Here we are again! Another Throwback Thursday to beat all of the Flashback Fridays! This week on Throwback Thursday: Rose Edition, we will be sharing the story of the amazing Mandy Aleksiak!
Mandy has worked at The Rose since the year 2000 and has found herself in many different job roles. Currently, however, Mandy is the Membership Director. Of course, as the Membership Director, it is Mandy’s job to sell memberships to The Rose, analyze numbers and sales of previous years, and make sure that our audience members are having the best experience possible. Though, there are many other facets to her job that aren’t so easy to explain.
Mandy was willing to answer a few questions for us about her first experiences in theater–and here’s what we’ve got!
“Honestly, my first theater experience was sometime in the third grade when we went to go watch The Nutcracker. I was very confused about the lack of talking in the show. And then, she went to all of these other places? Very confusing. I remember I eventually drifted off and enjoyed my nap.
My next experience with theater was taking Drama as a freshman elective in High School. I found out that it was required for all Drama students to audition for all of the plays in order to get an A in the class. I was gunning to be Valedictorian, so I tried out for the fall play and to my horror was cast as Gay in “You Can’t Take it With You”. After that, I was in every play through my entire high school career. My favorite shows were our children’s productions. I have been repeatedly (typecast) as the Witch. I enjoyed watching the show unfold in their eyes.
My very first production here at The Rose was “Babe the Sheep Pig” in September 2000. I was the Box Office Manager and it was exciting to see this show return to our stage.”
Mandy has been involved in theater for much of her life–so it would make sense that her career is centered in theater. Aside from getting her a job, we asked Mandy to tell us about how theater has impacted her life. She told us that:
“As a performer I would say that theater has taught me broad goals like being a part of team, learning when it is your time to shine, and when it’s time to let others shine–I used to be rather guilty of a lot of upstaging.
As a professional, this job continues those lessons. When I’m bogged down by the administrative details of my job, I’ll sit in one of the school shows and watch the magic of children enjoying theater.”
None of us should take for granted the magic of theater. It really can improve so many aspects of a person’s life–even if just to get them to relax from stressful work.
Thank you, Mandy, for sharing your experiences with us! It’s always fun to learn more about others’ stories and experiences with similar passions.