Stage Management Process

DRA2251.01
Course System Home Terms Fall 2026 Stage Management Process

Course Description

Summary

At the center of almost every live performance is a single human being who quite literally runs the show: the stage manager. This course will explore the stage manager's role as both an artist and an administrator, using the SM's wide-ranging responsibilities as a roadmap to understanding the production process and all the people involved in it.

Through readings, discussions, and projects, students will learn the basic skills of stage management: scheduling, technical breakdowns, blocking notation, understanding design drawings, managing rehearsals, creating a prompt book, calling cues, and running a show. Special attention will be paid to communication and collaboration, as well as the stage manager's unique ability to influence the culture of a production in terms of ethics, equity, and inclusion. This course is recommended for anyone interested in understanding all that goes into making a performance happen, and will be especially useful for directors, choreographers, designers, technicians, and managers for dance and theater.

 

Learning Outcomes

  • -Become familiar with the production process and the roles of the people involved in creating a performance
    -Understand the responsibilities of the stage manager and the value of effective service and leadership in collaborative art-making
    -Design and generate paperwork to organize artistic workflow and communicate complex information
    -Ability to verbally call a sequence of lighting, sound, and/or video cues in the context of a performance

Cross List

  • Dance

Instructor

  • Faculty TBA

Day and Time

TU 8:30am-10:20am

Delivery Method

Fully in-person

Length of Course

Full Term

Academic Term

Fall 2026

Area of Study

Credits

2

Course Level

2000

Maximum Enrollment

20

Course Frequency

Once a year