FROM CP PAGE 1 Samohi grad receives Juilliard internship
BOULDER Aaron Elgart took a seat in his technical theater class, a young freshman somewhat lost in his first day of college when a professor asked aloud what would be a life-changing question, wondering if any students were interested in participating in stage management activities.
Without hesitation Elgart’s hand shot up. The day would mark the end of a long career-searching path shared by many young adults like Elgart, a Samohi graduate who went from hopeful actor to aspiring set designer to a stage management wonder.
“It’s a different sensation from being on stage,” Elgart said during a recent interview. “It’s being able to see what’s going on stage and being able to control it as well, seeing the audience reaction before, during and after the show.”
“It’s a different kind of high than performing, but the same kind of exhilaration.”
Elgart, who graduated from the University of Colorado earlier this month with a bachelor’s degree in theater, was recently accepted into The Juilliard School Professional Intern Program, a prestigious internship in which the Santa Monica resident will be able to spend nine months in New York City working for the world-renowned conservatory.
The program will allow Elgart to work alongside some of the best personalities in the industry, having the opportunity later in the internship to manage second-year drama student projects.
Elgart was one of six people from across the country who received the internship.
The stage manager is considered the director in their absence, running rehearsals, contacting all the different departments and making sure the production is running on schedule.
“When you go to see a show, you don’t ever think of someone doing all of this,” Elgart said. “It is a thankless job but I love doing it. I don’t need the thanks.”
Elgart began acting at the age of 6 when he joined a theater troupe. He eventually gave up acting after hiring an agent during his freshman year at Samohi, finding it hard to mix auditions with school work.
During high school, Elgart instead turned his focus to other aspects of the performing arts, participating in the Samohi symphony orchestra, wind ensemble and choir.
He arrived at the University of Colorado as a studio arts major, which proved to be short-lived. Soon after his first day in class, Elgart switched over to study stage management.
Through his four years in school, Elgart was the lead stage manager in four productions, including “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Top Ten,” working on some smaller theatrical projects on the side.
“I think my time at Colorado gave me a very broad spectrum of different plays and musicals and directors I might be working with,” Elgart said. “I got four shows under my belt which a lot of undergraduate people can’t say they have because a lot of colleges don’t have technical theater.”
With graduation drawing near, Elgart searched for production assistant jobs in Los Angeles until he discovered the Juilliard program online, further encouraged to pursue it by an instructor at the University of Colorado who once participated in the internship to study costume design.
Elgart will spend the next few months working on the artistic team at the Ash Lawn Opera in Charlottesville, Va. before moving to New York City in September.
While theater stage management remains the focus for now, Elgart said he eventually hopes to branch off into film and television.
“For some reason, behind-the-scenes in film and television has always been more interesting to me, figuring out how things are done, who is doing what, and how it’s being made,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 2, 2008. Read the original PDF.