Q&A for How to Become a Good Stage Manager

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What makes a good stage manager?

Tara Blau Smollen
Presentation & Acting Skills Coach
Tara Blau Smollen is a Presentation & Acting Skills Coach based in Mill Valley, California. With over 35 years of professional and academic experience, Tara helps fellow coaches, entrepreneurs, and creatives become more comfortable speaking in front of an audience. She is a three-time Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (BATCC) Award Nominee and a two-time Dean Good Award Recipient. She was an Associate Professor of Theater and Drama at SF State, Contra Costa College, and at Los Medanos College where she taught Beginning Acting and Theater History. Tara received her BA in Theater and English from the University of Wisconsin and her MFA in Theater and Acting from The National Theater Conservatory.

Tara Blau Smollen

Presentation & Acting Skills Coach

Expert Answer

A good stage manager is punctual, and understands both the director's needs and the needs of the cast. They're great at time management, understand lighting and acting, and are able to wrangle a lot of people at once. Ultimately, a stage manager really frees up the director to have the freedom to create because they're dealing with a lot of the technical minutiae that sometimes bog down the director.

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Why do I need to know this?

Community Answer

You need to know this if you are being assigned stage manager. If you don't know what to do, the article will be of great help to show you what you can do and how you might improve. If you know it all already, then there's no need to be here!

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Question

How do I get a job as a stage manager in Kentucky?

Community Answer

I also live in Kentucky and a interested in a stage management job. I suggest finding a local or nearby theatre company and working on the tech crew for a few shows to show the directors and current stage manager your reliability as a tech person. Express your interest in being a stage manager and if by the time they need one. you have proven your eligibility, they will likely contact you. I also suggesting being an assistant stage manager. The more experience you have, the more qualified you are.

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How do I become a stage manager for a high school performance?

Community Answer

It depends on whether you're a student or adult. As a student, I went to the technical director and told her I was interested. There was a minor interview process where we discussed what qualified me for the position of stage manager, what I had done in the past, stuff like that. However, if you're an adult, you would have to send some emails to the school's theater director or technical director, and possibly have to fill some things out with the school to allow you to be a permanent visitor.

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