The Dr. Phillips Center - UCF Celebrates the Arts
Stage Manager
UCF Celebrates the Arts is a multi-week festival during which I supported a wide range of events, including choir, band, and corporate programming. Over the course of the festival, I frequently ran deck operations and coordinated with multiple departments across varying event formats. The festival provided hands-on experience with British-style stage management practices and working alongside IATSE crews. Many events were fully teched, opened, and struck within a single day, requiring efficient communication, adaptability, and precise execution.
In the Pugh Theatre, I served as the Deck Stage Manager for this event, which followed a more traditional musical theatre structure. I oversaw and teched quick changes, scene transitions, and actor movement to ensure smooth execution throughout the performance. The venue ultimately housed a 100-person choir, despite initial expectations of a much smaller choral group. Adjusting to the increased scale required rapid reworking of spacing, traffic patterns, and backstage coordination. This experience emphasized flexibility, clear communication, and strong deck management in a fast-moving production environment.
In the Steinmetz Theatre, I worked on band and choir events, including the New Young Composer Competition. I collaborated with union crews to help coordinate large groups of performers, many of whom had limited experience working in a theatre setting. This meant keeping communication clear, flexible, and approachable so everyone felt supported and informed. I also jumped in wherever needed—stuffing programs, assisting performers and audience members, and helping manage the flow of people backstage and in the house. This even included things like holding a baby so the performer could rehearse. The fast-paced environment emphasized teamwork, adaptability, and a willingness to do whatever it took to make the event run smoothly.
In the DeVos Family Room, I worked on a range of smaller-scale events, including corporate programming and TED-style talks. These events varied widely in format and tone, requiring quick adjustments to different styles, schedules, and audience needs. I supported smooth transitions on and off stage while coordinating with multiple departments to keep events running efficiently. The variety of programming strengthened my ability to adapt quickly and maintain a calm, organized presence in fast-paced, professional environments.
