MELISSA L.F. TURNER is the Head of Stage Management Program at The University of Iowa after formerly being the Production Stage Manager for IOWA’s Department of Theatre Arts for 10 years. She enjoys working on the development of new works while educating the next generation of theatre artists. This fall she was the SM for IOWA’s production of Marie Antoinette by IOWA Alumni David Adjmi. During the Summer she is the Stage Manager for Riverside’s Shakespeare in the Park (IA): Productions include Romeo & Juliet (2025), Julius Caesar (2024), Twelfth Night (2023), Henry V (2022), Henry IV Part I (2019) and Much Ado About Nothing (2018). She was Riverside’s SM for Fefu and Her Friends (2023). Melissa has been a stage manager at: Iowa Summer Rep, St. Michael’s Playhouse (VT), The Studio Theatre (DC), Maryland Opera Studio, Lafayette Opera at The Kennedy Center, The Yale Rep, Boston Lyric Opera, Goodspeed Musicals, The Cleveland Play House and Shakespeare & Company. She holds an MFA in Stage Management from the Yale School of Drama. Previously she was the Stage Management professor at Oklahoma City University. She is a proud union member of Actors’ Equity Association and the American Guild of Musical Artists.