Management
Stage Management is the main point of communication between all aspects of a show and the leader of the production crew. Not only do Stage Managers and their teams of Assistant Stage Managers and Production Assistants run rehearsals and performances, but they are also responsible for providing rehearsal, production meeting and performance notes to all members of the company. From contact sheets to rehearsal schedules, costume fitting appointments to publicity photo shoots, the stage management team coordinates information into action. Stage Managers and ASMs should have taken DRA 28 and DRA 126, though ASMs should be enrolled in DRA 126 at the very least. Production Assistants do not require experience but must have taken DRA 28.
Direction / Choreography
Directors/Choreographers are the decision makers of a production, working with all creatives to achieve the final vision of the piece. For Granada and faculty productions, a student can be chosen as an Assistant Director if the student shows initiative and interest working and supporting the director. Assistants are chosen on an ‘as needed’ basis. Assistants help with actor notes, blocking notes, and assisting the director with whatever else they need. Assistants can step in as a director in the absence of the Director. Students working on honor’s projects or smaller productions can receive these units once there is faculty support for the project.
Dramaturgy
Dramaturgy is the practical and production oriented focus on the historical and cultural placement of text towards an appropriate interpretation. DRA 160 is recommended to have a better understanding of the process of creating texts, and you may complete DRA 180C units as a dramaturg for department productions. The opportunity for these units are coordinated through Professor Jon Rossini.
Catalog Course
Steven Schmidt
Position Title
Assistant Professor of Technical Design and Production
Technical Director
Faculty Advisor for Technical Theatre
- Theatre and Dance
Steven Schmidt is a founding member and technical advisor for California Scenic Fabrication, where he served as the founding Executive Director from 2024 to 2025. Steven served as the Technical Director for California Shakespeare Theater from 2017 to 2024, where he built the scene shop into a sustainable, year-round enterprise constructing scenery for many Bay Area theaters. Through his work with Cal Scenic and Cal Shakes, Schmidt oversaw the technical design and fabrication of over 100 productions for American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, California Shakespeare Theater, Center Rep, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Magic Theatre, and Shotgun Players among others.
Schmidt’s academic work focuses on the intersection of engineering and technical design for the stage. He is a co-author of Structural Design for the Stage, 2nd Edition and has presented at the United States Institute of Theater Technology annual conference.
Previously, Schmidt worked as the Associate Head of Production for Yale Repertory Theatre and Yale School of Drama. He has consulted on technical design, rigging, safety, and budgeting for Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He has also worked as the Technical Director for B Street Theater, as an Adjunct Professor for Folsom Lake College, and managed the Richard Brunnelle Performance Hall. Schmidt was also the Founding Artistic Director of Barnyard Theater.