Anyone involved in professional theatre will tell you: A good Stage Manager is invaluable in getting a production to run smoothly. The Stage Manager begins official work on a production before almost anyone else, and is the one who works the longest, shepherding the production until even after the final curtain comes down. But what, exactly, does a Stage Manager do? What do they not do? In this episode, Alex Murphy, an Equity Stage Manager who has worked extensively in Kansas City, talks with Matt Sameck, Kansas City Actors Theatre Director of Marketing and Development, about what the Stage Manager contributes to a production, why he loves it, and what he wishes both the back-stage people and the audience knew about what he does.