With the theater department constantly displaying new shows for the school, one may often overlook the logistics behind putting a production together. When taking a closer look, one might discover how heavy a workload stage managers receive during each production.

During the show, a stage manager is responsible for the attendance of all actors and technicians at rehearsals, writing down the blocking and choreography, paperwork, and assisting with communication between the directors and the actors/technicians.

“There’s never a normal day of stage managing,” senior Sonali Mehta said. “It changes so often. It’s [a lot of] making sure people have everything they need and the director is all set to do what they do best.”

Preparing for a show occurs several days, sometimes even weeks, in advance of the audition.

“You always want to make sure you have all of your technical crew and know who they are so you can get [your crew] what they need and prepare them [for the show],” sophomore Mason Taylor Long said.

However, with this opportunity comes the responsibilities tied to this position, which can be quite time demanding, something most individuals must learn to adapt to when filling the stage manager position.

“I think the biggest problem I faced was the amount of time [stage managing] requires,” sophomore Lauren LaTour said. “It’s taken away from a lot of family and homework time so my grades can sometimes suffer. I often struggle with that because I’m involved in other extracurricular activities as well, like choir and debate and it can be quite overwhelming at times.”

All stage managers must be students, which means the students in this position often struggle with balancing all of their extra-curricular activities with such a demanding position.

“Something I struggle with is because I have so many other commitments, I’m not the most consistent with being at every rehearsal,” Mehta said. “This can be a setback because I will occasionally miss days where we block everything or make set changes therefore I’m not there to take a video of these changes.”

Age can also factor into the complications of a stage manager.

“It’s definitely hard to manage groups of people especially when they are older than you,” Long said. “You respect them and look up to them so you don’t overstep your boundaries, but you also want what’s best for the show.”

While there can be a variety of difficulties for a demanding title such as this, there are rewards as well.

“If anything not acting related goes wrong, it’s your fault as a stage manager which can be a lot of stress and pressure but you’re working with really great people all the time,” Mehta said.