Setting the Stage: UM Graduate Going Places with Theatre Design

By Brad Lane, UM News Service

MISSOULA – Cue the lights, set the stage and take a look behind the scenes of Ronnie Avansino, a University of Montana senior about to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from UM’s College of the Arts and Media.

“The shining lights, gorgeous costumes and incredible scenery are built, and the actors get ready to perform as the curtain goes up – but someone has to put all the pieces into place,” said Avansino. “That is my area of expertise, my world, or ­– more specifically – my program at the University of Montana.”

Avansino, from Reno, Nevada, specializes in stage management with a secondary concentration in scenery and props. But when they first arrived at UM with a Western Undergraduate Exchange scholarship, it was the front of the stage that piqued their interest, performing for audiences as they’d been doing since 6 years old, first appearing on the stage in a duck costume for a small theater production of “Hop.”

At age 14, Avansino spent six weeks living in Turner Hall on UM’s campus during a performing arts camp with the Missoula Children’s Theatre. They enjoyed that experience so much that, four years later when they graduated from high school, UM remained on their radar when it came time to apply to colleges. Ultimately, the College of the Arts and Media, along with the Davidson Honors College, convinced Avansino to commit to UM.

“I was looking into all the schools, and I found the Davidson Honors College and their Presidential Leadership Scholarship,” Avansino said. “I applied to 10 schools throughout the West, and because of the DHC, I chose the University of Montana.”

It took less than a month into Avansino’s first semester at UM to discover a passion for stagecraft and behind-the-scenes theater work. Tutelage from faculty members like Professor of Theatre Michael Monsos and required stagecraft classes – not to mention a chronic vocal injury – made the transition from front-of-stage to backstage feel natural.

“Getting here and finding myself more drawn to the technical classes, I was like, ‘I think I’m going to lean into this,’” Avansino said. “And so, three weeks in, I switched over to the tech side, and I never looked back.”    

Life behind the scenes at the School of Theatre and Dance for Avansino has been a nonstop, hands-on experience with hundreds of hours of job training. They have been active in 16 UM productions and, alongside the stage manager, have served as dramaturg, prop person, wig stylist, set designer, lighting technician, board operator and stagehand.

A highlight of Avansino’s academic journey came from their experience as stage manager for “Anything Goes” in the fall of 2025. The classic Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, was a major production, featuring 22 student performers, 16 student musicians and over 50 technicians.

As stage manager for “Anything Goes,” Avansino kept everything and everyone organized, was the first person to show up and the last to leave rehearsals, called the cues for sound and lighting, and kept the literal ship afloat. (Much of the musical is set aboard a ship.)

“The phrasing that’s used the most in theater is that when a show opens, the director passes the show to the stage manager,” Avansino said. “It’s the stage manager’s job to uphold the integrity of the show, the story of the show, and keep with how the director originally built it.”

Avansino’s role as stage manager for “Anything Goes” fulfilled part of their degree requirements for a senior project, and they wrote a capstone project based on the experience, centered on the art philosophy of stage management. This includes how stage managers are the enforcers of habit in a theatrical production, yet they must still bring artistry into the room.

“The artistry for stage managers is creating an environment of collaboration and creating a space where everyone feels creatively courageous to do what they want to express,” Avansino said. “They create the safety net. The art of working with people and understanding people and protecting people is the art of stage managers.”

Avansino’s penchant for stage management and working with people has not gone unnoticed by faculty in the School of Theatre and Dance. Assistant Professor of Theatre Jordan Draper has seen Avansino excel throughout their time at UM, honing specific attributes that anyone interested in stagecraft must master.

“Ronnie is a natural leader and teacher, which makes them a great fit for stage management,” Draper said. “It’s a job that requires one to take the lead of a room full of big personalities, keep rehearsals on track and manage the schedules of dozens of people and shops continuously.”

Additionally, by earning a Dance Wellness Certificate, Avansino has worked closely with Professor of Dance Heidi Eggert. When speaking about Avansino’s hands-on experience throughout their program, Eggert was quick to echo Avansino’s exemplary attitude.

“No one can replicate Ronnie’s experience in our school. Ronnie is one of the hardest working, ambitious, curious, well-read, people-loving, truth-seeking, humble and generous people I’ve ever met,” said Eggert. “Having said that, the hands-on learning that is exemplified in our School and the College of the Arts and Media is top-notch. This is how real learning happens. This is how experiences saturate themselves into one’s soul and inspire community, art-making and invention.”

Avansino is going on to big things after graduation, and quickly. Just two days after receiving their diploma, Avansino is set to work as the assistant director for “The Merchant of Venice” and the assistant stage manager of “Much Ado About Nothing” for Bozeman-based Montana Shakespeare in the Parks.  

Beyond their summer Shakespeare experience, Avansino is eyeing opportunities on the East Coast, including Boston and New York, where they have made valuable connections while at UM. As Avansino prepares to step into these new roles following graduation, they’re happy to look back and offer advice for anyone just beginning their own educational journey.

“I would tell myself to just really trust the journey,” Avansino said. “There were so many times when I felt that I needed to plan out every exact moment of what I was going to experience in my time here. And so many of my favorite things that happened were unexpected, like connections or friendships. I would say to just enjoy the journey of it and trust in the process.”  

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Contact: Dave Kuntz, UM director of strategic communications, 406-243-5659, dave.kuntz@umontana.edu.