Stage Management

Stage Management student stands backstage consulting a video screeen and music score

The CCM's Stage Management program offers a four-year BFA program (120 credits) and a two- or three-year MFA program (75 credits).

Within CCM's Department of Theatre Design and Production (TD&P), students will receive a broad education in the various areas of technical theatre including stagecraft, scenic, lighting, sound, costume and wig & make-up design. To enhance the artistic side of stage management, students are also encouraged to take introductory classes in directing, script analysis, arts administration and aesthetics. There are opportunities to stage manage (or assistant stage manage) four to six productions over the course of the degree program.

In addition to production assignments, students will also take classes in stage management. The first is the Assistant Stage Management course. This is a nuts and bolts class about being a stage manager and, more specifically, how to be an assistant stage manager, with a focus on paperwork and organization. The second course is called Stage Management Foundations. This is a more intensive course focusing on the role, expectations, and duties of a lead stage manager.

Next is the Stage Management Styles course, which is where advanced stage management students dive into relevant topics in management such as communication, problem solving and conflict management. In addition to these theory courses, stage managers get extensive practice stage managing four to six productions (dance, plays, opera and/or musicals) and receive credit via Production Practicum.

All lead stage managers meet weekly to discuss their productions in a forum-like setting. At this time, students are encouraged to bring specific problems and achievements to the table for discussion with their fellow stage mangers. In addition to the weekly meeting of lead stage managers, both SMs and ASMs do a presentation on their production updating their fellow stage managers on the progress of their show just prior to moving into technical rehearsals. Students are encouraged to question the reporting team to develop a problem-solving dialogue.

In addition to formal theatre classes, BFA stage managers are encouraged to take business management classes, psychology classes, stress management classes and any other relevant courses agreed upon by the student and the department in the form of free electives that will enhance their growth as a stage manager. MFA students are encouraged to pursue studies with the Preparing Future Faculty program to ready themselves for a future teaching stage management at the collegiate level.

Unique to the stage management program at CCM is the opportunity to stage manage not only plays and musicals but also operas and dance productions. CCM's Division of Theatre Arts, Production and Arts Administration (TAPAA) produces six mainstage productions (two musicals, two plays and two operas) and approximately eight studio or workshop productions per year. CCM stage managers graduate with a diverse resume that will give them a competitive edge over other stage managers starting out in the workforce.

Learn More About the BFA Program Learn More About the MFA Program

Faculty

Headshot of Wendy J Dorn

Wendy J Dorn, 

Asst Professor - Adj (F9)

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Headshot of Michele A. Kay

Michele A. Kay, 

Associate Professor of Stage Management

513-556-9440

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Theatre Design and Production Department Chair

Headshot of Emily C. Porter

Emily C. Porter, 

Chair of Theatre Design and Production; Associate Professor of Audio Technology

513-556-7482

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Theatre Arts, Production and Arts Administration Division Head and Staff

Headshot of Rebecca Bromels

Rebecca Bromels, 

Division Head of Theatre Arts, Production and Arts Administration (TAPAA); Chair and Associate Professor of Arts Administration

513-556-5803

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Headshot of Jen Lampson

Jen Lampson, 

TAPAA Production Manager

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Headshot of Deborah Neiheisel-DeZarn

Deborah Neiheisel-DeZarn, 

TAPAA Program Manager

513-556-5803

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CCM's admissions process begins on August 1 (undergraduate) and September 1 (graduate) for entrance in the following year's fall semester. All application materials must be submitted on or before December 1 to be considered for specific scholarship awards. Visit the CCM Admissions website for additional application instructions.

Theatre Design and Production - BFA

Pre-screening

Applicants must submit the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before December 10 in order to be considered for admission and invited for an audition.

Pre-screening Requirements
  • Current resume
  • 500-word applicant statement
    • Use the 500-word statement to express: how you came to your area of theater design and production, what you expect to gain out of the CCM experience, and what direction you intend to go upon graduation. What are your personal and professional goals and how does CCM get you closer to those goals?
  • Upload contact information for three references
  • Portfolio (include theatre, artistic, and/or craft work)
  • Theatre Design and Production questionnaire

Interview

Interview Requirements
  • Application materials, along with experiences, achievements and long-range goals will be discussed at the applicant’s interview. All applicants will interview with faculty from the Theatre Design and Production department.

Additional Information

  • Candidates should only apply to one major within Theatre Design and Production unless you are seriously considering two areas.

Theatre Design and Production - MFA

Pre-screening

Applicants must submit a graduate application by March 1 and the required pre-screening materials via getacceptd.com/ccm on or before March 3 in order to request an interview with the faculty and be considered for admissions.

