2019
L’elisir d’amore, Donizetti, Opera Omaha
Assistant Stage Manager
Conductor: David Agler
Director: Rosetta Cucchi
Scenic Designer: Tiziano Santi
Costume Designer: Claudia Pernigotti
Lighting Designer: D. M. Wood
Wig & Make up Designer: Ronnell Oliveri
Assistant Director: Melanie Bacaling
Stage Manager: Alec Rigdon
Assistant Stage Manager: Jessie Mhire
Unique Elements:
- My first time being an Assistant Stage Manager in 5 years (and only my 4th time doing it professionally in 10 years).
- The show transferred from Italy, which means we had no paperwork, props lists, running documents, etc. We had 1 video recording of a final dress rehearsal from the 1st venue (we could out later there were 5 more venues after that where changes were made) and did all of our prep work based on that video.
- One of my proudest moments during the production was walking back stage during a tech rehearsal and seeing every single crew member pouring over my paperwork, taking notes, and looking at the pictures (after being told by multiple sources that this crew doesn’t use paperwork and that I shouldn’t waste my time creating it).
The Handmaid’s Tale, Ruders/Bentley, Boston Lyric Opera
Stage Manager
Conductor: David Angus
Director: Anne Bogart
Scenic Designer & Costume Designer: James Schutte
Lighting Designer: Brian Scott
Sound Designer: J. Jumbelic
Video Designer: Adam Thompson
Wig & Make up Designer: Tom Watson
Movement Director: Shura Baryshnikov
Assistant Director: Mikhaela Mahony
Assistant Stage Manager: Melanie Bacaling, Julie Marie Langevin
Production Assistant: Bruno Baker
Unique Elements:
- Rehearsal took place in an Ice Skating Rink and performance were in a basketball court. We had to find locations in both areas for dressing rooms, bring in extra electricity, extra bathrooms, and create a playing space.
- Largest/new production in BLO history. AND in a found space.
- Only 2nd time The Handmaid’s Tale was performed in US and 3rd time in America’s.
- Rave Reviews from New York Times and Boston Globe.
2018
The Wreck
Opera Omaha, ONE Festival
Production Stage Manager
Curator & Director: Annie Saunders
Composer & Arranger: Mariana Sadovska
Production Designer: Kate Fry
Lighting Design: Pablo Santiago
Sound Designer: Cricket S. Myers
Wig and Make up Design: Ronell Oliveri
Unique Elements:
- Show was created in 10 days.
- Production was conceived, created, designed, performed and run by all females (minus the lighting designer and sound engineer).
- An immersive, new opera, all locally sourced in Omaha, Nebraska.
- Written up in the Wall Street Journal (as part of the ONE Festival): it explores a distinctly female experience of domesticity, alienation and escape with a captivating mix of music and text.
- Worked with 4 amazing musicians as part of Opera Omaha’s collaboration with ICE
IYOV, PROTOTYPE Festival www.prototypefestival.org
Conductor & Composer: Roman Grygoriv
Composer & Pianist: Illia Razumeiko
Stage Manager
Director: Vladyslav Troitskyi
Live Video Mixer: Mariia Volkova
Lighting Designer: Nataliya Perchyshena
Sound Engineer: Caley Monahon-Ward
Sound Engineer: Makysm Kapusta
Unique Elements:
- The show had already been performed in the Ukraine and Europe before coming to PROTOTYPE Festival. We had 1 day to tech before our Final (and only!) Dress and opening.
- Composers, conductor, director, all singers, lighting designer and video mixer all spoke Ukrainian with limited English.
- The set mostly consisted of 2 projectors, live video feed (run by an intern) along with video graphics all mixed live by the designer.
The Happiest Millionaire Concert
Screenplay by AJ Carothers
Music by Richard M and Robert B Sherman
Adapted by Doug Thompson and Alex Beck
Production Stage Manager
Director: Alex Beck
Music Director: Mark Hartman
Choreographer: JustinHenry
Lighting Design: Joe Doran
Sound Design: Nick Simone
Unique Elements:
- 50th Anniversary and the very 1st time any of this music (or story) had been presented live, on stage.
