During the summer of 2026, I was lucky enough to intern under John Van Arsdale in the PRG Scenic Technologies Project Management division.
Throughout the internship, I learned how projects get taken from bidding, through build, and to completion. This was especially exciting for me, as much of my previous experience lied in actually doing the building or designing, only seeing a small window of the project’s lifespan. In this internship, I saw nearly every phase of a project.
Firstly, bidding. Bidding was completely new to me, and I found that I enjoyed it much more than I initially thought I would .he most important part of the bidding phase is accurately pricing how much it would cost to build, both in materials and labor. Thus, each bid requires an understanding of build processes, materials, the shop’s capabilities, and the team’s skills. Additionally, I got to do some drafting to help me figure out how much material would be needed for some projects.
After a project is awarded, the project manager reads through the bid package and communications to fully understand the project. As the intern, I got to see a lot of different projects – theatre sets, temporary installations, music stages, and more – and it was really interesting to see the different needs of various projects. Touring sets, for example, need to assemble and disassemble quickly, while installations need to be weather-proofed.
I also worked with essential documentation such as Scope of Work documents and production calendars. While I would have liked the calendars to be just created and then followed, I quickly learned that they regularly shifted depending on the status of other projects, any issues that come up, and availability of materials and personnel. Checking in with technical designers and the shop team leads was essential to accurately track projects and figure out what needed to be pushed and what could go on the backburner.
Logistics were important throughout the summer. I often worked with ordering specialty materials, arranging trucking, coordinating installation, and budgeting. One of my biggest takeaways from logistics was planning for lead times. Specialty materials could take weeks to arrive, pushing back the build and potentially making overtime necessary. Conversely, trucking, which I had thought needed to be arranged weeks in advance, could often be arranged with less than 24 hours notice.
Some of my favorite parts of the internship were the classes and trips we were able to do. We took a trip to NYC and saw behind the scenes of shows like The Lost Boys, Wicked, and Moulin Rouge. We had a class to learn about automation, which was completely new to me. We also visited Scenic Art Studios to learn about scenic painting and Costume Armor Inc to learn about props and vacuum forming. A special thank you to Ally and Christine for organizing it all.
I had an amazing time learning and growing at PRG with people who made the experience really special. The other interns, the whole project management team, the internship coordinators, and everyone I learned from helped me better understand the industry and the various paths within it. Thank you to PRG and the entire New Windsor office!
