A Week in the Life of Three NYTW 2050 Administrative Fellows

It’s super fun and super busy to work at New York Theatre Workshop as a 2050 Administrative Fellow, so I sat down with two of my fellow fellows to keep track of what each of us do day to day. My name is Marty Chandler (Education & Engagement), and I’m joined by Tyra Mishell (Marketing) and Salwa Meghjee (Artistic Workshop). Any given week at the Workshop is different, since there are always new and different events, programs, or shows happening, so we did our best to give you a sense of most of what we do. (We threw in some of our favorite local recommendations, too!) Read all about it below!

Are you interested in becoming a 2050 Admin Fellow yourself? The deadline to apply is April 4th, 2025, which is less than a month away! If you need some inspiration and want your questions answered, you can also join us for a Virtual Info Session on March 19th, 2025 at 6PM Eastern Time. We hope to see you there!

Register for the Virtual Info Session here!

A Week in the Life: Marty, Salwa, & Tyra

Monday

10:00AM
Tyra: Wrap Reports
Every day, I get started with the “daily wraps,” which is a report of ticket purchases sent to important stakeholders within the Workshop. It’s a nice way to see the temperature of the shows and gain insights. It is a meaningful project for me since I was able to take agency over something new and I’m interested in learning more about the data behind-the-scenes at the Workshop.

 

11:00AM
Marty, Salwa, & Tyra: Admin Fellowship Seminar
Our monthly seminars are a chance for our cohort to receive professional development opportunities. Sometimes, we have a guest speaker or workshop, and other times, we might take a field trip. In the fall, we went to the Museum of Broadway, which was a fun bonding moment for us!

 

1:00PM
Marty: Writing the Study Guide
I spend some time in the afternoon locking in to write “The Brief” Study Guide, which is full of context, information, and activities related to the upcoming show in the season. The Education & Engagement department sends the guide to our partner high schools, where NYTW Teaching Artists lead pre- and post-show workshops to help prepare students to see the Student Matinee. I love writing the study guide; I get to put on my dramaturgy hat and be creative in presenting the content to the students.

3:00PM
Salwa: Mondays at 3
Every other Monday, the Artistic department hosts a play reading. The playwright and creative team rehearse in the morning and then present their work to an invited audience at 3:00PM. I line-produce the readings with Leo, NYTW’s Artistic Programs Manager. I’ve seen our blackbox turned into a cocktail lounge, and seen in-progress readings by playwrights I admire like Madeleine George and Hammaad Chaudry.

Tuesday

9:30AM
Tyra: Coffee
On my way into the office, I grab a seasonal coffee or tea from Think Coffee and a breakfast burrito.

12:00PM
Salwa: A-P-P Meeting
This acronym represents the Artistic, Producing, and Production departments, which meet each week to discuss what’s going on for each production or workshop in the season. For example, our Production Manager Mia Haiman may update us on the set design for the current show onstage, or I’ll share details on spaces where we’re hosting upcoming plays readings. I also take notes in the meeting and send them out afterwards. It’s helpful to connect with other departments and support each other during the busy season!

Marty: Lunch
I mostly work from home on Mondays, so I always do a big meal prep on Sunday or Monday night and then eat some leftovers in the second floor kitchen at the Workshop. If I’m out and about though, I love Mamoun’s Falafel on St. Marks.

 

1:00PM
Marty & Tyra: Engagement Committee Meeting
Members from the Education & Engagement, Marketing, Artistic, and Development departments come together as the Engagement Committee to plan For the Culture events for each show in the season. Marty: One of my favorite recent events was our Community Day for A Knock on the Roof. We had food from Ayat, a performance from a Palestinian songwriter named Fouad Dakwar, and time to just celebrate and be together in community.

2:00PM
Salwa: Literary Summit
Every couple weeks, the Literary and Artistic team has a long meeting to discuss what scripts we have each read, and then we plan out coming seasons of productions and workshops.

4:00PM
Marty: Youth Artistic Instigators
This is one of my favorite things I do as a fellow here! I get to be the teaching assistant for Youth Artistic Instigators, NYTW’s year-long youth ensemble program! We have 25 students from all across the city, who come together each week to devise a new piece of theatre inspired by what ideas and issues are on their mind. At the time of writing this, we are a month and a half out from the show opening, so I’ve been serving as the assistant director and dramaturg, helping edit the students’ script and leading character and improv exercises. These kids really inspire me!

