Working behind the scenes earns CSUSB theatre arts student Kennedy Center fellowship
Theatre Arts major Isabel Peña is the first CSUSB student to earn the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) fellowship in stage management, both regionally and nationally.
Peña, president of the university’s theatre club, is one of only eight people to be awarded the 2022 fellowship by KCACTF, a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country.
“It’s very exciting, because going in, I didn’t have any expectations of winning. It was my first time even participating in the festival,” she says. “So, winning it overall was ultimately a huge surprise.”
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Earning the fellowship required participation in numerous workshops and interviews, and the submission of a comprehensive “prompt” book filled with everything from scripts to reports.
The KCACTF fellowship includes scholarships and has introduced Peña to various stage management opportunities. In addition to the fellowship, she was invited to the Broadway Stage Management Symposium in New York City in late May. Unable to attend in person due to scheduling conflicts, she participated virtually.
“The symposium was really eye-opening and really engaging,” Peña says, noting that Broadway stage managers came to talk about their experiences and gave the attendees advice. The symposium also provided resources, workshops and panel discussions.
“Having those resources, talking to actual Broadway stage managers, asking about their experiences, and talking to other stage managers, it was amazing,” she says. “I loved it and I got a lot of information that I will definitely be using.”
Peña credits Eric Mulz, professor and technical director of the CSUSB theatre arts program, for nominating her for the fellowship and guiding her not only through the process, but throughout her academic journey.
“He really took me under his wing,” she says, particularly when her first stage-management project at CSUSB took place during the pandemic when the university was primarily virtual. “He had daily Zoom meetings with me to make sure I knew what needed to be done. He also had weekly updates with me. He would ask, ‘How can I help you improve your craft?’”
Mulz describes Peña as thoughtful and hardworking. “[Isabel] is one of the quickest students at becoming a stage manager that I have seen in the last 20 years I’ve been training them.”
Eager to learn even more about the field, Peña plans to obtain her master’s degree in stage management after graduating with her bachelor’s in spring 2023. She acknowledges that stage management is a male-dominated industry, which, she notes, makes it even more important for her to further her education