If you’ve participated in U/RTA you must submit the required materials (listed below) to Acceptd to be considered for admissions into CCM. 

Pre-screening Requirements
  • Current resume
  • 500-word applicant statement
    • Use the 500-word statement to express: how you came to your area of theater design and production, what you expect to gain out of the CCM experience, and what direction you intend to go upon graduation. What are your personal and professional goals and how does CCM get you closer to those goals?
  • Portfolio (include theatre, artistic, and/or craft work)

Interview

Interview Requirements
  • MFA Interviews should be coordinated and scheduled directly through the appropriate faculty. Visit the Theatre Design and Production website for the faculty directory and contact information.
  • Application materials, along with experiences, achievements and long-range goals will be discussed at the applicant’s interview. All applicants will interview with faculty from the Theatre Design and Production department.

News and Events

60 Results
1

CCM Play Series opens with dramatic double bill, 'Lysistrata' and 'The Trojan Women'

Event: September 29, 2022 8:00 PM

Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptations of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata and Euripides’ The Trojan Women tell stories of women impacted by war and their struggle to take control of their fates. A satirical comedy, Lysistrata focuses on women who try to end the Peloponnesian War by going celibate until their men see reason and lay down their arms. Known as the first anti-war play in the western canon, The Trojan Women focuses on the surviving women who grapple with grief, fear and the total devastation of their homes after their city’s defeat in the Trojan War.

3

CCM Musical Theatre presents farcical musical comedy "Something Rotten!"

Event: October 20, 2022 8:00 PM

UC’s College Conservatory of Music continues its Musical Theatre Series with the hit Broadway show, Something Rotten!. Originally premiered in 2015 and nominated for 10 Tony Awards, the raucous Renaissance farce runs Oct. 20-23 and Oct. 27-30, 2022, at CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater. As The New York Times put it, Something Rotten! is “the funniest musical comedy in at least 400 years.”

4

CCM's Opera Series presents Poulenc’s harrowing 'Dialogues of the Carmelites'

Event: November 18, 2022 8:00 PM

The UC College-Conservatory of Music opens its 2022-23 Opera Series with Francis Poulenc’s 1953 masterpiece, Dialogues of the Carmelites. One of the most revered operas of the 20th-century, this profound drama runs November 18-20 in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. Guest artist Christopher Larkin conducts with stage direction by CCM Professor Robin Guarino. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office.

5

CCM Opera’s spring 2022 production of "Galileo Galilei" nominated for BroadwayWorld awards

December 16, 2022

CCM Opera’s production of Philp Glass’s Galileo Galilei recently nabbed five nominations in BroadwayWorld Cincinnati’s annual awards for excellence in the region’s performing arts. The production, which ran from March 31 to April 3, 2022, has been recognized in the categories of Best Ensemble, Best Direction of a Musical (Greg Eldridge, Associate Professor of Opera Directing), Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical (Ian Macintosh, BFA Lighting Design ‘22, and Thomas Hase, MFA Lighting Design) and Best Choreography (Hazel Alexander, BFA Dance ‘24). The awards are determined by audience vote, and the online poll is open through December 31.

6

IT'S ALIVE: CCM presents electrifying adaptation of "Frankenstein"

Event: February 9, 2023 12:00 AM

The UC College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Play Series brings a classic tale of ambition and alienation to life with Nick Dear’s Frankenstein, a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel. The production runs from Thursday, Feb 9 through Sunday, Feb 12 in the Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are available now through the CCM Box Office.

7

CCM Opera presents Handel’s Agrippina, a biting political satire

Event: February 16, 2023 12:56 PM

CCM Opera continues its season with Agrippina, Handel’s early masterpiece. Fueled by political intrigue, historical characters and a dogged pursuit of power, the razor-sharp satire runs in the Cohen Family Studio Theater Feb. 16-19. Tickets are on sale now through the CCM Box Office.

9

CCM declared ‘Best of Cincinnati’ by CityBeat

April 3, 2023

CityBeat recently published its annual Best of Cincinnati® issue, and several CCM programs and performances were recognized in this year's roundup. CityBeat staff awarded CCM "Best Musical Hat Trick" for the combined accomplishments of the musicals "Sunday in the Park with George," "She Loves Me" and "Something Rotten!" CCM's Media Production Division also gained a coveted spot in this year's list of Cincinnati's best sports and recreations offerings, receiving the "Best Student Program With Actual National Exposure" award for the division's innovative Sports Media Production curriculum.

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