From the Intern’s Desk

My name is Hannah, and I am a 20- year old community college student studying in Schnecksville. I’m an administrative intern at Touchstone this summer.

I’ve lived in the Lehigh Valley my entire life. I got into theatre when I saw the Civic Theatre School production of High School Musical when I was 10 years old, and I was instantly hooked by the idea of pretending to be a different person. I then signed up to take classes at Civic Theatre school that fall, which would change my life. I gained many friendships over the course of the next four years at Civic Theatre School.

Then after I graduated from middle school, I went to Notre Dame High School, where I discovered their theatre company. This is where I would grow in my acting and make friendships that I still treasure. Even though I was cast in the ensemble for many of the shows I had already been in, it was still fun to create a character from scratch like I did for Sweeney Todd and The Music Man. It made me even more interested in what I could do with my characters.

Also around this time, I started to get more into social media and connecting with my favorite broadway actors. Through social media, I have had the opportunity to become close friends with many current Broadway stars including Christy Altomare. Christy has shown me immense kindness over the four years we have been friends. She is Anya in Anastasia on Broadway, and she told one of my other friends who saw the show, that if it wasn’t for me promoting her on social media, she would not have gotten the role of Anya at all. That honestly made me smile, because you never know the impact you can leave on someone’s life. It’s honestly pretty crazy to see someone I know so well getting so much attention nowadays, but it still makes me so happy to know she is making so many others happy.

My sister Maggie and I after our family saw “Anastasia” on Broadway. My friend Christy who plays Anya took us backstage. It was a very cool experience!

After my sophomore year at Notre Dame, I got more involved in Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, where I got to play the roles of Maurice in Beauty and the Beast and Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory during the summer. This encouraged me to start taking classes at PYT during the school year, which allowed me to not only start performing in their mainstage shows during the year but also to get more lead roles which helped me become more confident in myself. This allowed me to make even more friends at PYT. Many of my friends from PYT are still some of my closest friends to this day. PYT ultimately gave me the confidence to not be as shy with people and be more open.

After my junior year at Notre Dame, I transferred to Emmaus High School, where I got involved in their theatre department. I wasn’t involved onstage in any shows, but for their production of Romeo and Juliet, I helped out with run crew, which helped me gain new friends. This also helped me gain a respect for people who work behind the scenes. I also participated in their choir, where I really made memories that still stick with me. When I graduated, I felt pretty proud of myself for getting through high school.

Even though I am not participating in shows that often, I still love seeing shows. I love Lehigh Valley theatre, because there is so much talent and such a variety of different material. You can not only see Shakespeare in the summer, you can also see musicals that tug at your soul such as Ragtime at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Muhlenberg which can make you laugh. These shows also bring very big names to the Valley and can bring many people not from around here. I think at the end of the day, the Lehigh Valley is a very diverse theatre area.

I hope you liked getting to know me, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store for me at Touchstone!