Jamie Torres (He/They) is a multi-hyphenate theater creative who thrives during the chaos and doesn’t back down from their beliefs.

BIO: Jaime is a theatre artist born and raised in NYC, growing up in the Bronx, Jaime starting dancing at the age of 7 and then singing in middle school, it wasn’t long until they were in love with theatre. Unfortunately college for theatre wasn’t an option so they had to pivot. Jaime attended The Fashion Institute of Technology or FIT and graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design. Merging the worlds of theatre and fashion quickly set them on the path of Costume Design and Wardrobe. It allowed them to establish themselves in the theatre community earlier than most of their contemporaries and gain experience as a theatre professional. Jaime worked steadily in Theatre, Opera, and Concert Dance up until the pandemic, and has been fortunate to continue working steadily post, most notably as the original wardrobe supervisor for the hit Off Broadway Show TITANIQUE which opened in 2022 At The Asylum Theatre and moved to the The Daryl Roth.

Backstage Breakdown answers questions like:

1. How did you get involved in the costumes and wardrobe world of theater?
2. What is a wardrobe supervisor? What is their relation to the stage manager?
3. What does a typical day at work look like for you?
4. How do you try to achieve a work / life balance in this industry?
5. How do you keep yourself healthy during a 8 show week?

Instagram/TikTok: @jaimester88

Dance with Jamie:

Steps on Broadway (“Lastic Stretch”)

Monday’s @ 1:30pm

Online or In Person

Dance with Jamie:

Broadway Dance Center

Thursday’s @ 12:15pm

Friday’s @ 10:45am

Theme music by Barrett Riggins. BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.

Priscilla is a managerial mastermind. She is an AEA Stage Manager and an ATPAM Company Manager who has a plethora of experience in managerial roles on various levels of theatre in New York City and beyond.

Bio: Priscilla Villanueva is a New York-based stage manager and AEA member. They have graduated from City College of New York with a B.A in Theatre. They have worked for The Bushwick Starr, Theatre for the New City, Signature Theatre, The Kraine Theatre, Playwrights Realm, and The Sappho Project. Off-Broadway credits include: The Siblings Play, Cullud Wattah, Neurosis, Locusts Have No King, and Play On! Shakespeare festival. Peace and Love…

Backstage Breakdown answers questions like:

1. How did you get into theatre?
2. What is a Stage Manager? What do they do? What qualities do they need?
3. How do you make those tough or quick decisions?
4. Let’s chat Company Management! What made you decide to move into this?
5. What’s your advice to people who are shooting their shot and not getting the results they want?
6. Work / Life Balance! Tell us more.

@villanueva.priscilla

Theme music by Barrett Riggins. BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.

Leon is an all around super human multi-hyphenate with professional experience as an actor, company manager, marketing manager, general manager, and producer on the regional, Off-Broadway, and Broadway stages.

BIO: An award-winning creative producer, artistic administrator, multi-hyphenate, Leon Jones (they/he) is committed to creating space for other BIPOC/LGBTQIA+ artists on stage and off. Leon began their professional career playing Macduff’s Child in Berkeley Rep’s Macbeth, starring Frances McDormand and Conelth Hill. They have worked with renowned regional companies such as Abingdon Theatre Company (Artistic Associate), California Shakespeare Theatre (Company Member), San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (Associate Producer), and Marin Shakespeare Company (Education Director). Most recent credits, PICTURES FROM HOME (Assistant Company Manager - Broadway debut), Associate Producer for the upcoming Off-Broadway production of TROPHY BOYS, Client Services Coordinator at AKA, and Associate General Manager and Company Manager positions for several Off-Broadway productions and a national tour of ON YOUR FEET. www.leonjonesjr.com | IG: @theleonjones

Backstage Breakdown answers questions like:

1. You were a child performer! Tell us more.
2. How did you transition into the management side of theatre from there?
3. How did you get to New York from California?
4. What the heck does a Producer do? How do they work with Stage Managers?
5. What does a General Manager do? How do they work with Stage Managers?

@theleonjones

Theme music by Barrett Riggins. BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.

Jen Ash is a phenomenal stage manager who has worked extensively as a Stage Manager in New York, on Tour, and beyond. She talks openly with us about the professional world, friendships, and how to balance business and pleasure.

Bio: Broadway: A Wonderful World, Days of Wine and Roses, SIX, POTUS, Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked Tours: Come From Away, Hadestown, Wicked, IF/THEN, Off-Broadway: CATS: The Jellicle Ball, Everything’s Fine, FuerzaBrutaWAYRA, Peter and the Starcatcher, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Bill W. And Dr. Bob. Regional: Goodspeed, Paper Mill Playhouse. Originally from El Paso, TX.

Backstage Breakdown answers questions like:

1. How did you decide to pursue stage management?
2. What does stage management mean to you?
3. Why do you continue on this path? What do you love about management?
4. What is unique to subbing on a tour as opposed to touring full time with a company?
5. What did you /do you keep on person at all times while touring?
6. How does calling the show differ when on tour?
7. How did you get started on broadway?
8. Can you describe what a typical day looks like when calling a broadway show?
9. Are all broadway calling booths created equal? Tell us about the unique spaces you’ve called a show in.
10. Tell us about the relationship between the stage manager and the performer. How do you interact with performers as the stage manager/asst. Stage manager?
11. What’s the most exciting thing about being a broadway stage manager?

