Student blog: Clubs at college

I’m BACK, babies!

Natalie here with another blog post and today I’m going to talk about CLUBS at the University of Michigan, specifically the theater and performance opportunities!

As a preface, I thought I’d give a little update on my life. My family is currently camping in the far east of Michigan (literally right on Lake Michigan), so I’m writing this from the kitchen table of our RV. I love camping – what’s better than sleeping in, drinking coffee, and reading all day in a hammock or on the beach? (At least that’s what I do when I’m camping, I don’t know about you… but I highly recommend it.)

ANYWAY, back to today’s topic: Clubs at UMich! I guess I should start by saying that this is a difficult topic to write about because there is truly SO MUCH to do at this school that it can seem intimidating. There are literally over 1,000 different clubs and the number is growing because so many new ones are formed every year! There are campus-wide clubs as well as ones that are specific to your school or major. They can range from sports to counseling to nature, theater, and more. Basically, no matter what you like to do in your free time, there is a club for it at UMich. I personally am active in four clubs – I talked about them a little in my previous post but thought I would go over them again since they are a little more applicable here.

• Rude mechanics: This is the only theater club I am active in at UMich. Rude Mechanicals is the largest student-run theater organization on campus. We produce two student-run plays each year (one per semester) that are directed, produced, and performed entirely by students. I am an Associate Producer, which means I work closely with the Executive Producers to carry out organizational tasks and maintain the vision of the current season. My other responsibilities include attending rehearsals and production meetings, and managing certain contracts.
  • I love this club and every person involved in this amazing organization. It provides such an inclusive and welcoming space where creativity can really flow. I’m really looking forward to taking on this role again when I return to campus in the fall.
• BBA Marketing Club: I will be starting my role as Membership Director of the Business School’s Marketing Club in the fall. As a member throughout my first year, I have made incredible connections, friendships, and grown professionally. This club has definitely given me an edge when applying for internships this summer and helped me prepare for my summer marketing internship.
• Phi Gamma Nu (PGN): PGN was the first club I joined when I came to UMich – it is a professional business fraternity within the business school, but it accepts all majors. It is in this organization that I have made some of my closest friends (including my roommate for next year!). Even if you are not a business student, business fraternity members can So beneficial, not only because of the professional help and the contacts you make. At the end of my semester, I had a strong resume, LinkedIn, and knew how to write a cover letter. Without PGN, I wouldn’t have known any of this.
• Women’s choir: I joined Glee Club my second semester and had so much fun! This is another club that is open to all majors and it was so much fun hanging out twice a week with other ladies who also love to sing. Glee has two concerts a year (one per semester) and even went on an international tour this year (to Ireland!).

Okay, that was a bit long, but I think it shows how much I love the clubs I’m involved in. They’ve helped me build a strong community at UMich, and advancing into leadership positions gives me something to add to my resume and LinkedIn profile as I begin my professional career!

Now let’s talk about theater clubs specifically at UMich. As a non-theater student (I’m a business major), going to the theater was still very important to me, so I’m going to use this space to highlight opportunities for other non-theater students.

To put it simply, there are three major theater clubs at UMich: Rude Mechanicals, MUSKET, and Basement Arts. Of course, there are others, and there are plenty of student-led projects each semester, but these are the three I’m going to focus on in this post, as they’re usually the busiest and have the most potential opportunities to get involved.

• Rude mechanics: As a producer of Rudes, I’m a little biased, but objectively speaking, it’s a fantastic club to be a part of, especially as a first-year student. In addition to the associate producer position (which I hold), they need assistant directors (normally reserved for first-year directing students), costume designers, graphic designers (for show posters), a marketing team, and of course actors (and much more!). Rudes casts are usually half actors/BFA students and half non-actors. Someone in the last one was a psychology major! There really is so much acceptance and interest for non-theater students, and Rudes is a great place to study theater in college.
• MUSKET: Unlike Rudes, which produces only plays, MUSKET produces two full-length musicals each year. It operates very similarly to Rudes, with a production team, a marketing team, and an entirely student-led administration. While their casts are usually made up of more theater students, there are always some that are not. In fact, I had a friend last semester who was in the cast of Catch Me If You Can, and she’s studying mechanical engineering!
• Cellar art: Basement Arts, unlike Rudes and MUSKET, offers a large number of smaller productions each semester, including plays And Musicals. They do everything from student-written one-acts to full-length Broadway musicals (I saw Falsettos last semester of BA and…let’s just say there were tears). Basement Arts is great because their shows are usually shorter, which gives the creative teams more time to work on other projects if they want to.

Well, there you have it! A rundown of some of the clubs at UMich, the ones I’m active in, and just a few of the theater-focused clubs you can join! The amazing thing about the clubs at UMich is that they really are so welcoming and there really is something for everyone. I know it can seem daunting (it certainly was for me), but the best thing you can do is just jump into it! Try things that interest you, and even things that you may not be interested in! Clubs are where you find your best friends and where you can grow so much in yourself.

You can do that!!

Peace and love,

Natalie

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