About the Undergraduate Stage and Production Management Major
When a theater audience is watching a busy city street one minute, only to be transported to a penthouse high above the clouds the next, it is the stage and production managers who ensure that every aspect of the production, from lighting and wardrobe to financing and casting, flows seamlessly and enhances the story unfolding before the audience’s eyes.
As a student in Emerson College’s Stage and Production Management BFA program, you will learn by doing. Housed in the Department of Performing Arts in the School of the Arts, the program gives you the opportunity to work on varied stage management and production supervision projects starting in your first year. You will also get the chance to intern at Boston’s leading theaters. You will graduate as a seasoned stage and production manager and leader, ready to help tell powerful stories that move minds and, ultimately, influence culture.
The Stage and Production Management program enables you to be in leadership positions on Emerson Stage shows, in which you learn what works best for you and allows for you to continue adding skills to your ‘tool belt’ with each project.
Real-World Experience in Stage and Production Management
Stage and Production Management majors have ample opportunity to gain real-world learning experience. Here are a few examples:
- Emerson Stage is the producing organization within the Department of Performing Arts. Its nine-show season offers more than 120 opportunities for actors, 100 positions for design staff, 70 for production staff, another 70 for theater management staff and 30 artistic staff—all reserved exclusively for Performing Arts students.
- Our campus is home to a vibrant student theater scene with 30 student performance organizations, including Acappellics Anonymous, Emerson Comedy Workshop, Emerson Shakespeare Society, and Flawless Brown.
- Beyond campus, students intern at local theater companies such as the American Repertory Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Blue Man Group, and Lyric Stage Company, among many others.
Careers for Stage and Production Management Majors
Our Stage and Production Management graduates obtain employment in a variety of industries beyond theater. Examples of careers include:
- Assistant Director (Film)
- Company Manager
- Production Coordinator (Live Television)
- Touring Stage Manager
Notable Performing Arts Alumni
- Cate Agis, Stage Manager, Aladdin (First National Tour)
- Davin De Santis, Production Stage Manager, Moulin Rouge (Broadway)
- Taylor Starr, Stage Manager, O, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group
- Jon Wyand, Entertainment Manager, Walt Disney World
...The hands-on professional experience that we receive from Emerson Stage productions, serving as members on stage management and production management teams, has helped me grow to become a better theater practitioner and a better person.
