UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For the 10th year, Penn State theatre students had the opportunity to connect with theatre industry professionals while learning about the latest trends in theatrical production thanks to the School of Theatre Alumni Giving Experience to Students (STAGES) festival, held in February.
Organized by the School of Theatre Affiliate Program Group, the multi-day festival provided lectures and hands-on training in areas across the theatre industry, including stage management, technical production, makeup and wig design, choreography, voice coaching, and entrepreneurship for emerging theatre professionals.
The School of Theatre Affiliate Program Group — also referred to as the School of Theatre Alumni Group — is a part of the Penn State Alumni Association. It has an all-volunteer board of nine alumni, two current students, the School of Theatre director, a faculty adviser, and the College of Arts and Architecture’s director of alumni relations and stewardship and assistant director of alumni relations.
Board member Allison Lee, who earned a bachelor of fine arts in theatre from Penn State in 1995, organized this year’s festival. Leaning on experience amassed during her 30-year career as a stage manager, Lee said she and the board focus on “the power of the Penn State network.”
“Putting that power in front of the students emphasizes what they have available to them,” said Lee, who was one of 15 guest artists that presented this year. “Watching the students interact with the artists was thrilling and that interaction made for an amazing festival.”
The festival was first offered in 2015. Now spanning three days, STAGES has welcomed more than 170 guest artists who have interacted with hundreds of students.
Broadway producer Mike Karns, a 2011 bachelor of fine arts in theatre alumnus and the first president of the alumni group, also presented at STAGES this year. He is currently producing “The Last Five Years” with Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren.
Having been part of the festival since its inception, he said the structure and approach to STAGES has evolved to better meet the needs of faculty and students, but the core mission of connecting students with professionals remains the same.
“The School of Theatre gives students immense opportunity to hone their craft and build their core skills, and we believe that our work can complement the solid foundation of pedagogy by giving students real-world opportunities to meet people working in their field,” said Karns, who is also owner of Marathon Digital, a theatre marketing company.
For its work on STAGES, the School of Theatre Affiliate Program Group has been recognized twice by the Penn State Alumni Association for exceptional alumni/student interaction programming.
Recognition for the success of the festival is great, Lee and Karns said, but they are driven by providing unique and positive experiences for the students.
“Whenever we get an email from a student saying, ‘I am so grateful for STAGES, because I'm now working in a field I had no idea about, and I love it,’ that's the ultimate win,” Karns said. “We hope students see that there are so many ways to apply their transferable skills to areas of theatre they might not know about and make connections that help them further themselves on that path.”