New York City Center has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943 when it was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia with the mission to make the best in the performing arts accessible to all. The distinctive neo-Moorish theater welcomes 300,000 visitors annually to experience internationally acclaimed artists on the same stage where legends like George Balanchine, Leonard Bernstein, and Barbara Cook made their mark. Its landmark 75th Anniversary Season (2018 – 2019) paid tribute to this rich history while celebrating the institution’s singular role in the arts today.

For more than 25 years, the treasured, Tony-honored Encores! series has given new life to the American musical theater canon, complemented in recent years by the Encores! Off-Center series, which brings today’s innovative artists into contact with groundbreaking musicals from the more recent past. Dance continues to be an integral part of the institution’s mission through programs like the annual Fall for Dance Festival, which exposes a new audience to an international array of artists by offering subsidized tickets for the price of a movie ticket.

City Center is also home to a roster of renowned national and international companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (City Center’s Principal Dance Company) and Manhattan Theatre Club. Through its robust education and community programs, City Center brings the performing arts to over 11,000 New York City students, teachers, and families each year and activates all areas of the building with talks, master classes, art exhibitions, and intimate performances that provide audiences an up-close look at the work of the great theater and dance artists of our time.

In conjunction with the 2022-2023 season, New York City Center’s Encores! Apprenticeship Program is accepting applications for an early-career or career-changing individual to apprentice in Directing.

Program Details
Through this program, the apprentice will:
– Commit to a paid part-time Directing apprenticeship for the 2023 Encores! season.
– Work directly with a production supervisor and colleagues
– Build a professional network and engage in career planning under the guidance of a designated Mentor.
– Participate in a paid training that includes department meet and greets, an entrance interview and professional goal setting.
– Attend seminars with City Center staff and artists, as able.
– Participate in City Center’s staff initiatives, including anti-racism workshops, committees and all-staff meetings, as able.
– Deliver a final group presentation to City Center staff.

Dates
The apprenticeship will run from February to June 2023. The Apprentice has a bank of 120 hours per month to work on the 3 productions (Dear World, Lionel Bart’s OLIVER! and The Light in the Piazza), setting their schedule with their supervisor.

Compensation
The Apprentice is paid $15 per hour.

The Directing Apprentice will work closely with the Directors and Associate Directors of Dear World, Lionel Bart’s OLIVER! and The Light in the Piazza. They will attend rehearsals and be present for production meetings throughout rehearsal and tech. The Directing Apprentice will provide note-taking support, may be asked to run lines with actors, or stand in for actors who are not present while blocking is being reviewed. The Apprentice will gain an intimate look into how Directors synthesize dynamics between all creative departments and manage time within truncated rehearsal processes.

APPLY HERE. APPLICATION DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 at 6:00pm