RACHEL LEE (PRODUCTION MANAGER)

In my brief but richly rewarding theater career I have had the privilege of working
in various areas of the craft. I started as a performer as a kid, but as I got older
my interests shifted beyond the spotlight. My potential in administrative theater
came to my attention when I picked up an application for the 5 th Avenue Theatres
Rising Star Project: The Music Man and saw the producing team position. I
ended up applying and was hired. I loved the process so much that I was on
producing team for the Rising Star Project for two consecutive years. Working as
a producer gave me experience in coordinating and running auditions, making
offers, drafting contracts, organizing and hosting fundraising events, and
maintaining company morale.
My relationship with the 5th Avenue Theatre has continued even after I
aged out of RSP. The summer following my freshman year of college I worked as
an intern in the education department. My work for this department was largely
administrative. My main job was overseeing the offsite summer school program.
This work included checking students in and out, coordinating student moves
from class to class throughout the day, supervising lunches, and serving as a
liaison between parents and instructors. Last summer, I again had an internship
with the 5th Avenue, but this time I doubled up. I worked both as a production
assistant for the 5th Avenues new works festival NextFest and in the casting
department. In casting my project was to schedule, organize, and run the first
round of casting for the von Trapp children for the 5 th Avenues winter production
of The Sound of Music. My efforts allowed the team to see over five hundred kids
in the span of three days.
Beyond my administrative experience, I have also recently served
productions as an assistant stage manager, assistant director, director, and stage
manager. In January I worked as assistant director for the Paul Downs Colaizzo
piece Really Really at ArtsWest. This experience was rewarding not only for the
wisdom I gained in directing, but also because it gave me the opportunity to
experience being on a professional production team. I most recently served as a
stage management intern/assistant stage manager for Village Theatre Everett
Kidstages summer stock production of Hairspray. It was my first stage
management experience with a cast bigger than twenty, with as many technical
elements as Hairspray had, and with Kidstage.
In the two years of college under my belt, as a theater student I have been
director, stage manager, AD, and ASM, for numerous productions. I value these

college experiences for the opportunity they have offer ed me to collaborate

closely with other theater makers my age who are just as passionate about the
craft as I am. There is something extremely special in that experience. It is why I
want be a production manager for a Summer Independent production. Although I
have never been a production manager, I believe that my skills acquired from my
various administrative theater positions and my experience being on production
teams, ranging from professional to collegiate, make me capable for the position.