Todd Harper

Todd Harper is a first year MFA Production Management candidate at California Institute of the Arts School of Theater, studying under the mentorship of Gary Kechely. As a Production Manager, Todd feels intimately connected to the artistic process, functioning as a manager while engaging as an artist. He makes it a goal for each production he works on to find artistic fulfillment for the creative team, the audiences, and the company as a whole.

Colleagues have said that Todd is well-mannered with a great sense of humor and is able to get along with anyone and adapt to unforeseen circumstances with ease, consistently earning the respect of both his subordinates and his supervisors. Todd's students and reports have agreed that he is excellent with keeping things in order and handling difficult situations gracefully, patiently explaining new or improved methods for completing assigned tasks, and not only willing, but genuinely wanting to help when he is able.

With professional experience as a Company Manager, Producer, Stage Manager, Director, Technical Director, Follow Spot Operator, Scenic Designer, Carpenter, and Deck Technician along with amateur and educational credits as a Lighting Designer and Actor, Todd has a demonstrated understanding of most areas of theatrical production, making him an effective communicator and mediator between various departments.

Todd holds a BA in Dramatic Art and Psychology from the University of California at Davis, where he primarily focused on learning Stage Management under professors Darrel Winn and Robin Gray. As a full time student spending most evenings in rehearsals, he also worked four part time jobs, took an active role in his fraternity, Alpha Gamma Omega, regularly volunteered his time for service organizations and student run theatre groups, and was a co-founder and active leader in a church group for college-aged adults. At UC Davis, Todd worked to improve the Stage Management program by hosting weekly seminars, discussing production hardships with department stage managers and creating a stage manager's manual, filled with useful forms and information.

Following his undergraduate career, Todd worked for two years as a Stage Management intern at the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts (PCPA), where under the supervision of Christine Collins, he served as an Assistant Stage Manager for a handful of productions, including the American premiere of My Fairytale, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and directed by Scott Schwartz. Todd also had the great pleasure of Stage Managing local touring productions of Lifeboat and The Reluctant Dragon.

Between finishing his internship at PCPA and beginning his life as a grad student, Todd served as Theatre Manager of the Elings Performing Arts Center and resident Producer and Technical Director for the Dos Pueblos Theatre Company (DPTC), the professional performing leg of Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara, California. While at DPTC, Todd produced a multiple award-winning pilot production of Disney's Mary Poppins, in addition to very well-received and invigorating productions of In the Heights, Legally Blonde, and others. It is his time at Dos Pueblos Theatre Company that inspired his endeavors in Production Management.

Todd has had the opportunity to be a guest speaker in stage management classes at both Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo and at his alma mater, UC Davis, among teaching workshops in technical theater, Shakespeare, and audition techniques at various high schools on the central coast.

Todd chose to attend CalArts because of its excellent reputation and Walt Disney's founding vision for the school, a place where several creative disciplines could come together under one roof. Today, Disney's dream of cross-pollination and collaboration between diverse art forms are still at the core of the CalArts mission, allowing Todd to utilize his skills in areas outside of theatre he may not have otherwise considered.

Upon completion of his degree, Todd hopes to become the Production Manager for a professional regional theatre or a Project Manager for an events and/or themed entertainment company. Whatever the future holds, it is Todd's hope that his work becomes a keystone for collaborative and inspirational artwork and stories that touch and affect people deeply for years to come.

Todd is a proud member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and the Themed Entertainment Association.