Thoughts about Sarah’s post

From Eric Hale:

Being the stage manager is a hard job. More than anything else, it reminds me of being the parent of a teenager. You have to be the bad guy who tells a hungry actor he can’t eat in costume, or yell at a group to "GET ON STAGE!" because we’re 15 seconds away from the audience staring at nothing. At the same time, you're the one everybody comes to when there’s a problem. It can be a thankless job, but it’s so essential. I’m glad she’s there to do it.

I’d also like to take a moment to mention the running crew. Most people involved with the show get some kind of acknowledgement – The front of house staff and ushers are the first people you see. The conductor's bow opens the show and the director's bow closes it. The orchestra gets its bow. Beautiful costumes and sets get mentioned in reviews. However, it’s the job of the running crew to be invisible and to make the show work. I cannot say thank you enough to those who work in the dark so that we can stand in the light.

Finally, about the comment Sarah mentioned: I repeated something I overheard years ago at a cast party. Someone was talking to the stage manager and said “Working with actors is like herding cats, isn’t it?” After removing the expletives, I can paraphrase the response as “Forget the cats. It’s like herding cockroaches.”

And, yes, I was an actor in the show.