Ross Jackson Names Artistic Producer for the Geffen Playhouse

By Lauren Knight

UCI Alumni Ross Jackson will assume the position of Artistic Producer for the Geffen Playhouse, a prominent nonprofit theater company in Los Angeles.

Jackson, a UCI Drama M.F.A. ’15, found his way to Broadway three days after graduation with an internship at Wicked. He has since become a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and traveled the U.S., working at some of the country’s top theater organizations. After settling in Los Angeles, Jackson began his work at Geffen Playhouse in August 2017.

After three years in stage management with the company, Jackson will now contribute to performance season selection and oversee the production of several shows as the Geffen’s Artistic Producer. Amid the pandemic, the Geffen Playhouse transitioned to digital performances, and with that in mind, Jackson aims to engage audiences in a new way.

“As artistic leadership, what our goal has to be in terms of the foresight of digital theater is generating opportunities to not just create engagement through sitting back and watching entertainment,” Jackson says. “It also has to be finding ways to engage people through an area of participation.”

Born and raised in New Orleans, Jackson completed his bachelor’s degree in theater arts at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2012 before starting UCI’s three-year master’s program in drama. Studying stage management under the Department of Drama chair Don Hill and Professor Joel Veenstra, Jackson’s experiences in the drama program allowed him to explore different realms of theater management and establish relationships with faculty still working in the field.

“The moment that I got the job offer, Don was the first person that I called,” Jackson says. “I had never negotiated a full-time salary, so when I called him, it was a combination thing of ‘I want you to know what just happened but also, help.’”

As Jackson’s new position is now underway, he’s excited to continue to support communities and cultures that have already been developed and foster a welcoming environment for every person who walks through the Geffen’s doors.

“As an artistic leader and Black male in that position, it is incredibly important to me and important within the theatrical community that this is reflected, and should be reflected by other theaters as well.”

Image: Ross Jackson, M.F.A. ’15, in class for Stage Management 254 at UCI in 2015. Photo: Skye Schmidt