are not willing to try and resolve the issue or make you more comfortable. It’s their way or the highway. Meanwhile, they claim to be one big family and that you can come to them with anything. Don’t be fooled. They do not give a crap about their people. This company has bugs all over the cafeteria kitchen and the housing is a bunk in the woods with 4 people to a room with no locks on any doors. The shower and toilet leaked all over the place and the sink didn’t turn off. There was actually a sign written on the sink that read “this sink doesn’t shut off. 2017” No one had been in there to check the plumbing since 2017. Also no AC in Cape Cod in the dead of summer. The “intimacy workshop” was a “record time 11 minutes” as they so lovingly stated, where they said to get a partner and touch them in the places they tell you it’s okay to touch them. I’m sorry but that’s not an intimacy workshop. I was extremely uncomfortable going forward after that knowing there was some pretty serious stage intimacy that needed to be blocked. How much more unprofessional can you get than treating intimacy training like it’s a joke? The schedule is also a problematic factor. I was working 15+ hour days every single day with no day off. The 2 hours you get off during the day (one for lunch one for dinner) every other week they fill that hour with chores either in the kitchen, or else where. Zero time to actually learn and study and practice your music/choreo etc. I get that summerstock is intensive but never have I ever experienced not getting ample breaks to recuperate. There was one day where we were ahead of schedule and they could have given us the morning off but instead they put us to work. How you might ask? IN THE YARD. I WAS HOEING THEIR WEEDS FOR 4 HOURS IN THE BEATING SUN. But you know what that was the most enjoyable 4 hours of that contract. I got to be semi on my own for pretty much the first and only time. We did donor events every week to bring in more and more thousands of dollars for this company from all the loyal patrons and yet they still pay us literally pennies/hr. Where is that money going because it’s not our pockets, it’s not maintaining the housing facilities, and it’s not buying us half decent food to eat. I could literally write forever about this place. Here’s another one. Only one washer and one dryer for the entire cast, crew, orchestra, etc. Over 200 people. Half the time it was broken. And you had to sign out the laundry machine before hand in order to use it but when does literally everyone have free time to do laundry? The same two hours that everyone else has free. So I never did laundry. Again I could literally write forever but the thesis statement here is: don’t work for this company it’s a cult and if you don’t drink their cool aid and become a loyal follower, you will be exiled. Don’t bother. It’s not worth your time and it’s certainly not worth the pennies they compensate with.

This theatre truly made me want to quit theatre for good. I went back to school after and my teachers fully had to convince me to stay in the program because if that’s what it is like in the world then I wanted no part of it. I had never felt so bullied and disrespected. Not to mention as performers at the time we got no pay, while everyone else there orchestra, tech. Etc was payed. I heard there is some sort of stipend now but that’s not worth it. If the theatre is making money, so should you. I had no issue with the schedule I like being busy so doing a new show each week while performing the previous at night was not the issue. It was the toxic environment I had a problem with. Also there is no reason they should be hosting auditions every week for the next show, so that you can then go to bed next to the person who got the track you wanted. It’s like they want to make the cast tear each other down. That could all be taken care of before they get there and then at least the cast could have each others backs and not be insecure and add to the toxic culture. They do feed and house you… but like… they pay you nothing so you wouldn’t be able to feed yourself anyway. I think the lack of pay comes from them calling themselves a “light opera company” a lot of opera programs for young artists are pay to play. You have to pay to actually be there so they think this is better because at least you aren’t paying to be at the program but they run it like a theatre not like an educational program despite what they say. At young artist programs at least I was getting private voice lessons once to twice sometimes three times a week and classes and guest technicians. They are trying to find the cheapest way to put on summer theatre at the expense of their young performers mental health. Hopefully changes have been made since I was there but it doesn’t sound like much has changed other than a joke of a stipend.

I mean the pay is laughable. BUT you are essentially an unpaid but fed, housed, and bootcamp intern. CLOC definitely teaches you how to do the damn thing but it is not for the faint of heart. Tensions can also easily get high within the company since it is such an intense schedule to do a fully different show every week. Your experience will also depend on who is the director for the shows that you are heavily featured in. I kinda wish when they sent offers of what roles you are being offered that they would specify who is directing those shows.