stage manager

American  

noun

• stage managers
  plural

1. a person responsible for the technical details of a theatrical production, assisting the director during rehearsal, supervising the lighting, costuming, setting, prompting, etc., and assuming full responsibility for the stage during a performance of a play.

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stage manager British  

noun

1. a person who supervises the stage arrangements of a theatrical production

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stage managership
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stage managers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stage manager

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stage manager

By the early 1970s, my sister Adele was a stage manager at the Theater for the New City.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

In 1967, he met Mary Tyler Moore while serving as an assistant stage manager for a production of “Holly Golightly,” which turned out to be a flop.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026

He’s been a studio sound engineer, a studio manager, a stage manager, a drum tech and a crew chief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

Birmingham-born stage manager Kevin Rowe shows us around the dark corridors beneath the stage, where the crew have stashed secret reserves of Gatorade and iced coffee to help them survive the sticky Miami heat.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2025

As they walked, she wondered which of the theaters was the one where Simon’s stage manager acquaintance would have let them in to watch a rehearsal.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood