Co-editor of “Off Headset: Essays on Stage Management Work, Life, and Career” Rafael Jaen, costume designer and University of Massachusetts Boston associate professor of theatre arts, said his curiosity of others’ experiences in stage management stemmed from collaborations with actors, stage managers, puppet makers and prop masters.
Jaen said the process of choosing the contributors’ experiences consisted of “sifting” through proposals and deciding which were “viable” to consider.
“By producing books where people can write essays and speak with their voice about their experience, that’s sort of immediate and it’s very relatable,” Jaen said. “It’s not one singular perception. It’s really a more complex world that makes theatre and performing arts happen.”
Co-editor Christopher Sadler, associate professor of stage and theatre management at the University of Oklahoma, said he wanted to share his experience with the world to help other stage managers and educators. He said a major aspect of stage management includes utilizing transferable skills such as leadership.
Sadler provided different perspectives of stage management through the experiences of several contributors in “Off Headset.”
Sadler said he met Jaen at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 2013. He proposed the idea of the book to Jaen in 2018, he said.
Sadler said the contract for the book was signed by him and Jaen in 2019, and the book was published in January 2022 as the second installment of Jaen’s three-book Backstage Series about stage management. Jaen’s first book, “Theatre Artisans and Their Craft: The Allied Arts Fields,” is about scenic painting, missionary work and custom construction.
“Off Headset” features a collection of essays written by stage managers from across the country. Sadler said the essays vary from detailing opera stage management, motherhood in the industry, a day in the life on a cruise ship, and balancing personal lives and the profession.
“About 90 percent of the work of stage management is working with people, leading people, leading a team, being part of a team,” Sadler said.
Equity stage manager Kristi Ross-Clausen contributed to the book with a chapter about touring theatre. She said she encourages people to travel and tour shows for the special opportunity despite the physical commitment and long hours.
“Touring theatre is a very unique world,” Ross-Clausen said. “It takes a lot of stamina and personal fortitude to be able to handle the rigors of touring.”
Production manager and equity stage manager Jay Sheehan’s chapter focused on perseverance and resilience in the face of mistakes. Sheehan said he made a crucial error by turning the lights on too early at The Rolling Stones’ concert in 1994, but learned a significant lesson from the experience.
“It was about fighting back. It was about finding your courage, and not being afraid to make mistakes and learn from them,” Sheehan said. “That’s how we really learn, is by making some errors.
Jaen and Sadler’s “Off Headset” contains a plethora of experiences in stage management, ranging from Ross-Clausen’s tours to Sheehan’s lesson.
“Off Headset” is available to be purchased in paperback, hardback and ebook form from publisher Routledge Press or from Amazon.