Instagram: @jendashash

Kyra Bowie is a performer turned amazing stage manager who has worked extensively in the new york city theatre world. She talks with us about her journey to being “behind the table" and

Kyra Bowie is a NY based Stage Manager and co-founder of Transcend Streaming. Projects that excite Kyra are new works, technically challenging productions, and stories that bring up questions that might not always be something easy to grapple with. Select credits: SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE (PSM | Out of the Box Theatrics), OUR CLASS (PSM | MART Foundation), BASEMENT, IL (PSM | NYSAF), HOUSE OF TELESCOPES (PSM | Pipeline Theatre Co), BABY FOOT (PSM | Walkerspace), JUST TELL NO ONE (SM | Lincoln Center), THE ORCHARD with Jessica Hecht & Mikhail Baryshnikov (BA-RISH-NIH-KOF) (PSM | Arlekin Players Theatre) HAPPY LIFE (PSM | Walkerspace). www.KyraBowie.com

Backstage Breakdown answers questions like:

1. Does an acting or performing background help or hurt a career in stage management?
2. How do you transition into stage management from acting or another area of theater later in life?
3. Gatekeeping, gir!
4. Let’s talk events! How is event stage management different from theatrical stage management? How do you prepare?
5. Going Digital! What does it mean as a Stage Manager and what could it mean for theatre at large?

Instagram: @kyrabowie www.KyraBowie.com

Amanda Spooner is an accomplished stage manager and educator. Amanda talks with us about all things backstage. She is now working on Purple Rain The Musical, a dream come-true that she manifested years before.

Amanda Spooner is an AEA Stage Manager and Educator, who came to Ithaca from New York City. She has worked on and off-Broadway, regionally, on tour, in events, on immersive experiences, on opera, dance, countless readings and workshops, and in television. Her specialty is in the development of new works and their world premieres, including Rebecca Tyke-min and Paula Vogel's Indecent as well as the musical Sing Street. Amanda has stage-managed for Producer Daryl Roth, Lincoln Center Theater, Berkeley Rep, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, Soho Rep, BAM, Ars Nova, Sundance Theatre Lab, The Public Theatre, American Repertory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Westport Country Playhouse among others. She is the founder of both the Year of the Stage Manager campaign and Tandem, a peer-to-peer education program for theatre makers, in addition to serving on the Board of Directors for the Stage Managers' Association. Amanda is a former TONY voter and works closely with Actors’ Equity Association -- she was recently the youngest stage management AEA councillor in the nation. She advocates for economic equality in professional theatre, for families in the arts, and for greater visibility for Stage Managers and spends a great deal of time on research and in discussion regarding these topics. Amanda was named an American Theatre Magazine “Person to Watch” and was featured on the cover of Equity News with her son, among countless other articles and interviews. She received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, her BA from San Francisco State University, and her AA from Las Positas College.

Backstage Breakdown answers those big questions like:

1. How did we get here?
2. When did you decide to join the union? How did your career change once you did?
3. Should AEA include Actors and Stage Managers?
4. What are some of your favorite credits?
5. How did you start teaching?
6. What would you advise young people to do in order to prepare to become a successful stage manager? Is college necessary?
7. You created “Year of the Stage Manager 2020” can you tell us about that facebook group and the use of social media?

@spoonforbetter on Instagram

@sminsta2020 on Instagram

Theme music by Barrett Riggins.

BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.

Rian talks to us about their life on and off-broadway and breaks down what a child guardian actually does. Rian explains how hard young artists work and the trials and tribulations of advocating for them.

Rian Buksbazen is a multi-hyphenate creative and theatrical specialist. Their work as a child guardian can be seen on shows like Leopoldstadt, Trevor the Musical off-Broadway and on Disney+, Into the Woods at Encores!, American Ballet Theater, EVIL on CBS, and many many more. They are the only transgender child guardian working on Broadway, and are a proud member of IATSE Local 764 TWU.

Backstage Breakdown answers those big questions like:

1. What does a child guardian do?
2. How does a child guardian advocate for the child they are responsible for?
3. What is the number one daily challenge working as a child guardian?
4. What does school look (or a typical school day) like for a child on broadway?
5. What are your favorite credits?
6. How do you handle the use of pronouns of a young person?

Instagram: @rbuksbazen

Theme music by Barrett Riggins.

BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.

Tyler Crow talks to us about his college experience studying Stage Management, getting in the room as a Stage Manager, his love of new works, and the work life balance of it all.

Broadway: The Notebook, The Cottage. Off-Broadway: What Became of Us (Atlantic Theater Company), Good Enemy (Audible Theater), Breathless; we were promised honey! (59E59), Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (New Vic). National Tours: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Kite Runner, The Prom. Regional: Barrington Stage Company, George Street Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Theatre Aspen, and Boston Ballet. Love to my people and theatre educators everywhere.

Backstage Breakdown answers those big questions like:

1. What was studying Stage Management in college like?
2. What’s the deal with Production Assistants? How do I get in the room as a Production Assistant?
3. What’s the rehearsal process for a new show like?
4. What’s the work life balance situation on a new show?

Instagram: @TCROW62

Theme music by Barrett Riggins.

BARRETT RIGGINS is a composer and lyricist based in Brooklyn. He won the 2025 Richard Rodgers Award for HELSINKI (Upcoming; The New Group, Selection; NAMT). He is represented by UTA and the Hybrid Agency.