Actors' Equity Association Celebrates Stage Manager Day on February 16

Actors' Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, announces the inaugural Stage Manager Day will take place tomorrow, Thursday, February 16, 2023, celebrating and acknowledging of the important role stage managers play on every production. The union intends for this to be the beginning of an annual celebration.

This year's Stage Manager Day will fall on the 103rd anniversary of Equity first recognizing a stage manager as a distinct category of worker within the union. Stage manager are leaders and collaborative specialists who prioritize and advocate for the production and its entire process commencing with pre-production. Stage Managers and Assistant Stage Managers:

• Coordinate and facilitate all rehearsals, calls, and performances before and after opening;
• Assemble and maintain a record as necessary for the actual technical and artistic operation of the production;
• Lead technical rehearsals and supervise performance cueing;
• Facilitate interdepartmental communication; and,
• Maintain the artistic vision of the director and the producer after opening.

"Stage Managers are used to working behind the scenes to ensure productions run smoothly, without receiving the recognition their actor colleagues do," said Al Vincent Jr., executive director of Actors' Equity Association. "We are excited to shine a spotlight on all the hard work stage managers do. The union, like every production that employs Equity SMs, is stronger because of the work of these dedicated and talented individuals. I celebrate them today and every day."

Equity will kick off Stage Manager Day with an Instagram Live interview with stage manager Amanda Spooner at 10 a.m. ET on the union's Instagram account, @actorsequity, followed by interviews with stage managers Jennifer Leigh-Sears Scheier at 1 p.m. ET and R. Christopher Maxwell at 5:30 p.m. ET. Throughout the day, the union will highlight stage managers on Equity's social media accounts. Follow @actorsequity on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for facts about the working realities of union stage managers and to hear the voices of stage managers across the country.