B-Experienced: my front row seat to showbiz

Having been on the Careers Network mailing list for a few months (available university-wide for students who want to gain work experience and advice), I was always looking for opportunities that might fit the bill for me. As a Drama and English Literature student, it’s often difficult to find work that is completely within my creative interests, so you can imagine my delight when I saw a listing for an internship with Musical Theatre Network, helping with the largest Musical Theatre showcase in the UK (a 2 day event) called BEAM.

Luckily, I was offered an interview, and soon after, was given a place on the programme. I was so excited to get started, get to know the team and meet my fellow work-experience buddy, Clara.

"It was really inspiring to meet performers from an industry I want to build my own career in, too; I learnt so much and found some connections that I'm still in contact with"

We had a couple of months prepping for the two-day showcase, which included updating the website for the artists, managing and planning social media content, and prepping programmes, lanyards and T-shirts for the event. The experience really opened my eyes to the amount of work that goes into a 48-hour event.

After weeks of anticipation, the week of the event was finally upon us. The first day, ‘tech and dress day’, was spent meeting and chaperoning the artists around the Hippodrome building and answering any questions they had. I remember feeling so important wearing my lanyard and holding my clipboard, taking teams to and from their dressing rooms to soundcheck, and liaising with various staff members. It was really inspiring to meet performers from an industry I want to build my own career in, too; I learnt so much and found some connections that I still am in contact with, over a year later.

The two performance days for me started at the front desk, inviting in guests, from producers, to directors and creatives. They were there to see the new musicals that were on offer, and network with some of the most exciting projects in musical theatre right now. Once everyone was signed in, it was a privilege to get a front row seat to watch some of the performances and to meet lots of professionals.

After a celebratory team curry in Birmingham city centre, the event was wrapped up! Since then, I have kept in touch with some of the performers from the showcase. I was even invited to volunteer for Musical Theatre Network at the UK Musical Theatre Conference in London, showing that the connections I made have already made a difference to my professional development.

The university’s breadth of opportunities for students in creative industries is something I never received at school, and the BEAM internship was such a fulfilling few weeks that taught me so much about organisation and the power of people skills! I always knew that networking was important, but this event was on a whole new scale and gave me the confidence to reach out to industry professionals to enhance my career.