Molly Goodwin '02

How She Found Her Major

“I started my life at Luther as a music ed major. However, I took a Making Theatre course during my first J-Term and immediately knew I’d found where I truly belong,” Molly says. “I credit my professors with seeing some inherent stage management characteristics in me, asking me to stage manage the production, Lysistrata, and directing me to further explore the field. Changing my major was one of the wisest life choices I've made to date.” Molly went on to stage manage everything she could at Luther from plays to musicals, dance performances, and operas.

Life on the Road

Molly has been working for about five years at Troika Entertainment, a company that produces plays and musicals on tour. As a stage manager, Molly is in charge of making sure each performance is superb, regardless of how long they’ve been touring, the town they’re in, or how small the stage is.

This means living and sleeping on a tour bus, getting up at 8 a.m. to load the stage in the morning, checking in with the performers, overseeing the show, and then loading up the bus at the end of the night to drive to the next town. Working with Troika has enabled Molly to build a strong resume. She is currently stage managing the national tour of The Wizard of Oz, for which she was featured in the Des Moines Register.

A Reflection on the Luther Education

Molly is incredibly grateful to have experienced Luther’s liberal arts education. “The interdisciplinary theatre department afforded me amazing cross-training in the many departments and facets of theatre production,” she says. “I was also a music minor, and I sang in Aurora, Cathedral, and Collegiate. My relationship with the music department allowed me to solidify a bridge between my music training and my theatre training. I like to credit my flexibility, adaptability, and knowledge of multiple vernaculars to the training I received at Luther.”

An Appreciation for the Liberal Arts

Enjoy the liberal arts education! Be a sponge. Dip your fingers in everything. Explore as many fields as you can. The more you put in your brain and the more you experience, the more you have to draw on during your career (and in life!).

-Molly Goodwin '02