Emmy M., 24, was born in Maine and raised in Strafford, Vermont. She began performing when she was eight years old and has always loved theater, though didn’t consider it as a career path for herself for a long time; having no family in the theater industry, it didn’t seem like a legitimate path for her to take. Instead, Emmy spent a lot of her time in high school preparing to go to nursing school. 

Upon visiting a school in Maine for a nursing program, she discovered that the campus didn’t have a theater, and realized it was a deal-breaker for her. This discovery allowed Emmy to realize she wanted to pursue musical theater moving forward. She decided to take a year to get some experience in working on productions before applying to schools again. Getting this real-life experience made Emmy fall in love with theater more, but also sparked a discovery of and love for directing, a pivoting point in her career aspirations.

During her gap year, she found herself working at Northern Stage with then-BridgeUP Bootcamp Director Eric Love.Through this connection, Emmy eventually became a part of the inaugural class of BridgeUP Bootcamp Company, joining in 2017. By that time, she had already been working at Northern Stage for a year, in a multitude of roles: spotlight operating, working as a child actor guardian, working in the scenic shop, and assistant directing. Throughout her time at Northern Stage, Eric acted as a close mentor to her, helping her navigate the various obstacles and challenges that exist within the college process. Between extensive training requisites and financial barriers, getting a degree in theater is not an easy task. But Bootcamp allowed Emmy to prepare properly for these application processes by having dance classes twice a week, voice classes once a week, monologue coaching sessions, as well as general help with the application process. The program made Emmy feel particularly ready for college and for a new more rigorous experience. “I probably wouldn’t have pushed myself to go away from home,” she shared.

Emmy landed at Point Park University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts: Performance and Practices with concentrations in Directing and Dramaturgy, along with a minor in Technical Theater. She was able to explore her love for dramaturgy, helping to edit shows, making them more fluid and cohesive to the audience. She worked closely with the playwrights, guiding them to make adjustments necessary for clarity. This work included researching background information on a show, adding additional perspective, and overall acting as a key reinforcement. At the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, she was nominated by a professor for two dramaturgy awards, both of which she won.  

Emmy still stays in contact with the team from Northern Stage. Moving forward, she hopes to move to Chicago and work at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater or Steppenwolf. Directing for one of these companies would be a dream come true! We at HGB are so proud to support these big dreams and wish Emmy all the best in achieving continued success in the theater industry!