Stage Design & Production

We want to help you learn how to make big things happen.

The Stage Design and Production Program conjures up the magic that surrounds the performers for BSA’s numerous stage events. We prize dedication and hard work because they consistently produce good results. Here you’ll learn the theory as well as the current practice of producing the performing arts. But more importantly, you’ll learn time management, communication, and organizational skills, as well as how to be open to new ideas. By the time you graduate, you’ll be well-prepared for college or an entry-level position in the field. Our alumni have gone on to be film production designers in Los Angeles, stage managers on Broadway, start-up founders in Silicon Valley, and so much more.

What You’ll Learn

  • Design

  • Organize

  • Make

Stage Design & Production Curriculum
Stage Design & Production Staff
Stage Design and Production Students on Action
Stage Design and Production Students on Action
Stage Design and Production Students on Action
Stage Design and Production Students on Action

Masterclasses and Cultural Outings

In addition to being taught by working artists every day, you’ll enjoy numerous special opportunities all designed to help you become a person who gets things done.

You’ll learn from guest artists such as Kwame Shakur Opara, who helped us design a performance piece based on Ghanaian marketplaces. You’ll enjoy field trips to places such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Center Stage, and Everyman Theatre. Our department also has a long-standing relationship with the National Park Service to research and create short plays based on actual historical people. And every May, our graduating seniors join our Senior Acting Ensemble to present a co-production with Showdown Theatre Arts UK in London.

Nathan W. Bailey

Featured Alumni

Nathan W. Bailey

Nathan W. Bailey is a Los Angeles-based assistant art director and set designer for film and television and a member of the Art Directors Guild, IATSE local 800. Nathan holds a BA in Film from Emerson College and an MFA in Production Design from AFI Conservatory. Notable projects include art directing Hold Up and Denial for Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, assistant art directing on season six of American Horror Story, the pilot episodes of CBS’s S.W.A.T. and Amazon’s Jack Ryan, parts of Westworld season two and Hawaii 5-0 season nine, and the upcoming Amazon feature film Bliss. Nathan also recently set designed on season one of The Morning Show, one of Apple TV+’s flagship shows. Between larger studio projects, Nathan has production designed commercials for clients such as the NBA, Hugo Boss, and MTV.

See more Alumni Success Stories here

Through spending four years focusing on how you can create work, you are also learning really important skills that can be applied in multiple contexts: how to be an effective communicator, the intellectual prowess to grapple with an idea and figure out your point of view. You are building your confidence. Overall that builds into a sense of shaping you as a leader.

Bart St. Clair, VP at a major investment bank  

   Theatre Class of 1989