Over on our sister website Stage Directions the stage management team has been filling up the stage management blog with posts about the stage management life. (Check 'em all out at www.stage-directions.com/stagemanagement.) Recent posts include:

Gifts for Your Favorite Stage Manager

The holiday season may just have finished, but new productions are always starting, and there's never a wrong time to make life easier for the stage managers who make shows run so smoothly. (Especially since one of the most appreciated gifts is so easy to give: Caffeine.) Check out the list to find out what to give your favorite stage manager -- or add your own suggestion. What gift would you most like to up your stage management game in the new year?

SM Magic: Shadowing the Tempest

The University of Iowa stage management team recently took a trip to Chicago, and on that trip one of their stage managers shadowed a production of The Tempest. Despite being sworn to secrecy about the magic, there were plenty of other things the stage manager got to share, including what it takes to shadow a show.

Between gifts and experience, how are you improving your stage management skills this year?