A&E

Kaitlin Fine (Communication ‘09) was a performer throughout her time at Northwestern, but it was only during her senior year that she realized her passion lay backstage. After graduating, Fine landed an internship under Jeffrey Seller — who would become the producer of “Hamilton” — and moved to New York. She has been involved with the hit musical since its Broadway debut.

The Daily: What day-to-day responsibilities does your job as an associate company manager involve?

Fine: Company manager is kind of like a weird, catch-all position. It’s part therapist, part camp counselor, part HR, part accountant, part ticket broker — anything that doesn’t specifically fall under someone else’s purview. It’s cool; you’re very much at the center of everything.

The Daily: What is it like working for such an insanely popular show?

Fine: What’s weird about it is, inside the building, we’re just doing the same thing every other show does. But with “Hamilton,” it’s when you step out of the building that it’s such a different beast than anything we ever imagined. I ran the live lottery in New York, and by the end we had 3,000 people showing up on 46th Street. It’s been totally overwhelming from top to bottom and exhilarating and challenging … It’s the definition of ‘once in a lifetime.’

The Daily: Can you share an anecdote about an experience you’ve had through this job?

Fine: It was our very first week of performances on Broadway, and we found out a few days before that the president was coming to the Saturday afternoon show. When we (later) went to the White House, watching Chris Jackson (who played George Washington) sing “One Last Time” four feet from the president was unbelievable. So much in the show is about legacy and about how you’re remembered and about moving on from that. Just sitting in the same audience as him watching that was unbelievable.

The Daily: Why did you end up coming to Chicago?

Fine: I’m from here, and I like it better here. I’ve always said commercial theater and Broadway only exist in New York, but if I could do what I do in Chicago, that would be the dream. So when this came up, I was like, “Yes please.” Thankfully it worked out for me to come here — and when the Cubs are in the World Series. What a dream.

The Daily: What plans do you have for the future?

Fine: I always say I never could have imagined I’d be here, so why would I imagine what’s next? It’s been super awesome to find this job that really combines my skills and interests in a really interesting way, and I’m happy to do it until I don’t want to anymore.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @kelleyczajka