Stage Manager

 

Key Responsibilities

The stage manager works side by side with the director recording the director’s decisions about blocking and notes for the actors, keeping track of logistical and scheduling details and communicating what goes on in rehearsals to the rest of the team. This enables the director to concentrate his or her full attention on directing. The stage manager manages the production during performances.

Supporting Activities

The Stage Manager

• Coordinates the work of the stage crew.

• In conjunction with the director, determines the scheduling of all rehearsals.

• Makes sure rehearsal props and furnishings are available for the actors.

• Records all blocking, plus all the light, sound and set change cues in a master copy of the script called the prompt book.

• Prompts the actors during rehearsals.

• Runs the technical rehearsals, calling each technical cue in turn to determine precisely how it needs to be timed to coordinate with the onstage action.

• The stage manager (possibly with a technical director) works out a smooth and efficient plan for the stage crew to follow during set changes.

• Once the show opens, the director’s work is essentially complete. Now it’s the stage manager’s job to make sure that every aspect of the production runs just as the director intended.