A Peek into a Circus Stage Manager’s Day
I lived quite an unusual life, from sailing the seas to running around with a circus. I’d like to take you through a typical day working as a circus stage manager. Truly, every day was a character of its own, molded by the rhythm of train travels, performances, rehearsals, and the occasional bouts of laziness we savored along the route.
I’d usually wake up around 9:00 AM – not too concerned about my appearance, since I was around the same folks all day. By 10:00 AM, I’d be in the circus grounds, ensuring the dressing rooms were properly set up. My day would progress with postings on the callboard, emails, paperwork, and a cast and crew meeting.
Rehearsals were a mix of herding performers and stealing moments for a quick game on my phone (possibly during the tiger act, which I wasn’t very fond of). Then, at around 6:00 PM, we’ll gear up for the pre-show. Despite the complexities of working with a diverse cast, the show was the easiest part of the day beginning at 7:30 PM, after which we’d pack up and head back to the train.
On some intensely work-packed days, I’d find myself up and about by 3:00 AM for early morning PR activities. Coordinating between costume storage, scenic pieces, and TV crew arrivals, these days were hectic! The next bunch of hours were filled with radio or TV stations visits, community works like building homes with Habitat for Humanity, and then back to the circus ground.
The best days were the Train Days! Imagine having a whole day trapped in a moving train, tucked away from all the hustle – that was utter bliss!
It’s interesting how job roles in the circus are different from typical theater ones. Though I performed a Stage Manager’s duty, my title was PR Supervisor. The job of a Technical Director is given the title of a Stage Manager, Production Managers are the stage management team, and so on – quite amusing for an outsider.
Working in a circus was vibrant as it was chaotic, and I miss my train days more than you can imagine! To everyone who ever tuned into those early morning shows, I bet you didn’t guess just how much coffee and rush went into those moments. Now you know a bit more about the colorful chaos running the circus!