Program: STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Adrienne Wells

BFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2005

Adrienne Wells has had a nearly twenty-year long career in theatre and entertainment since graduating from CMU’s BFA Stage and Production Management program in 2005. A member of the board of the Stage Managers’ Association, Adrienne has several stage and production management credits in the Pittsburgh area alone, including Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Irish and Classic Theater and Point Park University. Some of Adrienne’s other regional credits include Virginia Stage Company, Pentangle Arts and St Michael’s Playhouse.

Kyrie Bayles

MFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2019

Kyrie Bayles received a Master of Fine Arts in Stage and Production Management from CMU in 2019; since graduation, she has worked as a production manager on Broadway twice, first with “Between Riverside and Crazy” and most recently in “The Thanksgiving Play” at the Helen Hayes Theater. Kyrie has also worked as a production manager or coordinator at notable theatre companies such as Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Playmill Theater and Second Stage Theater, and currently works as production manager at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. 

Kyrie also returned to her undergraduate alma mater, Brigham Young University – Idaho, as adjunct theater faculty in 2021, teaching introductory courses on theater and technical theater while overseeing technical crews and training the Front of House staff in COVID-19 procedures. 

Rachel D’Amboise

MFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2018

Following graduation from the School of Drama’s MFA Stage and Production Management program in 2018, Rachel D’Amboise spent a summer as the associate production manager for the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, assisting the festival production manager with execution of designs, personnel management, venue operations and more.

In 2019, Rachel became the full-time, year-round production manager for City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh’s South Side, where she oversees production logistics including budgeting, scheduling, and coordination among departments, for the company’s ambitious season of new plays. 

Before coming to CMU, Rachel was a production coordinator and stage/production manager for Act Two at Levine Music, where she organized education programs, fully-staged productions and acted as a main point of contact for parents, students, vendors, and partnerships, among other duties.

JuanCarlos Contreras

MFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2021

A 2021 graduate of CMU’s MFA Stage and Production Management program, JuanCarlos Contreras is an AEA stage manager who has worked with multiple prestigious theater companies across the United States. Some of his most notable credits include working as both assistant and production stage manager for multiple shows at Texas Shakespeare Festival and Creede Repertory Theatre, PSM for “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” at Fulton Theatre and PSM for “Spring Awakening” at Northern Stage. 

Most recently, JuanCarlos has worked three seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, working on shows such as “unseen”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Twelfth Night”. He is currently working as both a PSM and ASM on four different productions in OSF’s 2024 season.

Ben King

BFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2018

Ben King has had a steady career as a production manager since graduating from CMU’s BFA Stage and Production Management program in 2018. After working as an Associate Production Manager at Williamstown Theatre Festival shortly after graduation, he joined the team at Aurora Productions, assisting on several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including “Apologia”(Laura Pels Theatre), “To Kill A Mockingbird” (Shubert Theatre), “King Lear” (Cort Theatre), “Hillary and Clinton” (Golden Theatre), and the load outs of “Carousel” (Imperial Theatre), “Bruce Springsteen on Broadway” (Walter Kerr Theatre), and “The Waverly Gallery” (Golden Theatre). 

For the last five years, Ben has been at Hudson Scenic Studios, Inc., working his way up from Assistant Production Manager, to Associate Production Manager, to full Production Manager in December of 2023.

“My time at CMU was foundational in discovering my leadership and management style of the artistic process. The production framework of the School of Drama, which is modeled after both regional and commercial theaters and scene shops, provided me with management experiences that I still draw upon in my professional career every day. During my senior year studying Stage & Production Management, I had the opportunity to lead a crew of technical designers and fabricators. Fast forward six years and now I project manage Broadway sets every day. CMU provides its students with a hands-on, conservatory environment which gives you the closest thing you can get to professionally making theater in an educational setting.” –Ben King

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Alana Clapp

BFA STAGE & PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT, 2010

Alana Clapp has had an impressive career since graduating from CMU’s BFA Production, Technology and Management in 2010. While at CMU, she was named an Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar, recognized for academic excellence combined with volunteerism, involvement in student organizations, the arts and leadership.  She also received a Senior Leadership Award, which recognized the top-graduating seniors whose unique contributions in academics and research, the arts, athletics, and community service.

While still in college, Alana began working with Cirque du Soleil on their world-famous production of “O” at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Her professionalism as an intern led to her hiring as Assistant Stage Manager; she was soon promoted to Stage Manager, first for “O” and then for “Mystere” at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, where she worked for 8 years. Alana, still a part of the Cirque family, is now the full-time Company Manager for “Michael Jackson: One” at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. 

Alana also has years of experience in the realm of politics; she worked as an advance travel associate for the Biden/Harris campaign in 2020, producing and managing several campaign stops across Florida. She has been an Advance Associate for the White House since March 2021, helping execute travel plans for the President, Vice President, First Lady, and Second Gentleman of the United States.

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