production team

In her seventh season as Production Stage Manager, Whitney is proud to once again to lead this excellent team of stage managers, assistant stage managers and assistant directors at LA Opera. Beyond her administrative duties, Whitney also stage manages shows for LA Opera, including West Side Story, La Bohème, Akhnaten and Falstaff throughout the 2025/26 season. During her 14-year tenure at LA Opera, she has worked on over 40 productions, including Ainadamar, Eurydice, Candide, Omar, The Ghosts of Versailles, Aida and El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego.  

Whitney currently spends her summers stage managing at Santa Fe Opera (10 seasons). Other companies Whitney has worked with across her theater and opera career include Los Angeles Philharmonic (Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl), Cincinnati Opera (15 summer seasons), Milwaukee Repertory Theater (10 seasons), Washington National Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, Atlanta Opera, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, among others across her 26 years as a professional stage manager.
 
A proud graduate of Texas Tech University, Whitney and her husband Raymond are happy to call Los Angeles their home.

Andrea Beasom is an opera and theater director and choreographer whose work has been seen at Washington National Opera, the Kennedy Center, LA Opera, Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera, Detroit Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera San Antonio, the Glimmerglass Festival, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Bard Summerscape, Berkshire Opera Festival, National Sawdust, and Austin Opera. She is also the Head of Movement and Choreography for the renowned Fourth Wall Ensemble.

In addition to her work a director and choreographer, Andrea has performed professionally for over 15 years on with notable companies such as the Royal Opera House of Muscat, the Kennedy Center, Hawaii Opera Theater, New York City Center (Off-Broadway), LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Pasadena Playhouse, the Glimmerglass Festival and the Dallas Opera. She danced with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet Studio, Pasadena Dance Theater, and also in commercial/industrial productions for Sony, Puma, Moncler, and Microsoft, and in the film The One That I Want.

Andrea's passion for opera began early, inspired by her parents, who were founding members of the LA Opera Chorus and have performed in 160+ productions. Andrea has been featured in various roles with the company — child supernumerary, children's chorus singer, dancer, singer, assistant director and choreographer. She deeply believes in the power of live theater in inspiring children's imaginations, nurturing creativity, and fostering empathy by exposing them to diverse perspectives and cultures.

Andrea holds a B.M. in Voice from Mannes School of Music. A detailed list of her production credits can be found at AndreaBeasom.com.

Dani is excited to join the LA Opera for her first season with the company. In the 2025/26 season, she will be working on Akhnaten and Falstaff. Her past credits include the last five seasons at the Santa Fe Opera and the last four seasons at the Dallas Opera. When she is not traveling around the U.S. stage managing, she returns to St. Johns, Michigan, to spend time with her family. Dani is a graduate of Western Michigan University where she earned her BFA in Stage Management.

Kathryn is from Nova Scotia, Canada, and now lives in Orange County, California. She stage manages theater, opera and live events across the US and Canada. With more than 150 plays, musicals and operas to her credit, she enjoys working across the disciplines and the opportunities and challenges each one provides.

Kathryn has also worked as a Theatre Operations Manager, Red Carpet Manager or Show Caller at the Toronto International Film Festiva, Los Angeles Film Festival, AFI Fest, TCM Classic Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival and Red Sea International Film Festival.  

Barbara Donner has been a stage manager at LA Opera since 1990 and recently completed her 90th production for the company.

Highlights of her time with the company include Achim Freyer’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Phelim McDermott’s production of Satyagraha and Francesca Zambello’s production of Candide.

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Barbara moved into the world of professional opera, working with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Barbara has worked with the LA Philharmonic, stage managing their productions of Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Cosi fan tutte—all under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel—as well as Yuval Sharon’s productions of Young Caesar, Europeras, Das Lied von der Erde and Meredith Monk’s opera Atlas. She has also stage managed a highly acclaimed production of Bernstein’s On the Town with the San Francisco Symphony and 11 productions of the summer musicals at the Hollywood Bowl.

In 2019, Barbara was awarded the Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Art of Stage Management by the Stage Managers’ Association.

Arturo is a stage manager originally from South Florida, now based in Los Angeles, with a diverse background in opera, special events and video production. He has had the privilege of working with many talented artists at LA Opera since 2022.

Recent companies Arturo has worked with include the LA Philharmonic, Florentine Opera, Opera Saratoga, and Wolf Trap Opera in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra, among others. Career highlights include Kasper Holten's Don Giovanni and Simon Stone's Lucia di Lammermoor at LA Opera, the immersive production of On Gold Mountain produced by LA Opera in the Huntington’s Chinese Garden, and the world premiere of Ellen West produced by Opera Saratoga in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.

Arturo holds a BFA in Stage Management with a minor in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. You can see more of his work and current projects on his website: jrfernandezarturo.com.

