SUMMER SPOTLIGHT: Production Stage Management in Rhode Island with Alex Tawid Di Maggio
Alex Tawid Di Maggio (BFA ’23, Stage and Production Management) is spending the summer in Providence, Rhode Island as the Production Stage Manager for La Mancha presented at Trinity Rep/Rhode Island Latino Arts. On July 23, she’ll be taking over our Instagram Stories to give us an inside look at a day in her stage management life!
Emerson Stage sat down with Alex to get to know a little bit more about who she is and what she’s working on this summer:
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Alex!
Hi! My name is Alex Tawid Di Maggio, and I’m a Senior BFA Stage and Production Management Major from South Florida. When I’m not working on a show, I love to cook for my friends and find the next best coffee shop in Boston!
Aside from being involved with Emerson Stage through my curricular assignments, I have several jobs within the PA department including being an office assistant for Emerson Stage and a Performing Arts Ambassador for Emerson Admissions! I am also heavily involved with student theatre, most notably as the Production Manager for RareWorks Theatre Company where I help put on incredible shows throughout the year!
Tell us about what you’re working on this summer!
This summer, I am the Production Stage Manager of La Mancha, a bilingual adaptation of the great epic Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, presented at Trinity Rep/Rhode Island Latino Arts in Providence! I’m excited to share this experience because this is my first time working on a bilingual production with an all BIPOC cast and production team and it’s also the first time I’m working on an outdoor show!
What has been an unexpected challenge in this role and how have you learned from it?
Thankfully this process has been super easy and exciting from the start so there haven’t been many obstacles, but one unexpected challenge I came across was finding a way to connect with a company of older actors that already knew each other and I had never met before. Thankfully though, through the power of Latine culture, we all quickly bonded over our shared experiences and became a super tight knit group!
What has been the best part of this experience so far?
By far the best part of this experience has been getting to meet all of the wonderful people that helped create this show, and discovering how important it’s been for me to be a part of theatre that celebrates my culture. I didn’t realize just how much of an impact getting to work on a show in my native tongue would have and it has definitely made me hungry for more shows like this!
What’s next for you? Where can we find you online to continue following your journey?
After our show closes, I will be returning to Boston for my final year at Emerson where I will be stage managing A New Devised Piece, directed by Lindsay Beamish, and hopefully getting to work on a few student theatre productions as well! You can find me on instagram @aletawid!
