Unsung Heroes:

Abby Truett, Stage Manager

In this month’s Unsung Heroes spotlight - where we recognize those who make magic happen from behind the curtain - we honor Abby Truett, one of our stage managers for the 2025–2026 season. This season, Abby stage managed Admissions and Ruthless! The Musical, which you can still see through May 17. Abby’s passion for theatre and spreadsheets combine to provide leadership and structure to every production she touches.

Her love of theatre began in elementary school, but her true passion for stage management didn’t start until much later. She started her career in her home state of North Carolina, earning a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2019. Since then, she has worked in community, professional, and academic theatre spaces and loves bringing a sense of calm to the chaos of theatre.

Ruthless! The Musical has been an exciting experience, especially when tornado alarms went off on opening night! The show had to be stopped to evaluate the safety of everyone in the space, and to stop the myriad of alarms going off on people’s phones. Abby deftly handled the incident, informing the audience that the theatre was the safest place to be (thanks to it being one of the tornado shelters inside the building!) and getting the show started up again. Her leadership and quick actions reassured the audience of their safety and allowed them to enjoy the rest of the show. As one audience member shared, “Very interesting when the tornado warning interfered, but your staff handled it extremely well.” Another noted, “They had a special appearance by the tornado emergency alerts going off on everyone’s phones. Kudos to Stage Manager Abby for keeping everyone calm and keeping the show going.”

When you don’t know that the stage manager exists, they have done their job exceptionally well! Abby hopes that when you come to see shows at Citadel in the future you are able to escape into the world of the show and forget she exists. If she leaves a lasting impression, you probably got to experience a very exciting night at the theatre.

Abby began working with Citadel in 2024 with Baby. Since then, she has worked on multiple shows such as The Cottage, Dames at Sea, I and You, and Admissions. Other credits include Hansel and Gretel, Alcina, Magic Flute, and In a Grove (Northwestern University), Spring Fling (Stage Left Theatre), and Grease (Metropolis), A Fox on the Fairway (Florida Repertory Theatre), Gypsy, The Full Monty, 9 to 5, and Mamma Mia (McLeod Summer Playhouse). She plans to be back at Citadel for the 2026-27 season. Before that, you can catch her at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre this summer stage managing The Wizard of Oz.