Imagine yourself starring in a play. All of a sudden, stage fright grabs your next line and puts you in the wrong stage position. Who is going to bail you out?

Well, for those already involved in theater the answer is obvious, the stage manager. But for most other people, this job is not well known.

Suzie Newbury, a second year graduate student and University Resident Theater Company stage manager for the upcoming play Marat/Sade, explained the role of a stage manager.

"We facilitate the process of getting a show onto stage, and then we help to run that show once it gets up," she said.

Stage managers must help run rehearsals and production meetings, and make sure each member of the cast completes individual tasks by deadline, Newbury said. Perhaps most important, a stage manager must be the liaison among all staffs, Newbury said.

It is about 7:30 p.m. on a well lit black stage and rehearsals for Marat/Sade are about to begin. Newbury and her assistants clear the floors and account for every last prop. Before starting rehearsals, the actors and actresses ask the stage manager last minute questions about the stage props and where to position themselves.

The rehearsal begins and shortly the director is posing some new questions to the stage manager. Newbury said her function with the director is to "be a sounding board to keep them on track" in order to solve the problem.

John Neville-Andrews, director of Marat/Sade, said a stage manager is well organized and "someone who anticipates the needs of the director and the production."

Neville-Andrews has been directing for 17 years and has worked with many stage managers. He said a stage manager's prime function is to serve the production. This is accomplished by making sure the cast feels comfortable, serving the director in the best possible way, and finally, acting as "the mediator between the cast and director and management," she said.

One of the actors in Marat/Sade, Anthony Geramita (sophomore-theater), said a stage manager "keeps everything under control." If there are any questions on where cast members should be positioned, they know. Put simply, Geramita said stage managers stop the confusion.

When it comes to show time, Newbury said it is her duty to "keep the integrity of the show going." She said it is important to make sure that the actors are still doing what the director wanted from the start.

Newbury, Neville-Andrews and Geramita said the stage manager is misinterpreted, overlooked and underrated. Neville-Andrews said stage managers "don't get glory, reviewed, or applause." Nonetheless, Newbury said she found stage managing more rewarding than acting.

Neville-Andrews said an alert stage manager is vital. With a smile, he recalled working with a stage manager who could not feed a line to an actor on time because he was too busy feeding his face with a sandwich.

For those well organized individuals who can suppress an appetite long enough to handle a high pressure job, a career in stage managing might be the perfect theatrical venue.