Wednesday

12:30PM
Marty: Student Matinee
One afternoon per show in the season, you can see me running around East 4th Street, organizing 150+ students on the sidewalk and then getting them into our theatre for our Student Matinee! It’s amazing to watch the show with the students and see their reactions. I’ll never forget seeing We Live in Cairo and hearing the students’ gasps or audible emotions watching the emotional story unfold.

Salwa & Tyra: Lunch
Salwa: I love Cafe Himalaya on 1st St! I recommend the chili chicken.
Tyra: I take a nice walk to Wegmans and grab a to-go meal like sushi or one of their signature bowls!

4:00PM
Marty: Mind the Gap
Our flagship Education program at NYTW, Mind the Gap bridges the gap between teens and elders by putting them into intergenerational pairs for weekly interviews which inspire them to write plays. The Education & Engagement Fellow always serves as the teaching assistant for this program, so I feel like I get to know our participants really well through our sessions and reading their writing. I wish I had something like this when I was in high school!

7PM
Salwa: Play Coverage
I’m off to see a reading! Members of the Artistic team discuss play readings and performances we’re interested in seeing every week, and then attend them and report back our thoughts. While we can’t attend everything we’re invited to, it’s great to see what other work is being performed throughout the city.

Thursday

10:00AM
Salwa, Marty, & Tyra: “Hot Chocolate and Hot Topics”
Our Artistic Director, Patricia McGregor, really cares about cultivating community among the staff at the Workshop, so every other week we have a casual hour of breaking bread (or sipping hot chocolate) while discussing whatever is on our mind (hot topics). Sometimes, it may be a serious discussion about a topic in the field, like artists’ well-being, and sometimes, it’s a hilarious debate rating the best chain restaurants. Tyra: It’s such a great time to see staff who I don’t see all the time in my daily workflow. Marty: Plus, Patricia often brings donuts and we love a free donut, especially from Donut Pub.

 

11:00AM
Marty & Tyra: Core Team Meeting
The Workshop expects all members of its community and staff live by the NYTW Core Values. We are the co-facilitators of the Core Team, a nonhierarchical group of staff who have volunteered to be part of the team in order to support initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, accessibility, and organizational culture within the Workshop. This twice-monthly meeting helps us stay on track to meet our goals, while ideating how else we can support each other. Marty: The Core Values and Core Team were a huge part of what excited me about working at the Workshop—it is so meaningful to have such a warm, inviting culture in the workplace.

12:30PM
Marty, Salwa, & Tyra: Brown Bag Lunch
In addition to monthly seminars, each department hosts a ‘brown bag lunch,’ in which fellows learn about the work that happens in that department. From hands-on activities with the Marketing team to a deep dive into the budget with the Internal Operations team, we have learned a lot already from these sessions!

3PM
Tyra: Newsletter Meeting
Every other week, the Development and Marketing departments meet to discuss the monthly newsletter. I love being able to work with various departments to design something that shares NYTW happenings with our community. You can sign up to receive it here!

6:15PM
Marty: Local Snack
As an end of the work week treat, maybe I’ll pop by Ray’s Candy Store on Avenue A for a soft serve cone before I run off to rehearsal with my improv or sketch group! (The Workshop is also super supportive of making sure you are pursuing your personal hobbies/activities after work!)

Friday

Marty, Salwa, & Tyra: Out of Office
The Fellowship is 30 hours/week, so most of the time, we have Fridays off, and each of us do other work or commitments during that time. Sometimes, we have events that we need to be around for on Fridays, so we rearrange our hours accordingly. Salwa: Like last week, we had our NYTW Potluck with the Workshop’s community of artists and friends. It was on a Friday, so I rearranged my hours to be there to help with set-up and clean-up, and of course, eat yummy food and talk to people.

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You can read more about the 2050 Administrative Fellowship program here.

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Categories: Uncategorized. Tags: 2050 Administrative Fellowship and Marty Chandler.