stage managing with kids

My advice is: don't ever work with animals or kids. Ever! Just say no!!

But if you have to:

Don't allow parents backstage. Designate a place where they can drop off and pick up their kids. And make sure you are very direct about what time they can be picked up. Example: "The show is over at 10pm. The theater doors are locked at 10:15. If your child is not picked up, Child Services will be called and you will be reported as an abandoning parent". If you aren't strict, parents will use you as a babysitter.

It would be helpful for you to have an assistant who just dealt with the child. I did a production of "A Christmas Carol" and we had a woman in her late 50s in charge of the children. This worked well because the parents felt very safe leaving their children with an older woman.

You've got to establish order from the beginning. Kids have a tendency to go running off or wander around. This can be very dangerous, especially during Tech Week when sets are being moved in. Designate areas they can be in: green room, dressing room, etc. and areas they can't. When I worked on "A Christmas Carol" one little girl ran across the stage at the time that a trap door was being lowered and fell in. She wasn't hurt but it was a difficult explaining to the parents.

The buddy system: assign each kid a buddy. Make sure if they are in the wings waiting for an entrance that their buddy is right next to them.

Parents are very worried about their children changing their clothes around strangers. I would suggest that the dressers for the show meet the parents (a woman for the girls; a man for the boys). Maybe even give the parents a backstage tour that shows where their children will dress.

Keep an up to date contact list of the parents and always have it right with you. Sometimes rehearsals have to be cancelled and you'll need to call them quickly.

When calling parents, always say "Is this Susie's parent?". Never say "Is this Mrs. Smith?" Because the child's last name is not always the same as the parents.

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Updated On: 6/4/08 at 01:50 PM

I hatehatehate stage managing with kids. During one production of The Velveteen Rabbit, a wayward toy found a can of glue and a paintbrush and proceeded to wreak havoc on the bathroom walls. That... was a fun one.

Just don't take crap from anybody.

I'm sure you know the "If you leave your costumes on the floor, they go in the freezer" trick.

Once the kids have signed in, make sure they know that they are NOT to leave a previously designated area.

If some of them will be spending a significant amount of time offstage, get some Legos and coloring books and keep them somewhere accessible. This really does work wonders.

And if you have an ASM or someone else who's supposed to be assisting you, MAKE SURE THEY'RE DOING IT. (I once ended up taking over the SM post for this woman who would come to the show hung-over or otherwise incapacitated, and would spend the entire time either vomiting in the back bathroom or talking with her friends. By the end of the run, I was so close to just snapping and giving her a piece of my mind. I was talking to a friend of mine before the final show, and the phrase "I love theatre and all, but stage managing this show has been a nightmare" escaped my mouth. She overheard, marched over to me, and said very loudly, "You DO know you're just the ASSISTANT stage manager, right? I've been doing the majority of the work here." I let it go and forever wish that I hadn't.)

A lot of good advice above.
Definitely hire a child wrangler. In your case I would hire 2 because you have a significant amount of kids. Look into hiring people from university/college education programs as they would benefit from the experience as well. The wranglers should supply/facilitate many games (boardgames, cards, etc) ONLY to be played in dressing rooms or greenroom. Also if the children are not needed onstage, DO NOT let them hang out backstage. They should be in their dressing rooms/greenroom with the wrangler until you page them to the stage.

I wouldn't bring games. Kids tend to get REALLY loud when playing games because of arguments, etc. (and most of the time, you have to be quiet in the dressing rooms as well, so others can hear the monitors and such) - coloring books and crayons could work instead. I know of adults that still being those backstage for themselves and they also keep kids really quiet.

I know that the professional theatre I work with allows two parents backstage (one for boys, one for girls) and they're usually different parents every show night. And it's all volunteer, too. You might even want to ask the adults and older children to sort of look out for the younger kids as well. Also, the theatre fines people (no matter WHO it is) $1 for every costume piece that's not put up so it's a really good incentive for kids to clean up after themselves.

And whatever you do, DON'T yell at them or be rude to them. Be strict but don't make them hate you. Telling them something in a firm but quiet tone usually works the first time. I mean, if they're being loud, you can talk at a sort of high volume but kids hate being yelled at. It could even make them cry. They may be children but they deserve as much respect as the adult actors do, and they can tell when they're not getting the respect they deserve.

Many younger kids I've worked with have been angels, but be patient with some of the others. They may have problems such as ADHD or they may not want to be there in the first place.


(I may only be sixteen, but I've been in professional theatre since I was eight and I'm normally the one managing the kids, so I guess I have a bit of experience in that area)

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Write down the rules and tape them up around the theatre. Keep the parents far far away. And be respectful and civil to all the kids, or they'll not want to do what you say.

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Duct tape

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It also might be helpful to gain the trust of your older youth actors who can assist you with the younger ones. The younger kids hopefully will look up to them and be more inclined to follow their lead.

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"Advil ... lots and lots of advil for working.

Booze ... lots and lots of boooze for afterwork."

That goes without saying. This is part of the stage manager's preparation kit for any show (with or without kids). I think there's even a whole chapter about it in Lawrence Stern's book. The Yale MFA requires you to take a course "Booze, Aspirin, Cigarettes and Horse Tranquilizers"

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Updated On: 6/5/08 at 02:16 PM