We are ever so pleased to welcome bright, young thing Emily Fishman, who will be doing an internship with Elephant this year. A senior Arts Administration major with a concentration in Theater/Choreography at Wagner College (and a dance minor!), Emily is a remarkable young soon-to-be professional with a shared interest in helping children through the power of performance.
I asked Emily a few questions so that we could all get better acquainted, and her answers made me feel that much more fortunate to have her on board. Read on to discover just how cool she really is:
Tell me something about your theatrical background? What got you involved in the theater? What got you hooked???
I have been in theater my entire life. My dad and my best friend’s mom were in shows together at our local community theater and my mom and her dad worked backstage at the same theater. From then on we were both hooked. I took classes with a children’s theater that was connected with the same community theater and proceeded in performing/working on 5 main stage shows, and 8 children’s theater shows. When I was not at my theater I was in all of the shows in middle school and high school. By the time I was finished high school I had performed in, directed, choreographed, etc, 32 musicals and plays. Even when I went into college I came back to my children’s theater to help out backstage a couple of times. It was never the being in front of a large audience or the need to be the center of attention that got me hooked. It was being able to connect to a different life/personality, being able to step out of myself and anything that was going badly in my life. Being a part of the theater community made me feel like I was part of a family and a group of people that have the same interest as you, which in tern makes you feel loved and accepted.
Why did you want to work with Elephant Ensemble?
I have been in children’s theater for a large part of my life, and I intend on making it a daily part of my life after I graduate from college. My goal is to open a children’s theater in an inner city area of Philadelphia. I truly believe that children’s theater helps kids with any struggles that they might be going through. Elephant Ensemble is made up of everything that I stand for. It’s an experience where the main priority is the kids that are in need of some happiness. Not having to pay for entertainment, or worry about the little things that could go wrong in any other theater. It is first and foremost about the kids and in the end you get so much joy from seeing a smile from a child that truly needs it.
What is your background with children’s theater, community theater, and working with children?
Like what I said before, I have been a part of the same community theater/children’s theater since I was born. Both of my parents are part of the same community theater. My group of friends are part of the same theater as well. These are the people I have grown up with and have been there for me my entire life. The fact that there is a theater that keeps us together is a plus. As I got older in my theater I became used to taking care of the youngest kids that were coming in. I would teach tot acting classes, mini plays, and really just being the babysitter of the younger kids in all of the shows I was involved in. I also worked in the early childhood program at my synagogue as a teacher’s assistant. From there I just loved hanging out with little kids, and being that extra mother for the ones that needed that extra love.
Tell me something about the camp you work at over the summer?
I work at Camp JRF (Jewish Reconstructionist Federation), which is an overnight camp in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I work during the summer as the unit head of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. I am in charge of the kids as well as the counselors that live in the cabins with them. I take care of educational programming and special activities for my age group. I have been working at this camp for 5 years now and love every minute of it. I always say to my friends that the reason that this age group is perfect for me is because I want to change lives at the beginning. I want my kids that come into a overnight camp experience for the first time to grow from the bottom up, and go home at the end of the summer feeling like they are worth more then they thought they were.
What are post-Wagner graduation plans?
I definitely plan on moving back to Philadelphia after I graduate. I want to move into an apartment with some friends and get right to work in a theater or dance studio. I hope that if I do that for a while I can get my own children’s theater on its feet. My own children’s theater is the main goal for me right now, but I do hope to make my name in the world as a choreographer as well. I do have other goals for the future but right now the plan is to get through my last year of college, and have an amazing time while doing so.
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