Stage managers work behind the scenes with a team to make sure live productions happen without a hitch, like theater performances and musical concerts.

What Does a Stage Manager Do?

A stage manager coordinates the logistics of performances, communicating with the artists and the director to make sure the audio, lighting, and visibility needs are met.

Here are the most common responsibilities of a stage manager, according to Kelly Kerins of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra:

• Corresponds with the music director, conductor, section leaders, audio engineer, and others
• Coordinating the logistics of transportation, shipping, and customs
• Conveys info to the stagehands who set up the equipment and stage plot
• Scheduling the labor and crew members
• Working with the stage crew when needed to set up microphones (or anything that needs to be set up)
• Making stage changes during concerts

The average yearly earnings for a stage manager are approximately $48,917 and can range from $27,000 to $93,500 per year¹.

Stage managers can be paid hourly, by contract, or through a collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). These agreements expire every 3-5 years and then a new one has to be negotiated.

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As a stage manager, the lines between work and life can get blurry, according to Kerins.

“They spend their whole lives working,” he said.

“When you go to bed at night, they’re working. When you brush your teeth in the morning, they’re working. They’re continuously trying to start one [production] while finishing another one.”

Kerins said you may end up working between 40-80 hours a week and sometimes even more.

The schedule is intense. Stage crew can be unloading a truck in the middle of the night.

“Your fingers are bloody. Your knees hurt,” he said.

Often, especially when the orchestra is on tour, the stage crew will have to load in equipment and gear at 6 a.m. for a 10 a.m. rehearsal, sometimes after a late night.

He points out that, although it can be a challenging career, the people you work with are usually great people. They’re very tightly knit, “like a weird cult,” he said.

And make no mistake, as long as live performances continue to happen, stage managers will be in demand.

The stage manager is the head of the stage crew, so many start out as part of the stage crew and work their way up.

For many, working as a stagehand is a family tradition, and they start as teenagers by helping out on projects that their fathers and grandfathers are working on.

Then advancement in this position would mean getting hired by a more prestigious venue or receiving a boost in wages.

Stagehand To Stage Manager

Kerins’ path started as a stagehand in high school and college, followed by an apprenticeship.

Kerins got his journeyman’s card, a credential that verified he completed a specific apprenticeship. Then he started working on operas, musical theatre, industrial shows, and outdoor rock ‘n’ roll events.

He worked for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a stagehand for many years before becoming the stage manager.

However, he “wouldn’t advise people to think that they’ll become a stage manager by becoming a stagehand.” Many stage managers actually start by studying theatre tech in college (more on that below).

Join the Union

Kerins suggests that the best way to get a job is to major in theatre tech and to reach out to the industry afterward because “it shows you’re serious about the business.”

Learn the trade and then reach out to the IATSE to help you get your credentials.

One of the most important experiences you can have as an aspiring stage manager is an apprenticeship. This would be with a stagehand or stage manager.

On top of that, here are the skills you may need to have as a stage manager, even on a basic level:

• Stage lighting
• Rigging
• Carpentry
• Electrical work
• Understanding of audio engineering
• Equipment repair
• People skills (most important)

Kerins said a stage manager has to be able to take different “types of personalities and manage your job through it.”

“The artists have to deal with us, too,” he said.

The type of person who would make a good stage manager is “a stagehand in the trade who’s able to learn how to do advance work.”

Kerins said it’s not so much an artistic profession, but more a technical one.

“It’s industrial and mechanical but you have to have the finesse” to pull off a large-scale artistic performance.

Here’s the required education to start your career as an aspiring stage manager…

Get Your Certification

To become a stagehand, you must serve an apprenticeship, earn all the required certifications, and take a written test.

Kerins advises aspiring stage managers to go to college and major in theatre tech.

“At college, you get all the necessary certifications,” he said.

For example, to build scaffolding, stage crew must have a working knowledge and experience in the process, which they prove through a scaffolding certification.

Apprenticeship

From there, you can get an apprenticeship with a working stagehand or stage manager. This gives you the experience necessary to get hired as a stage manager.

Again, the IATSE can help you find apprenticeships.