Carnegie Mellon School of Drama

For the past two weeks, artists from across the country and right here in Pittsburgh have been in residence at the School of Drama, workshopping new productions as part of ColLABo - a production development incubator housed under the Center for New Work that brings theater makers from multiple disciplines together to wrestle with production-related challenges on a project they intend to have produced.

This year’s projects were:

“Happy Birthday Supervisor Robot” (photos 1-4)
NYC-based artists Joshua Gelb (CMU alum), Shoshanah Tarkow, and Andrés Poch worked with CMU students Ryan Yu, Jo Adereth, Truman Zephyr, and alumnus Isaac Jo on media, scenic, and sound design aspects of their theatrical investigation into robots, automation, and labor. They also spent their time at CMU interviewing roboticists from the CMU Robotics Institute, NREC, and Entertainment Technology Center.

“Space Dogs” (photos 5-7)
Pittsburgh-based artists José Perez, Rianne Lindsey, and Shannon Knapp, with support from CMU alumna Abby Bi and a host of local performers and combatants, used their time at ColLABo to begin creating multi-media and soundscape for their live-action, sci-fi, spaceship dogfight.

“The Carlisle Project” (photos 8-10)
With support from Octopus Theatricals LLC, ColLABo served as the first full, in-person gathering of the design team for this multidisciplinary musical song cycle and healing ritual that unravels the complicated legacy and trauma of Indian boarding schools and explores what it means to be Native American now. Led by director Madeline Sayet and writers Ronee Penoi and Annalisa Dias, with support from CMU student Ella Johns, movement faculty Lucas Fedele, and a group of local actors, the team worked on developing the movement vocabulary and storytelling mechanisms through sound and media design.

[Photos 1-7 by Louis Stein]

From screen to stage, Jules Fisher has been crafting magic through light for six decades. 🪄

The renowned lighting designer graduated from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 1960, and has gone on to earn more than 20 Tony nominations and nine Tony Awards for his work in lighting design – a record in the category. On Sunday, Fisher will be honored with a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Tony Awards.

"The best school for undergraduates who want to study theatre and make a place for themselves in the real world," Fisher said of CMU.

As we begin our countdown to the Tony Awards, we celebrate our alumni who are shining on stage and off this Broadway season!

Say hello to a few of them in this video, and see a full list at:
https://drama.cmu.edu/news/tartans-on-broadways-25-26-season/

Check Out Some of the Tartans on Broadway! As we begin our countdown to The Tony Awards, say hello to just a f...

Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and The Drama League have joined forces to create the Directors Retreat, a week-long residency for directing fellows. The inaugural retreat will be held on CMU's campus next month.

Read more: https://playbill.com/article/carnegie-mellon-school-of-drama-and-drama-league-create-directors-retreat-at-cmu

Attn: NYC Industry and Alumni! Meet our 2026 graduates in Design, Directing, Dramatic Writing, Dramaturgy, and Production Technology & Management this Friday, May 22 from 5-9PM at Midtown Loft & Terrace.

Open house; light fare and drinks served.

RSVP: https://drama.cmu.edu/showcase-expo/creators-expo/

Photos: Producers Jamie deRoy Receives Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree at Carnegie Mellon Last week, 1967 alumna and 15-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Jamie deRoy received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Check out photos here!

Everyone join us in a big round of applause for our 2026 Excellence in Theatre Education Award Recipient, Freddie Hendricks, a middle school theatre teacher at Utopian Academy for the Arts in Ellenwood, Ga! 👏