Internships with Where the Wild Things Are

Storytelling Internships

Six student interns worked in Italian schools promoting the co-production by SUF and the Teatro Maggio Formazione of Where the Wild Things Are. Coordinated by Prof. Vittoria Tettamanti, the interns went to a total of twenty-eight classes in ten different schools, including four elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools. The goal was to present the book that was for the most part completely unknown to these students, speak about the popularity of the book in America, and create excitement for the opera that the students would then attend as a class.

The SUF interns introduced several hundred Florentine children and teenagers to Sendak’s enchanted forest and were welcomed with much enthusiasm by Italian students and teachers. The demand for the storytelling was so high that SUF was was unable to accommodate all of the requests. A solution was to film the interns in action and send a complimentary DVD to the schools that did not have the opportunity to welcome the interns.

The Storytelling Program was so successful that it gave birth to the SUF Volunteer Program.

Production Internships

Four students helped the artists responsible for creating the lighting, sets, and puppets. Two photography students, together with professional photographers, followed Max and the Wild Things through all the phases of their development before the show.