stage-manage

[steyj-man-ij]

verb (used with object)

stage-managed, stage-managing 

1. to work as a stage manager for.

   When he wasn't acting, he stage-managed a repertory theater.

2. to arrange or stage in order to produce a theatrical or spectacular effect.

   The clients were most impressed with the way she stage-managed the whole presentation.

3. to arrange or direct unobtrusively or in secret.

   He stage-managed Mediterranean black-market operations from his secluded villa on the Riviera.

verb (used without object)

stage-managed, stage-managing 

1. to work as a stage manager.

stage-manage

verb

1. to work as stage manager for (a play, etc)

2. (tr) to arrange, present, or supervise from behind the scenes

   to stage-manage a campaign

Word History and Origins

Origin of stage-manage¹

First recorded in 1875–80; back formation from stage manager