Brendan O'Brien

Thesis Production Manager

About Brendan

Brendan J. O’Brien (he/him) is thrilled to join the staff at The School of the Arts as the Thesis Production Manager. He graduated from Wagner College on Staten Island, New York, with a B.A. in Theatre Design, Technology, and Management, and spent the first part of his career as a freelance AEA stage manager. Stage management highlights include approximately 20 tours and workshops with TheaterWorksUSA, eight seasons as the Production Stage Manager at the Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, New Hampshire, The Preacher and the Shrink Off-Broadway at Theatre Row, A Wilder Christmas Off-Broadway at Theatre at St. Clements, and the world premiere of Dog Man: The Musical Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, among many others. In 2019, Brendan transitioned away from the freelance life and joined the full-time staff at TheaterWorksUSA as the Assistant Company Manager. He has continued at TWUSA up until now in a variety of roles and capacities, most recently leading Production and Company Management from the post-pandemic return to touring in late 2021 through the present. Highlights include the acclaimed return of Dog Man: The Musical at New World Stages, the world premiere of Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and numerous national touring productions across the continental United States and much of Canada.  Brendan lives in Astoria, Queens and has been happily married to his husband, Xu, since March 2023.  Outside of the theater, Brendan is a big Disney fan (he actually got married at Walt Disney World) and an avid board gamer and Disney Lorcana trading card game player.

The Job

Brendan oversees and coordinates all aspects of the Directing Theses, Acting Theses, and New Plays Festival, including budgeting; physical production build, load-in and strike; and labour. In this capacity, Brendan collaborates very closely with students, especially Directors, Producers, Stage Managers, and Playwrights to guide them through the process of realizing their vision for their thesis productions within the Columbia Theatre Program framework.