Staff Highlights: Lauren Rosen
Recently, our Volunteer Coordinator & Assistant Front of House Manager Lauren Rosen was pretty busy organizing 70+ mini food drives and hundreds of volunteers for Fill the Hall. Now that she’s had a minute to breathe, we got to ask her about her background, beloved volunteer corps, and just how well Fill the Hall went!
What were you doing before joining The Music Hall?
I worked in non-profit arts management for ten years and formerly worked as a freelance theatre director. Most recently, I was the Studio Operations Manager for a very cool commercial production house in Brooklyn. Prior to that, I was the seasonal Festival Coordinator for an outdoor jass festival in New Jersey run by jazz bassist Christian McBride and jazz vocalist Melissa Walker. It was an incredible organization providing top-notch music training to talented youth regardless of financial means. I worked for many years as a teaching artist with New Jersey Performing Arts Center and The Women’s Project Theater, as well as a guest theater director at numerous universities. I love working with students and young adults—mentoring and encouraging aspiring artists is my passion.
What makes our volunteer corps so amazing and special?
Our volunteer corps is made up of the most devoted and hardworking individuals. They always go the extra mile and they always step up when we really need them. They take on leadership roles, mentor each other, and give 110 percent. Although they don’t all know each other by name (there are 546 volunteers!), when we come together as a community there is always a feeling of family. I think that is a result of our shared love for The Music Hall.
When you’re not working shows or with the volunteers, what do you do in your spare time?
I love a good story, so admittedly I am a bit of a TV and film junkie. Recently, I joined the advisory board for the New Hampshire Theater Project’s Elephant in the Room series, a thought-provoking program that addresses difficult issues through community dialogue and theater productions.
What are some of the most exciting parts of your job as part of the Front of House team?
My colleagues are inspiring to work with—if there’s a problem, we find a solution. We are constantly called upon to tap into our creative problem-solving skills.
I’m really excited to begin working on an Intergenerational Volunteer Recruitment Campaign, which involves engaging the community on a deeper level—offering professional development for our volunteers, creating a more diverse corps, and cultivating cross-generational mentorship and collaboration. Many of our volunteers are innate leaders and this will offer them an opportunity to shine in their strengths, even more than they already do!
What has been your favorite show or moment at The Music Hall so far?
I’ve loved being part of so many of the events at TMH, but our recent event, Fill the Hall has certainly been the most inspiring. Because we could not utilize the Hall for the event per the norm, we had to get really creative as to how we would get enough food to get through this summer’s Meals 4 Kids program. Two things made this project so fulfilling. The first: there was a neighborhood committee comprising half of The Music Hall staff and half of Gather staff. This committee was passionate, collaborative, motivated and we worked together as a team. It was amazing to have co-conspirators who all believed intensely in the mission of the event. Secondly, my colleague Melissa from Gather and I organized local food drives along the Seacoast to make up for the fact that we could not collect food in the theater. The generosity and devotion to the community as seen by the work taken on by over 120 volunteers was also inspiring. The event had far reach – there were captains directing neighborhood food drives in almost every Seacoast town. They owned the event and came through like powerhouses.