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

What is a stage director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Nicholas Fuqua

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a stage director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.71 an hour? That's $51,404 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 stage director?

Nicholas Fuqua

Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre, Catawba College

I would encourage all fresh graduates to keep an open mind about what a career in theatre would be like. We've glamorized Broadway, but there are fantastic theatres, and children's theatre companies out there who are amazing to work with when you're just starting out working in theatre. I would also encourage new graduates in theatre to be open to travel and moving around, if you're willing to relocate, you'll be able to consistently be employed.

ScoreStage DirectorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,404

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 6.42%

Black or African American 8.00%

Hispanic or Latino 14.69%

Unknown 5.60%

White 65.12%

Gender

female 45.89%

male 54.11%

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

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a stage director

Explore stage director education requirements

Most common stage director degrees

Bachelor's

60.7 %

Master's

14.8 %

Associate

9.7 %

Start to develop specific stage director skills

Skills	Percentages
Musical Theatre	34.67%
Performance Schedules	25.03%
Drama	15.69%
NYC	6.29%
Costumes	6.12%

Complete relevant stage director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New stage directors 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 stage director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real stage director resumes.

Research stage director duties and responsibilities

Direct and manage production of plays in company's annual Shakespeare festival.
Collaborate with design team to come up with costumes, set pieces and overall look of the shows.
Supervise an assistant drama director and counselors in training.
Supervise an assistant drama director and counselors in training.

Get stage director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a stage director. The most common roles before becoming a stage director include internship, director team lead and teacher.

Prepare your stage director resume

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

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a stage director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable stage director resume templates

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