Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work Life and Career

<p><em>Off Headset</em> is a collection of chapters containing essays by a richly diverse group of stage management professionals and educators covering the challenges stage managers face on the job in their lives and in their careers.</p><p>The book starts with the intersectional history of stage managers and the actors' union. In Part 1: Work the contributors share a wide range of experiences from regional theatre and Broadway to operas and cruises—and even running with the circus. The essays in Part 2: Life explore the relevance of stage managers claiming their identity their resilience and practicing self-care. Finally in Part 3: Career readers receive aspirational and business advice for life in the real world: leadership networking unemployment managing demanding calendars and career planning. The book ends with a moment of pause during tech—a direct response to the absence we have been enduring throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and a tribute to a world we used to take for granted. </p><p>Intertwining practical advice with personal anecdotes <em>Off Headset</em><em>: Essays on Stage Management Work Life and Career</em> is the perfect accompaniment to students studying stage management in a university setting and professionals working in the field.</p>