(A) There shall be at least one Stage Manager on Equity contract for each
production who shall be solely responsible for the stage managerial functions.
(B) Pre-Production. Any Stage Manager who is engaged to rehearse a production and who has not been engaged on the immediately previous production shall be engaged one week prior to the first day of rehearsal.
(C) Assistant Stage Manager.
(1) An Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) must be employed on an Equity contract whenever the Stage Manager works from a booth that does not have direct access to the backstage area. This ASM may be permitted to act whenever the ASM’s performance duties do not reduce the ASM’s ability to effectively perform Stage Managerial functions.
(2) An ASM who may act or understudy shall be hired on an Equity contract during rehearsal for any production that meets either of the following conditions:
(a) Concurrent rehearsals are being held. (This does not preclude holding separate music rehearsals or coaching, dialect coaching, or other similar activities at which staging is not taking place.); or
(b) The Stage Manager is under contract to rehearse a subsequent consecutive production during the performance hours of the current production.
(3) An ASM who may act or understudy shall be hired on an Equity contract during both rehearsal and performances of any production that meets either of the following conditions:
(a) The production is a musical with a chorus; or
(b) The production has an onstage company of 18 or more.
(4) If also acting, the ASM shall be compensated in accordance with Rule 58(A)(2), SALARIES.
(5) If an Actor is assigned the duties of an ASM, the Actor shall be
compensated in accordance with Rule 58(A)(2), SALARIES.
(D) Experience/Training. Because of the responsibilities of the Stage Manager for the production and the safety of the Actors, the Producer agrees to employ a person who is experienced and/or trained in theatrical stage management.
(E) If the Producer is employed as the Stage Manager or required ASM, the Producer must be present and perform the functions and duties of the Stage Manager or required ASM.
(F) The use of the words "Stage Manager" and/or "Assistant Stage Manager" and/or "members of the Stage Managerial staff" along with the word "Actor" in any of the
Rules of this Agreement have been inserted for added emphasis and/or clarification. The failure of those descriptions to appear in a Rule is not meant to imply that the Rule does not cover those categories of employment. Stage Managers and ASM's are covered by all Rules in this Agreement except where specifically stated otherwise.
(G) Either the Stage Manager or the ASM shall be present at all rehearsals and performances. An ASM shall be the individual who is assigned to assist the Stage Manager(s) on a specific production. An ASM may not be assigned the primary responsibility for stage managerial functions for any production.
(H) No Producer shall require any Stage Manager or ASM to perform any duties of a Stage Manager or ASM until the Stage Manager or ASM has signed a contract (after security has been properly posted with Equity) and the Producer has given the Stage Manager or ASM instructions as to what work will be done.
(I) When a Stage Manager or ASM is called to perform services in a production before rehearsals begin, including, but not limited to, interviews and auditions, or after the production has closed, the Stage Manager or ASM shall be paid no less than 1/6 of weekly contractual salary per day. [But see (2) below.]
(1) If auditions are for three consecutive hours or less on one day, the Stage Manager shall receive no less than 1/12 of weekly contractual salary.
(2) The above-mentioned 1/6 of weekly contractual salary for auditions of a show applies if the Stage Manager is not hired for the next show, in which case the Stage Manager may work 7-out-of-8½ hours per day. If the Stage Manager is hired for the next show, the consecutive production rehearsal increment applies to such a situation, as do the hour limitations set forth in Rules 58(B), SALARIES., and 53(D), REHEARSALS.
(J) If the Producer terminates the Stage Manager's employment, the Stage Manager may not be re-engaged or replaced in the same production at a lesser salary.
(K) The Council of Equity shall have the power from time to time to define the meaning of the word "Stage Manager" and may alter, change, or modify the meaning of Stage Manager as hereinabove defined.
(L) Working Conditions for Stage Managers and Assistant Stage Managers.
(1) Whenever the Actors are called, the Stage Manager or Assistant Stage Manager shall be called and present.
(2) Meal breaks shall be the same intervals as for Actors but not necessarily at the same time.
(3) Whenever the Stage Manager's schedule is different from the Actors', the Producer shall provide separate transportation for the Stage Manager to meals and lodging.
(4) The rest period between the end of employment on one day and the beginning of employment on the next shall be no less than 10 hours.
