Stage Directions: Tayneshia Jefferson, a professor of stage management at Carnegie Mellon and USITT board member, died on July 31, 2013 after a brief and sudden illness while visiting family in Houston. She was 41 years old. Her family will be holding services in her hometown of Houston, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 10 at St. Monica Catholic Church. Throughout her career Tayneshia served on the artistic and management staffs of Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre (UFOMT), Austin Lyric Opera, Zachary Scott Theatre Center and ProArts Collective, the Alliance Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Houston Ebony Opera Guild, The Kennedy Center and more. For USITT she served as a mentor for the Stage Management Mentoring Project and Vice-Commissioner for Stage Management as well as the Chair of the People of Color Caucus. Her sudden death left her friends, colleagues and students in shock. When reached for comment David Grindle, executive director of USITT, wrote: “Tayneshia was an inspiring person who made an impact on our industry and the people in it. As a stage manager and production manager she remained a harbor of calm in many a stormy sea. As an educator she inspired a generation of young people to be better than many of them knew they were capable of being, both as professionals and as people. USITT has lost a vibrant member, board member, and leader. However, our organization is better for her many years of involvement and we are pleased to say she was one of us. Our deepest sympathy goes to her family and to all those in her extended theatre family that were touched by her life.”
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