Off-Broadway internship taught VPA sophomore to ditch perfectionism
Tess Feldman was the youngest person working on the set of “Beyond Perfection,” an off-Broadway musical that opened this summer. The job inspired the stage management student to continue pursuing the career. Ike Wood | Asst. Photo Editor
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Tess Feldman found her way into stage management by accident. During a theater camp production when she was younger, she worked on stage crew after landing a role she didn’t want. At that moment, something clicked.
“I joined the stage crew, and I was like, ‘This is what I am going to do for the rest of my life,’” Feldman said.
This past summer, Feldman, a sophomore studying stage management in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, was the assistant stage manager for an off-Broadway show, “Beyond Perfection.” Working for an off-Broadway show gave Feldman the opportunity to take what she’d learned during her first year at SU to the professional world. Now, she’s bringing what she learned back to campus as she continues to grow her skills, she said.
Feldman heard about the job at “Beyond Perfection” through another SU stage management student. She was 18 at the time and assumed the job would go to an older, more experienced person, but she applied regardless.
Navigating feelings of impostor syndrome was one of many challenges that came with helping open a new musical, Feldman said. She said being the youngest person working on the production was daunting.
“There were people in the cast who had been on Broadway and choreographers that worked with Broadway people, and I had just literally finished my first year of college,” Feldman said.
The production was part of the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, meaning the show was debuting for a limited run during the festival. The short run meant that the cast and crew couldn’t leave any of their sets or props in the theater and were constantly moving rehearsal spaces. Feldman and the crew had 15 minutes before and after each show to set up and take down all of their equipment.
Despite this, getting paid for the first time to do theater work solidified her desire to pursue this career.
“I’ve wanted to be a stage manager for such a long time. There was never anything else I wanted to be when I grew up,” Feldman said. “Now that I am entering the reality of that, it’s not just a dream, it’s a job.”
When working on SU Department of Drama productions, students have a safety net, Stuart Plymesser, Feldman’s first-year stage management professor, said. Taking on projects outside of SU exposes students to the realities of working on a professional production. When they come back to campus, students can take the things they’ve learned and develop them further, Plymesser said.
“If you’re able to work on a commercial project or something over the summer, (Broadway professionals) are going to be less concerned about your personal development, and that’s okay,” Plymesser said.
Feldman’s passion for stage management is unmistakable to those around her, even in her earliest college experiences. Ruby Queen, Feldman’s freshman year roommate, said that even though Feldman didn’t get to manage productions directly as a first-year stage management student, she took on every job she was assigned with enthusiasm.
“She went headfirst into those other things that she knows how to do, they might not be her favorite, but she put her whole energy into making sure that that part of the show that she was assigned to ran smoothly and looked great,” Queen said.
Feldman has learned some of the more technical parts of the job, like working lights, calling music cues and tracking entrances and exits through her coursework. Without her freshman year classes, Feldman said she wouldn’t have been as prepared to work on “Beyond Perfection.”
One of the most valuable lessons Feldman gained from her summer job was learning to let go of perfectionism, a mindset she said she’s eager to bring back to Syracuse.
“You just have to make mistakes and move on,” Feldman said. “ Before this experience, I was someone who dwells on my mistakes and gets in my head about them (and) remembering not to do that because it’s only going to make me make more mistakes.”
Back on campus for her sophomore year, Feldman said she has her “eyes on the prize” as she balances her full academic schedule with her extracurriculars. Feldman is goal-driven — she hopes her newfound experience working on an off-Broadway show will inform her future endeavors in the theater world.
“I need to make the most out of my time here,” Feldman said. “I need to use my tuition to the fullest.”
