Tanase Popa was honored with an award for stage management at the 2006 U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) conference, held in Louisville, Ky., March 29-April 1, 2006. The award was presented to Popa during the final year of his undergraduate education at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Nine awards are given out annually as part of the Young Designer and Technicians Awards at the USITT national convention to honor and encourage young designers and technicians at the start of their careers. The award for stage management is given to a young stage manager who has demonstrated outstanding potential and excellence in the area of stage management while pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree.

Popa learned of the award when he became involved with the USITT chapter at NCSA during his freshman year.

“I immediately yearned to achieve it before I graduated,” he said. “The recipients of the award are singled out from many applicants across the United States and the award is truly a national achievement.

“I was proud to be the recipient of the 2006 Stage Management Award because it recognized all of the hard work that I put forth in my education and acknowledged my potential as a future leader in the theatrical industry,” Popa added. “The award also validated that NCSA was the best school for me to attend, because it enabled me to learn my craft under the tutelage of John Toia.” 

Popa was nominated for the Stage Management Award by Pamela Knourek, costume shop director and Design and Production faculty member. “Tanase is one of those talents who is hungry to be the best he can be,” Knourek said. “He takes every opportunity, whether it is event planning or facilitating an evening for a fund-raiser, to call upon his people management skills and come out stronger in the end.”

While a student in the NCSA School of Design and Production, Popa stage managed and production stage managed numerous productions in opera, theatre and dance.

Prior to his graduation in 2006, Popa was hired as an intern for the Richard Frankel Productions office on Broadway’s “Sweeney Todd.” Half way into his internship, he was hired as a company management assistant on Broadway’s “ Company.” Before “Company” officially opened, he was asked to be the general manager’s assistant.