**Note from Gina: Casey Hackmeyer is a recent UCSC grad who performed in our Shakespeare to Go production of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” this past spring.  This summer, she is working as one of our House Managers, and wrote this yesterday in anticipation of tonight’s opening of Love’s Labor’s Lost.

As the anticipated opening night of this fantastic SSC season waits for the last night of preview shows to “close curtain”, I am taking this chance to reflect on my experience here with SSC so far. Already having experience working front of house during the school year as well as acting and – most importantly – being an audience member, I am honored to have the opportunity to interact with and optimize the audience’s experience with these fantastic shows.

Casey playing Katherine in this Spring's Shakespeare to Go production of "Love's Labor's Lost."

The front of house team is responsible for setting up the audience’s space, populating it, and catering to the audience’s needs. It is a fantastic learning experience as a practitioner of theater to have this different but still personal interaction with the audience. I love helping people bridge the gap between the audience and the performance.

Though this is my first adventure working front of house with SSC, the Glen and Mainstage are by no means strange territory. I have had the privilege to work in both of these spaces during my undergraduate career at UCSC, both as an actor and as a house manager. I love working in the Glen the most, it has a beautiful character that it contributes to the performances inside it, and works especially well with Shakespeare.

It’s wonderful to be able to catch a glimpse of the shows as they grow and play with the audience. This past Spring, I played Katherine in the Shakespeare to Go (a collaborative theater effort of UCSC and SSC) production of Love’s Labors Lost, and it is exciting to see how the different but equally beautiful spirit of the SSC show acts upon the audience in this longer and more in depth production.

This learning experience at SSC will be invaluable for my upcoming position as Artistic Director of Barnstorm next year at UCSC. Barnstorm is a student run theater company, and I am extremely excited to take what I have learned from this professional environment to my theatrical pursuits next year. Knowing what the audience is looking for and what their concerns are as well as finding solutions for these many concerns is what I find most rewarding about working front of house this year.

It’s hard not to gush when talking about my experience with SSC, and – without giving anything away – those who have not yet experienced a show here with SSC are in for a treat this summer. The season is full of laughs, love, intrigue, and theater magic. Being a fan and audience member of SSC in the past and having the privilege to sneak a peek at the preview performances so far, I cannot wait to be the House Manager for the opening night of this unique and exciting season of SSC this summer.

– Casey Hackmeyer