Lia Jennings is a proud alumna of ORU who brings years of professional theatrical stage work into the classroom. After graduation, Lia enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama where she spent three years honing her craft and working myriad varieties of stage shows that helped her earn an MFA in Stage and Production Management.
Traveling has always been a goal of hers so after grad school, she set sail with Norwegian Cruise Line as an Install Production Manager and worked with their creatives teams to rehearse and install new casts onto cruise ships that sailed to the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal. During hiatus from the ship, Lia explored the state of Vermont working with Weston Playhouse as their Production Manager where she took her skills learned from ORU and CMU to help produce a fantastic summer season.
Communities and fellowship are so important and through a friendship made in Vermont, Lia took her next step in the professional world as a Stage Manager for the Broadway show, Jersey Boys’, second national tour. On the road with the cast and crew, they toured the U.S. bringing the show into people's hometowns. She worked hard with 30+ people every day, traveling, living, and breathing the theatre industry.
Lia hails from quite a few places but calls Hawaii home and in 2020 spent time home with family regrouping and assessing life during the pandemic. She rejoined Jersey Boys when theatre resumed and felt compelled to finish that season before moving on to a new one at ORU. Lia has always longed to get back into the classroom. When God opened the door to return to ORU, she readily returned to her first professional love with theatre and stage management. She is excited to bring her knowledge of the theatrical world and her passion for stagecraft to ORU students, igniting a new generation to step out and impact the world.