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Director and educator Rachel Stevens joins CCM's faculty

Stevens will serve as CCM’s Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting in Musical Theatre

headshot of Curt Whitacre By Curt Whitacre 513-556-2683
4 minute read July 14, 2023

UC College-Conservatory of Music Interim Dean Jonathan Kregor has announced the addition of Rachel M. Stevens to the college’s roster of distinguished performing and media arts faculty members. Stevens begins her new role as CCM’s Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting in Musical Theatre on Aug. 15, 2023.

A portrait of CCM visiting faculty member Rachel M. Stevens. Photo/Andy Nordin

Visiting CCM faculty member Rachel M. Stevens. Photo/Andy Nordin

A director, developer, educator and acting coach originally from Philadelphia, Stevens has called New York City home for more than a decade. She was assistant director on the Broadway run of the Tony Award-winning musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Her Off-Broadway credits include Smart Blonde (associate director, 59E59) and Preludes (assistant director, Lincoln Center Theater, LCT3), and her New York directing and devising credits include work with The Civilians' R&D Group, SheNYC Festival, NYMF, Theatre Now, TheaterWorksUSA and New York Film Academy.

Her regional credits include a production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at American Repertory Theatre directed by Rachel Chavkin and The Bandstand at Paper Mill Playhouse directed by Andy Blankenbuehler, along with productions at Quantum Theatre, City Theatre Company and Front Porch Theatricals.

Stevens has also directed and taught at Point Park University’s Pittsburgh Playhouse, Oakland University. and Concordia College. Her teaching artist and guest lecturer experience includes work at University of the Arts, The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, Point Park University, Musical Theater College Auditions (MTCA), The Broadway Jr. Program, Upper Darby Summer Stage, Imagination Stage, Young Playwrights and ArtStream Access Theater.

A photograph of Rachel Stevens on stage with student performers; they are participating in a talkback session on "The Wolves" at Pittsburgh Playhouse. Photo/provided

Rachel Stevens is joined on stage by student performers for a talkback session on "The Wolves" at Pittsburgh Playhouse. Photo/John Altdorfer

Most recently, Stevens served on the musical theater faculty at Oakland University (Rochester, MI). In her role as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre, she directed mainstage, children’s theatre and the New Student Showcase. Stevens also served as faculty advisor for Oakland University’s inaugural Kaleidoscope Cabaret—featuring students of the global majority, she led as Chair of the DEI Committee for the School of Music, Theatre and Dance—and she spearheaded the direction for that university’s first ever sensory-friendly relaxed performance.

Stevens holds her BFA in Musical Theatre from Point Park University, her MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and is a proud SDC associate.

Her artistry stems from her commitment to the Hebrew adage of "Tikkun Olam," or "to repair the world." Her guiding purpose as a director, educator and mentor is to cultivate brave spaces where artists can unabashedly create from their authentic selves, collaborate from a place of trust and lead with compassion.

"To educate and inspire the whole artist and scholar for positions on the world stage requires exceptional, experienced pedagogues," said Kregor. "Rachel Stevens brings this exact kind of well-roundedness to her new role with CCM Musical Theatre. I would like to thank CCM faculty members Rebecca Bromels, Vincent DeGeorge, Diane Lala and Keyona Willis for their help in bringing Rachel to CCM for this visiting appointment."

Learn more about CCM Musical Theatre

Next Lives Here

At the University of Cincinnati, we realize the impact our teaching, research, artistry and service can have on our community and the world. So, we don’t wait for change to happen. We break boundaries, boldly imagine and create what’s Next. To us, today’s possibilities spark tomorrow’s reality. That’s why we are leading urban public universities into a new era of innovation and impact, and that's how we are defining Next for the performing and media arts.

We're about engaging people and ideas - and transforming the world.

We are UC. Welcome to what's Next.

Featured image at top: Rachel Stevens performs in A New Brain at Oakland University. Photo/Chuck Cloud

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