From Center Stage to Setting the Stage

Annie Swift '26 and a colleague were examining the floor of a kitchen set they had helped bring to life. Their question: Which way should the trail of simulated blood smear?

Guests entering the room needed to immediately understand the story, Swift reasoned.

UCF's newest Pegasus Partner, Universal Destinations & Experiences, recently joined UCF to launch a first-of-its-kind school for future themed entertainment leaders.

For Swift, a set dresser at Universal Orlando Resort, the answer was more than where to place a prop. As part of a team developing a Halloween Horror Nights house, she helped shape the story guests would experience the moment they entered. Every staged bloodstain, overturned object and carefully placed detail served a purpose, even to visitors who rushed through the room with their eyes squeezed shut.

"You might sit there and pretend to be the person and think, 'How would that look here? How would that inform the space?'" Swift says.

For the recent UCF theatre graduate, questions like that are part of her dream job.

Finding Her Place Behind the Curtain

Born and raised in Orlando, Swift grew up drawing, painting, singing and sewing. She once imagined a future in interior design, and she loved performing. But backstage at Boone High School, she discovered a place where all her talents could truly thrive. Stage production combined artistic expression, teamwork, problem-solving, and endless opportunities to keep learning. It was the first glimpse of a career where creativity could shape experiences and bring stories to life.

"I've always been a creative person who really liked learning different methods of creation," she says. "I never really stuck to one medium."

Theatre gave those interests a home. It also gave Swift the confidence to build a career around them.

UCF's College of Arts and Humanities offered what she couldn't find elsewhere: a robust undergraduate theatre design and technology track.

"UCF was truly the only place where design and technology took importance in the space of theatre," Swift says.

An Education Built Around Doing

At UCF, Swift learned industry-standard techniques and applied them through eight UCF Theatre production assignments. She served as a light board operator, props manager, audio technician, scenic paint charge and associate projections designer. Each role helped her understand how the parts of a production come together.

Annie Swift '26 brought the scenic designer's vision to life for Sweeney Todd at UCF Celebrates the Arts 2024, developing paint treatments and leading students in transforming the set.

For Sweeney Todd at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Swift translated the scenic designer's vision into paint treatments and led students in applying them. For Legally Blonde, she helped use projection mapping to transform scenic pieces with changing colors, textures and video.

"You're not just learning the theory. You're doing it as well," she says. "That's where I feel I learned the most."

Swift believes theatre education is often misunderstood as training for performers. Behind every production are people who design, build, budget, research, troubleshoot and communicate under tight deadlines. Those skills can carry graduates into film, television, theme parks and other fields.

"If you know theatre, then you understand that those people can do anything," Swift says.

Creating the Scare

Swift joined Universal during her sophomore year. This year, she was selected for the team that helps create immersive environments for Halloween Horror Nights houses.

That work includes creating the elements that make every room horrifyingly convincing. Swift and her team also secure the props so they stay in place as guests move through the house.

She enjoys walking through the houses among the guests and watching them react. Whether she's choosing furniture or making a new prop look worn, she draws on what she learned at UCF: The smallest detail can tell a larger story.

Swift once walked through Halloween Horror Nights wondering how its frightening worlds were made. She came to UCF to learn how to build them. Now, she brings them to life - down to the clues on the kitchen floor.

As UCF works to fuel discovery and innovation, alumni like Annie Swift '26 show what Knights can create when they carry their curiosity, ingenuity and determination into the world. Join Go For Launch, UCF's next mission, and help build a future the world has only begun to imagine.

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