By In a basement meeting room inside the Long Beach State Theater Building, a motley crew of master’s students craft magic out of the mundane.
Once a week, students in CSULB’s Theater Management graduate program gather for the lab portion of their Theater 380: Seminar in Theater Management class.
AKA Practicum.
“Practicum literally means the practical application of what our degree is, which is a dual degree, MFA and MBA,” said Robert Williamson, aka “The Bob,” a second-year member of the manager cohort. “We are learning to operate a theater, and we are learning to manage a business at the same time.”
Claire Pearson (foreground) addresses the Theater Management student cohort during their Tuesday “Practicum” class. Students and advisors tackle the day-to-day work and issues that arise with each production of a Cal Rep play during the two-hour meetings. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
The students help run the business side of all main stage productions at CSULB.
“As a group, we figure productions out. We run with a general manager, which is Claire, and then we rotate responsibilities,” said Perla Barajas, a graduate student in the MBA/MFA Theatre Management program.
Claire Pearson served as general manager for most of the 2024-25 academic year, including eight main stage productions, including: “An Evening at the Beach,” “Urinetown,” “Small Mouth Sounds,” “Clyde’s.,” “Frantic/Tempest,” “Yoga Play,” “Red Bike” and “Alice In Slasherland.”
Every week, for two hours, Pearson facilitates the “Practicum” meetings with the entire cohort, focusing on company management, marketing, education and community programming.
With long meetings, late theater nights and lots of unseen footwork, the seven students who make up the 2024-25 Cal Rep Theater Management cohort sacrifice a lot of their time, all for the love of theater.
“They’re learning how to run theaters, run cultural institutions,” said Head of Directing and Interim Head of Theater Management at CSULB Jeff Janisheski. “A major part of that is the work they do for Cal Rep.”
What is Cal Rep?
The California Repertory Company is the producing arm of the university’s theater department.
“We produce theater, which is acted by undergraduates, directed by faculty or guest directors, designed by undergraduate students, sometimes guest designers or faculty designers,” Janisheski said. “So the theater we do, our performances, that’s Cal Rep. The theater management cohort … they produce and help run Cal Rep.”
General Manager Claire Pearson in between two advertisements for different Cal Rep plays on display outside the Theater Arts building while working the “Red Bike” reception event on March 21 as part of her theater manager duties. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
Years ago, Cal Rep operated off-campus and was performed by graduate acting students. By 2016, it shifted on campus and began serving undergraduate performers and technicians.
The exception: theater managers, who are all graduate students.
How unique is this program?
The Long Beach theater managers cohort is part of a rare graduate program, one of only a few in the country that offers a dual Master of Fine Arts and Master of Business Administration in Theater Management.
While similar programs exist on the East Coast, CSULB’s program is the only one in the CSU system.
“We are the only program in America where you can get a dual degree, an MFA and an MBA [in Theater Management] in three years at a CSU tuition price,” Janisheski said.
The program attracts a small, selective group of students with varied theater backgrounds.
“It’s so specific in being a joint MBA/MFA that usually people have a particular idea of why they want to be here,” cohort member Paula Eagleman said.
Theater Manager graduate students Paula Eagleman and Drew Olvey work in the Box Office on March 21 while the play “Red Bike” is being performed, as the live TV feed in the Theater Building shows. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
Eagleman works at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and joined for management experience.
Chaunsay Oyos credits volunteering backstage with her kids’ theater company with sparking her interest. From there, it was a “natural progression” from volunteering to community and professional theaters.
“It was the only program of its type that was close enough to me,” Oyos said. “I live in San Diego, and I didn’t want to move to the East Coast.”
All cohort members must hold a bachelor’s degree to qualify.
Once enrolled, they dive into a rigorous three-year, 90-unit blend of business coursework, theater-focused classes and hands-on practicum.
The lecture portion is taught by Megan Wanlass, managing director of the prominent Cornerstone Theater Company.
“Our students graduate with little-to-no debt, and they’re able to go into their careers solidly with real preparation,” Janisheski said.
What does a manager do?
“They basically do everything, they’re learning how to be arts leaders,” Janisheski said.
Students rotate through roles for each production, including company management, marketing, education programming and community engagement—each with its challenges.
Cohort member Drew Olvey served as manager and co-director for “Alice in Slasherland.” Handling his regular managerial duties and direct engagement with the cast, Olvey helped student actor Matthew Hill rehearse, practice movements and write jokes for his role as a rude demon Teddy Bear, complete with puppetry. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
After rehearsing with Manager and Co-Director Drew Olvey, Matthew Hill performs as his rude demon Teddy Bear character during a rehearsal for Alice in Slasherland. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
What is the value of this program?
For many, the theater management cohort is more than a graduate program: it is a training ground that has already launched careers.
At Cerritos College, Eagleman has already been promoted.
“Since I’ve been in this program, I’ve actually done that. I have moved into a management position,” she said. “Handling contracts and doing administrative work on the business side of things, I think this program has really helped.”
In Oregon, Anderson would ask her production managers what they wished they had known.
The answer was always the same: they wished they had received an MBA.
“I’m learning about accounting and finance and creating balance sheets and budgets and profits loss statements, which I didn’t know a lot about before coming here,” she said.
Starting from the top and from left to right, the 2024-25 dual MBA/MFA Theatre Management cohort features Paula Eagleman, Perla Barajas, Claire Pearson, Robert Williamson, Chaunsa Oyos, Drew Olvey and Amanda Anderson. Photo credit: Delfino Camacho
Ultimately, Pearson stepped down from her general manager duties before “Alice in Slasherland” opened—for the best reason possible.
“So one of our students, Claire, who’s been helping to really lead the cohort in her third and final year, got a job before she even graduated at one of the other most important theaters in [LA], Center Theater Group,” Janisheski said. “That kind of speaks for itself.”
Pearson now works in development for one of the city’s leading non-profit theaters, a long-held goal.
Even as the season closes, the show must go on. The remaining cohort and its new members arriving in the fall will continue managing the house, working with creatives and always brainstorming ways to get butts into seats.
“I think Cal Rep is a really good opportunity to try a lot of things and to fail a lot of times and to learn from that,” Barajas said. “So that when we do go into the professional world, we have a good understanding.”