- Cast included Lesley Ann Warren (reprising original role), Joyce Bulifant (reprising original role), Dana Ivey, Tonya Pinkins, Brooke Shields, Brad Oscar, Nicholas Barasch, Christopher Carothers (son of AJ Carothers), Cherish Myers, Luca Padovan, and Sam Poon.
- Also included a chorus of 20 people who sang in Lets Have A Drink on it and the Finale.
- As a benefit concert, we raised over $10,000 for BC/EFA.
- Produced at Joe’s Pub (which has no dressing room monitors or clear com system).
2017
The Nefarious, Immoral but Highly Profitable Enterprise of Mr. Burke and Mr. Hare, Boston Lyric Opera (2017)
Music by Julian Grant
Libretto by Mark Cambell
World Premiere
Stage Manager
Director: David Schweizer
Assistant Director: Katherine Carter
Conductor: David Angus
Set and Projection Design: Caleb Wertenbaker
Lighting Design: Robert Wierzel
Costume Design: Nancy Leary
Wig and Make up Design: Jason Allen
Movement Director: Melinda Sullivan
Unique Elements:
- World Premiere opera commissioned by Music-Theatre Group with the support of Boston Lyric Opera.
- Performed at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts which has a glass ceiling and windows (made for an interesting matinee performance).
- Worked with both the composer and librettist during the whole rehearsal and tech process.
2015
Magic Flute, Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
Mozart
Assistant Stage Manager
Director: Andrew Nienaber
Conductor: James Allbritten
Stage Manager: Elizabeth Freyman
Set Rented from Sarasota Opera
Lighting Design: Norman Coates
Wig and Make up Design: Martha Ruskai
Unique Elements:
- Cast consists of 19 principals and 29 chorus.
- Run crew told me the running paperwork was the most complete, up to date and easy to read paperwork they ever received on the 1st day of tech (a huge compliment considering we had the scenes in a different order than how Sarasota produced the show).
Così fan tutte, Opera Naples
Mozart
Production Stage Manager
Director: Marc Verzatt
Conductor: Ramón Tebar
Lighting and Projection Design: Tláloc López-Watermann
Costume Design: Judy Hushon
Hair and Make up Design: Gina Weiner
Unique Elements:
- I called the show from behind a wall with no view of Maestro and only a small monitor of the stage.
- First performance in the newly created Wang Center.
- Lead soprano insisted the air conditioning was making her lose her voice, so we performed with no AC, in Southern Florida, in April.
- No AD, ASM , Production Manager or TD.
2014
La Boheme, Opera Naples www.operanaples.org
Puccini
Production Stage Manager
Director: Oliver Kloeter
Conductor: Ramón Tebar
Set Rented from North Carolina
Lighting Design: Nick Cavallaro
Principal Costumes rented from Malibar
Costumière: Judy Hushon
Hair and Make up Design: Gina Weiner
Unique Elements:
- Cast consists of 8 principals, 33 chorus, 19 children’s chorus and 2 supers.
- Due to Visa issues with the lead soprano, the entire show was staged with an understudy (who also went on for the 1st orchestra dress).
- Funny fact: the Opera Guild provided food all during tech. They saw the prop food (set on the prop table for preset) and thought it was theirs so they cut up all the bread and served it to the performers pre-show. Causing us to have no bread during final dress for that number.
2012
Madama Butterfly, Opera Santa Barbara www.operasb.org
Puccini
Production Stage Manager
Director: Keturah Stickann
Conductor: Sara Jobin
Set Rented from Virginia Opera
Lighting Design: Lucas Benjamin Krech
Costume Supervisor: Ivy Chou
Hair and Make up Design: Heather Sterling
Unique Elements:
- Pinkerton arrived late so we staged half the show with a cover.
- Child playing Trouble had stage fright and no stage experience.
- A patron fell before the top of a performance, causing ambulance to be called and for the show to hold for almost half an hour.