@actormommy Regarding accepting Summer Stock work, I agree with @Inspired59 that it is truly up to the individual and what they want from their Summer Stock experience. My D is a junior this year and has done 2 summers of Summer Stock. Her perspective has changed as she has grown – but her number 1 goal is to get a paying job! Ideally, she would like to get a good salary plus room and board at a theatre that has a great season for her type/skills. That’s the ideal. At a minimum, she wants a decent salary with housing – and hopefully a theatre that has a season with at least one musical. When she was a freshman, she went to IOTs in January (I think – very early) and got an offer within a week. The offer was $150 per week + housing + meals w/ a good season (no musicals). She didn’t know what to do – since she still had many auditions ahead of her – and consulted with her professors. She got a lot of opinions (including “stay here and do an unpaid internship”), but her MT prof basically said, “bird in hand” – so she took the job. It was the right decision for her. She was the only freshman in her program to do Summer Stock that year, and it really gave her a leg up. The theatre was awesome – it was a wonderful job and a great summer, and even though she was the youngest, she was cast in 4 out of 5 shows and had 2 leads. Then last year, my D had a couple bad scares. At her SETC pre-screen at KTAs in Oct, the accompaniest started the song in the wrong place, and D thought the song was ruined, and she wouldn’t pass the pre-screen. But she did pass and get an SETC slot!! Yay! Except, if you read above, when she was finally at SETC in the Spring, she was sick, lost her, voice and couldn’t sing — and that was the end of her audition season. Yes, she did get a good job at the 11th hour . . . But, all this to say, even though my D is more experienced, there’s a lot to be said for “bird in hand”! Fingers-crossed for this audition season! Maybe she will have many offers to sort through – but it’s very scary when you think you might not get any . … Best of luck to all! We will have to compare notes after MWTA next weekend!