(5) A Stage Manager shall have a Day Off in each week, except during the first week of public performances of a production, and, if called on the Day Off, the Stage Manager shall receive an additional 2/6 of weekly contractual salary. (6) The Producer shall provide time off for the Stage Manager and ASM equivalent to the Daylight Day of Rest required for Actors, except during weeks when one production is in performance and a subsequent one is in rehearsal. During these weeks, the Producer shall use best efforts to provide such time off. If the Daylight Day of Rest is not given when required, the Producer shall pay the Stage Manager and/or ASM an additional 1/6 of weekly contractual salary.
(7) The Producer must consult the Stage Manager in the selection of the ASM. (8) A Stage Manager may not be required to run dinner lights or stage manage or run pre-show and/or post-show entertainment. Any such function shall require additional negotiated compensation.
(9) The Stage Manager's booth shall be cooled or heated within a temperature range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and shall be adequately ventilated.
(10) If the Stage Manager or required ASM is in attendance at a rehearsal and/or performance with one or more different groups of Actors on the same day, and the Stage Manager’s or ASM’s collective work hours exceed the contractual hours allowed, the Stage Manager or ASM shall receive overtime compensation.
(11) Should the Stage Manager and/or ASM be required by the Producer to remain in the theatre more than 30 minutes after the final curtain, that Stage Manager and/or ASM shall be compensated at the applicable overtime rate per half-hour or part thereof.
(12) It is agreed that the Stage Manager's function is a full-time one. The Stage Manager must not be required to function in areas that violate the provisions of Paragraph (N) below.
(M)The Stage Manager or the ASM must be present on the deck or in communication from the booth with all backstage areas during all performances, run-throughs, technical rehearsals and dress rehearsals. The Stage Manager shall keep a prompt book that includes technical cues, blocking, business, direction, plots, and daily records. Under no circumstances shall anyone other than the Stage Manager or ASM be on book calling the cues of a production. No Stage Manager’s or ASM’s duties shall be performed by anyone other than a Stage Manager or ASM, respectively, working on an Equity contract.
(N) Members of the Stage Managerial staff are not required to design, build, hang, or shop for lights, sound, scenery, props, wardrobe, etc. as part of their Stage Managerial duties. They are prohibited from: doing janitorial, custodial, building maintenance, or restaurant work; transporting the company; being responsible for the maintenance of any vehicle; or being responsible for the ordering or distribution of food for the company as part of their Stage Managerial duties. Members of the Stage Management staff may not be required to operate lighting or sound
equipment as part of Stage Managerial duties, but they may agree to do so on an individual basis in a separate agreement.
(O) The Stage Manager shall not be permitted to act or understudy.
(P) For all musicals and all dramatic shows with onstage companies of six or more that travel (i.e., packages of the same show at consecutive dinner theatres under the same management) which do not have an advance Stage Manager, either the Stage Manager or the ASM shall travel with the production and be responsible in the absence of the director and/or choreographer for restaging for arena or proscenium stages, if necessary, brush-up rehearsals, and replacement rehearsals. (Q) There must be intercommunication equipment between the Stage Manager, the Assistant Stage Manager, and those who help run the show.
(R) The Stage Manager shall be engaged for all televising, recording, broadcasting, filming, and/or video recording sessions.
(S) A Stage Manager and/or ASM is not permitted to work on a concert, recital presentation, or show on a dark night or Day Off without additional compensation. (T) It shall not be a condition of employment that any of the Stage Managerial staff own or operate a motor vehicle.
(U) Short-term Stage Manager. In a single production a Short-term Stage Manager may be employed on a daily and per performance basis as indicated below.
(1) A Short-term Stage Manager must be signed to an Equity contract for all work performed, including any training, as required by Rule 19, CONTRACT. (2) A Short-term Stage Manager shall be compensated at no less than the rate applicable to the Stage Manager’s category (Stage Manager or ASM) as follows:
(a) One-sixth of minimum salary per day prior to the production’s first paid public performance; and
(b) The pro rata performance rate per performance after the production’s first paid public performance.
(3) After a Short-term Stage Manager has worked for four days or five performances, whichever occurs first, a health contribution will be made on that Stage Manager’s behalf. Thereafter, a health contribution will be required after every six days or eight performances worked, whichever occurs first. Said health contributions will be due whether or not the performances or days worked are consecutive.
(4) The Producer will contribute to the Equity-League Pension Fund 8% of all monies, exclusive of any required per diem, paid to a Short-term Stage Manager.
(5) The employment of Short-term Stage Managers shall not replace Assistant Stage Managers that may be required by this Agreement.
hires a replacement Stage Manager, a temporary replacement contract of at least one week will be used.
(7) Equity may, at its sole discretion, prohibit the use of Short-term Stage Managers by any theatre or production, if it determines there has been any misuse of this provision.