A stage manager is essentially a theater's COO, coordinating everything from sets to timing and cues. Arturo Porazzi and Tim Kashani explain that the role requires negotiation skills and collaboration, since team members work with the stage manager rather than for them. They handle incident reporting, diagnose problems, and decide on fixes across all departments.
A lot of times I say your stage manager is your COO, the chief operating officer, when the buck really stops with you at the theater, doesn't it?
Yes, it does. You do take responsibility at the theater for what's going on. You are in charge of maintaining the physical elements of the show and the performance elements of the show. You do have help because every crew, every department has their head. And they know their responsibility. So they sometimes just come to you and say, "Oh, by the way, we have this problem. We need to fix this." And I'd be right with them. Yes, we need to fix that. Or I will say, I see a problem, let's say, with a piece of scenery. I said, "What can we do to fix that?" And they get on it. I mean, you do have your help to maintain the show, but ultimately, if something happens, You're the one that reports on and says, "This is what happened, and this is why it happened, and this is how we're going to remedy the situation." Negotiation skills is definitely a check for something like that. Negotiation skills, well, yes, it's trying to understand, it's understanding that people work with you, not for you. Collaboration is about working with you. And if you understand that little bit there, you get more from people.
I know sometimes people want a one-size-fits-all of how do you deal with a choreographer, how do you deal with a director, and I've seen you in action, so why don't you— if somebody asked you that question, what would you say?
Well, you're there to help them. You want for them to help them get the vision that they have. And you prepare for that. You organize and communicate to the best of your ability to make sure that they're going to have what they need. The environment in a rehearsal or at the tech or backstage has to be comfortable for everybody to work and do what they're supposed to do. When you have a comfortable environment, when you have a supportive environment, everyone does work together and it's a collaboration.
