I'm thinking about doing their acting internship program, but I'm a little unsure since I don't know anything about them as a company. I thought it might be a good way to build a resume. Anyone work with them or know their reputation?

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Originally posted by stella10014:
I'm thinking about doing their acting internship program, but I'm a little unsure since I don't know anything about them as a company. I thought it might be a good way to build a resume. Anyone work with them or know their reputation?

Hi... I just saw your post about the Looking Glass internship program. Did you end up doing it? I just got accepted but I want to learn more about them/the internship before committing.

Thanks, and happy holidays!

ummmm...I hate to say bad things, and it's been a long time since my internship, but I did not have a very good experience at all.
When I did it, it was 2-3 four hour shifts of labor in exchange for a class and a show at the end. The labor side was mind numbing...since the place was so disorganized there was never really anything for us to do...anything we could actually accomplish in four hours. So, it was a lot of menial tasks and even more hiding out in one of the back rooms in solidarity with the other interns and pretending we were working.
The classes were not very good. The artistic director of the theatre (if it's still the same woman) was very nice and meant well, but wasn't really a teacher. I can't speak for everyone else, but I didn't get much out of the classes...there was some scene study which wasn't helpful to me at all, some vocal and movement exercises and a dance class. In the dance class we learned an african dance routine which we had to present at the end of year fundraiser.
As far as the show, again, it was one of my first New York credits, but I don't think that it propelled my career in any way. In fact, at an EPA once, the auditioner said to me upon looking at my resume "I see you've worked at the Looking Glass...I'm very sorry". Paraphrasing, but something along those lines. I get the idea the theatre is sort of a joke...it doesn't seem to have a good name, or any sort of clout in the New York Theatre world. In fact, the fact that they think they can offer interns anything substantial (as far as education or contacts in the theatre world...which is really the only reason anyone would give up hours a week of valuable time) means there's a good amount of delusion going on as far as what the artistic director thinks she has there, or the alternative...that she knows young actors are desperate to work and and exploits their naivete and willingness. I hope it's the former. Sadly, she can get interns year after year.
So, all I got from my experience was a feeling I was a little used, intentionally or not, some useless classes, and a bad show credit. There was definitely a funk of negativity amongst the interns, so I'm not sure how much of this I felt on my own or was through osmosis.
However, you do get a show and some classes...and your experience might be different than mine.