How To Become A Production Stage Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production stage manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Jennifer Chandler

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a production stage manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.46 an hour? That's $52,952 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 12,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a production stage manager?

Jennifer Chandler

Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and Acting, Website

Ask for money. And don’t work for free. Too many in the fine arts work for free because they love doing it. Know your worth. Ask for money. Always negotiate that first offer (ask for more). And don’t work for free. I would also highly recommend creating parallel career. This is a career that you do in tandem with your fine arts career. It generally needs to be somewhat flexible, but also somewhat steady. This will insure that you always have money to survive and pay your bills when you don’t have work in the fine arts. Some of my friends’ parallel careers include real estate agents, acting coaches, tour guides, administrative assistants, online work, restaurant work (serving), etc.

ScoreProduction Stage ManagerUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,952

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.2

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 6.41%

Black or African American 7.98%

Hispanic or Latino 14.65%

Unknown 5.60%

White 65.20%

Gender

female 48.81%

male 51.19%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

9.2

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production stage manager

Explore production stage manager education requirements

Most common production stage manager degrees

Bachelor's

77.7 %

Associate

8.8 %

Master's

8.2 %

Start to develop specific production stage manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Stage Management	11.94%
Production Management	8.64%
Rehearsal Schedules	7.48%
Technical Aspects	7.13%
Performance Reports	5.78%

Complete relevant production stage manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production stage managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a production stage manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production stage manager resumes.

Research production stage manager duties and responsibilities

Manage rehearsal and performance schedules, as well as props, costumes, and actor availability.
Manage a team of production managers and coordinators while performing regularly assign duties.
Handle tour logistics including itineraries, travel, and load in of set, costumes, and technical gear.
Develop and maintain update manufacturing procedure; scale up formulations from development in accordance with GMP and safety / environmental regulations.

Prepare your production stage manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production stage manager resume.

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