From: Oswego, Illinois. LA Opera: He has been an assistant director for several seasons and numerous productions, including The Dwarf (2024), Romeo and Juliet (2024) and the upcoming Ainadamar (2025).

He has staged the Suzanne Andrade / Barrie Kosky production of The Magic Flute with companies including Seattle Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Israeli Opera.

A Chicago-based director, he has worked with Lyric Opera of Chicago as a member of the directing staff and an instructor with Lyric's Ryan Opera Center Young Artist Program. Mr. Friedman has worked previously with Wolf Trap Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Chicago Opera Theater and the Spoleto Festival USA, among others. He has also worked with companies including Steppenwolf Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville. He holds degrees in music and theatre from Indiana, DePaul and Butler Universities.

Samantha Greene is excited to return to LA Opera for the third time. Previous shows with the company include Lucia di Lammermoor and A Little Night Music (nearly 20 years apart). Other LA-area shows include Yuval Sharon's The Comet / Poppea at LA MOCA and Lileana Blain-Cruz's Iphigenia at The Broad Stage.

Samantha spent 10 years with New York City Opera, where she stage managed more than 30 productions. Other opera highlights include productions with San Francisco Opera, Austin Opera, Opera San Antonio, Michigan Opera Theater, Atlanta Opera, Park Avenue Armory, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Museum of Art, On Site Opera, Fort Worth Opera and Opera de Monte-Carlo.

Samantha made her Broadway debut at Lincoln Center Theater with Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. Other theater credits include productions with La Jolla Playhouse, the Old Globe, American Conservatory Theater, Kansas City Repertory Theater and McCarter Theater. 

Samantha is happily based in NYC (and is always grateful to have a reason to leave the city). She has done a show in a convention center in Wuzhen, China; a one-actor / one-audience member show inside a roadbox in Connecticut; and two shows simultaneously on the opposite sides of a turntable that never stops moving. She holds a BA in History from Cornell University.

The 2025/26 season marks Lisa's 25th season in the production department at LA Opera. She feels fortunate to have worked on nearly 100 productions with some of the best in the opera world while at the company, working as an assistant director, stage manager and assistant stage manager as well as having the opportunity to participate in opera outreach to Los Angeles communities through directing the annual live simulcast and over a decade of work with LA Opera Connects.

Dan Wallace Miller is delighted to be making his house debut at LA Opera for Akhnaten.

Last season, he directed Candide for South Florida Symphony Orchestra, a new production of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi for Portland State University, and returned to San Francisco Opera to assist on Idomeneo and the world premiere of The Monkey King. 

In recent seasons he directed Rigoletto for Opera San Jose, apprentice scenes for Santa Fe Opera, Pagliacci and a film version of Tosca for Seattle Opera, The Merry Widow for Portland State University, Susanna for Wolf Trap Opera and Romeo and Juliet, Dido and Aeneas and Two Remain for Central City Opera. Other credits include productions with Washington National Opera, Opera Colorado and the Atlanta Opera.

Frances Rabalais is an opera director known for her highly emotional and evocative stagings of both the traditional opera repertoire and new works. The 2025/26 season holds all debuts for this artist on the rise: Giulio Cesare for Texas State University as part of a teaching position, a new production of The Magic Flute for the University of Houston, Madama Butterfly for Fort Worth Opera, and The Magic Flute for LA Opera.

In early 2025 she directed a new production of María de Buenos Aires for Madison Opera, exploring femininity and the sacred. It was called "visually stunning" by Isthmus magazine. Other recent directing credits include a double bill of Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica for Opera Idaho, Tosca for Madison Opera and Macbeth for Resonance Works.

She has been an assistant director at Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Opera Colorado, among others. When not in a rehearsal room, Frances is sewing her own clothes on a 1947 sewing machine and enjoying hikes, especially those with waterfalls. 

Johanna Sophia Romo (she/her) is a stage and project manager based in Los Angeles County and Orange County. She made her LA Opera debut in the 2021/22 season on Francesca Zambello’s Aida, her first opera production ever.

Her work expands across entertainment fields such as theater, opera, company management and digital streaming shows. She has worked with South Coast Repertory, The Wayward Artist, Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theatre (REDCAT), Music Academy of the West, Center Theatre Group, Boston Lyric Opera, Disney+ and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.

Johanna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from California State University, Fullerton with an emphasis in Stage Management, and recently earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Drama, Stage Management at the University of California, Irvine.

Miranda Wilson is excited to be back for her fourth season with LA Opera! She hails from Fargo, North Dakota, but spends her time traveling around the U.S. to a variety of opera companies, working on their stage management teams.

In the 2025/26 season, in addition to her work at LA Opera, Miranda will be working at the Dallas Opera, having recently been named the new Production Stage Manager for the company.

For the last 20 seasons, she has also been the Head of Props Run Crew at the Santa Fe Opera, working on all the incredible productions and helping to train the next generation of stage managers and theater technicians in the apprentice program.