From Bunce Hall to the Kimmel Center: How alumni, Stephanie Filippo, found success in her Rowan career.

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Making the most out of your Rowan career is half the battle. This past week I had the honor to sit down with class of 2017 Rowan alumni, Stephanie Filippo. Stephanie was a Theatre major with a concentration in Theatrical Design. While in her time at Rowan, Stephanie made the most of her college career by making relationships with both professors and students alike to have every advantage in her major. Stephanie continues to use these experiences and skill from Rowan everyday in her professional career. Having attended Rowan, Stephanie is able to share insight and advice to new students on finding success in their Rowan career.

How did you end up at Rowan University?

I ended up at Rowan because I wanted to go to a commuter school and Rowan was the closest to my house. I went to a community college for two years then commuted to Rowan for two.

So you commuted to Rowan. What were some of the challenges with being a commuter?

I was a theatre major meaning I would do a lot of shows. So a lot of times I would find we had late rehearsals and early morning classes. I felt some of the challenges were those late nights and early morning classes where I had to drive home and then back to Rowan.

What is one thing that you learned at Rowan that helps you in your life today?

So, I went to school for technical design. So, I studied mostly stage management in that realm. Once I graduated, I started working for a comedian as a stage manager. Our company name is One Funny Mother so we have a one woman show all about going crazy after having kids and a one woman show about motherhood. So, I stage managed that show. We toured the country and load into different theaters around the country and I stage managed the show.

For those that don’t know. Can you explain to us what exactly a stage manager is?

Stage manager – that’s a good question – so a stage manager is in charge of making sure everyone and their blocking is going according to plan. They also making sure that everyone is where they need to be and all of that. And then when they get to the show, they make sure they call the show. This means they call the lights, they call the sound cues, they make sure set pieces go out when they need to go out, and scene changes happen when they are supposed to happen. It is basically their show when they get into tech week. They communicate with director, the actors, the designers; they’re sort of the go to person.

What is your favorite thing about your job with One Funny Mother?

I love traveling! So that is one perk about the job. Going to different cities. where I probably would have never gone to without having this job. Like San Antonio, La Mirada, California, West Palm Beach, Florida. So, there has been a lot of places where I have gone that I have never been to. So, experiencing those but being able to visit there. But also, going to different theaters and working with other technical artists and theatre artist. And loading into different theaters and working with other technicians.

Tell us about the most memorable show in your career!

Our most accomplished theatre or one that I enjoyed the most. Just this past fall we were actually at the Kimmel Center. So, we performed there. So that was kind of like a big deal to be like ‘Oh we’re at the Kimmel Center!’

What organizations were you involved with at Rowan?

At Rowan I did a lot of their lab theater. So the school puts on a lot of mainstage shows that a lot of professors and outside theatre artist come in and direct. But there is also lab theatre which is a student run group. So, I stage managed a lot of those shows and did props for a lot of those shows. That was like a student-based group, so I learned a lot while getting to work with my friends.

What do you think makes Rowan unique compared to other schools?

What I found unique about Rowan and a reason I went there is because their theatre program is a BA program. A lot of school when you’re in a theatre program you have to take those specific classes. But with Rowan’s you can take classes outside of your track. Theatre was the major but technical design was my track. But then like musical theatre is a track and directing’s a track. So even though I was on the theatrical design track, I was able to take just as many dance classes and musical theatre classes as I did tech design classes. So, I was able to kind of get a little bit of everything while I was there.

What was one of the most useful classes, inside or outside your major, that you took at Rowan?

One of my favorite classes was History of Musical Theatre, which is where you go through all the decades and classics of musical theatre. I also really enjoyed my dance improvisation class, that was really fun. And scenic painting that was one I ended up really liking. I was more of stage manager than the artistic side, but scenic painting was a lot of fun because it was more of like backdrops and then full views than like individual views.

Where is the best place to get work done?

I used to do my work in Bunce 131 and in the draft room. There was this one room where we would do our CAD classes, or we would do any of our drafting classes. And there is just a couple desk in there, but there’s not that many classes in there. So, I would always go in there and just like always go in there and do my work. I don’t know why I would always go in there! There used to be a computer lab also in Bunce, but it’s not there anymore. I used to always go in there because nobody was in there. But now it’s I think – I don’t know what kind of room it is now. It used to be a go to but it’s not there anymore.

What is one event that you think every Rowan student needs to go to or check out?

I would say that each student should attend at least one mainstage show. A lot of classes are required to attend a show, but some classes aren’t at all. And a lot of students don’t know about the shows. So, I think it’s important for them to go see a show. A lot of times they actually do shows that people know! Like there is either a Shakespeare show that you know or a popular musical. So, I think it is important for people to see at least one piece of theatre while you are there.

What is one thing you wish you knew before your first day at Rowan?

I guess I wish I would have taken more of a tour of exactly where all my classes would have been before I started on my first day. So I would have felt more prepared and know exactly where I was going instead of being anxious about where I was going. It would have been a lot more helpful to know where everything was beforehand.

Listen to Stephanie talk more about knowing your way around Rowan and one of the biggest mistakes she saw students make on campus:

What was the most useful resource that Rowan had to offer?

I would say a lot of my professors were very helpful and even now as an alumni – there is a theatre alumni page on our theatre page – and our professors post on their about job postings and other events that are happening of things that we can go to. So they still reach out to us and things like that. Even when we were there they were giving us opportunities. Even now they are still reaching out to friends and offering jobs to people. So a lot of it comes from professors I would say.