To mark the occasion, Equity is inviting members to share their stories working as or with a stage manager on social media. Equity will dedicate its social media February 16 to sharing these stories about stage managers, who make sure productions run smoothly and professionally.
From the beginning, stage managers became members of Actors’ Equity. But only seven years into the union’s existence, on February 16, 1920, the union has its first record of recognizing a stage manager as a distinct part of the organization.
A year prior, an assistant manager in the union was working on a show that closed. While the producer was obligated to compensate actors two weeks’ pay, he attempted to exclude the stage manager from this same protection. The ASM petitioned that as a member of the union, he deserved the severance due his peers. Equity successfully defended him, and in early 1920, Council realized that the time had come to formally include stage managers in the organization.
“I know firsthand that stage managers often work in the shadows,” said Ira Mont, production stage manager on Jagged Little Pill and third vice president of Actors’ Equity. “I’m proud that we are able to use the Year of the Stage Manager to highlight not just how important it is that stage managers are part of Equity, but how the work we do every day makes it possible for the show to go on.”
Actors’ Equity Association is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers.
