A BYU alumna produces powerful theater to uplift multigenerational audiences.
As the lights went down over the audience for the musical Spells of the Sea, coproducer Megan Ann Scott Rasmussen (MA ’01) wasn’t just focused on the actors on stage—her attention was also drawn to the family sitting in front of her. When the show introduced a difficult theme, she watched the parents exchange glances, as if silently asking, “Will this be okay for the kids?” But as the show unfolded, those difficult themes were resolved and hope was restored. When the actors took their final bows, Rasmussen saw the family filled with delight. “Those same parents were squeezing their kids closer in this big family group hug, like they had just come through a process together,” says Rasmussen. “I love that about theater. I love that it can give you this uniting experience.”
As a commercial Broadway producer, Rasmussen is responsible for raising money from investors to make Broadway shows happen. She also helps with other creative and financial decisions that take a show from idea to reality. She focuses on shows suitable for all ages. “I believe that theater is best experienced with a young person on one side and a grandparent on the other,” she says. “That intergenerational experience builds families, builds community, builds our society, and uplifts and strengthens that family unit.”
Rasmussen’s commitment to creating family-friendly productions has given her something of a reputation in the theater world. “My colleagues call me the PG producer,” she says with a laugh.
Theater and its magic have been a constant in Rasmussen’s life. “No matter what I’ve done, including raising four kids, it’s always been theater,” she explains. As the oldest of eight children, she surprised her family with her early flair for drama. Rasmussen later received a BFA in acting from Emerson College before pursuing a master’s in theatre and media arts at BYU. Rasmussen has worked in theater at BYU, Utah Valley University, and Utah State University and held ward and stake callings involving dramatic arts.
The pull of theater led her and her family to relocate to the New York metro area, where she could produce family-friendly musicals on Broadway.
Rasmussen sees theater as a path to learning and family unity. “Theater is conflict. Theater is tension. Theater is drama,” she explains. “And that’s a great metaphor for why we are on this earth and what the plan of happiness and the plan of salvation is and
why there has to be opposition in all things.” She believes theater offers audiences the chance to learn how to deal with loss, difficult family relationships, and more. Rasmussen works diligently to create spaces where that learning is accessible to every audience.
Theater doesn’t just connect the audience, she notes, but everyone involved. “Theater is a very inclusive environment,” she says. “If you don’t want to be the one singing, then design the costumes or the sets or paint or run the film crew or run backstage or help with hair and makeup. There’s just a place for everyone, and it is like a team, like a family.”
Rasmussen is committed to making a space for family entertainment because of its value. “An audience can sit and watch something on the stage and feel like they have been on the journey,” she says. “That’s where it’s edifying. That’s where it’s uplifting.”
