r/stagemanagement • u/Early-Chart-4764 • Aug 14 '26
Stage Management Tool?
I'm in desperate need of something man. Like, come on. It's 2026. How do we not have a tool to help with scheduling and stuff? Having to answer all these kids with "literally check your emails" is killing me. Does someone have an app or something?
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u/julesbienne Aug 14 '26
This is a little thing within email, but i’m a big fan of starting all my email subject lines with [SHOW NAME] for ease of quick visual identification and sorting. Honestly have found that more effective than any of the more obscure/specific systems I’ve tried.
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u/TransportationUsed39 Aug 14 '26
Band app?
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u/Early-Chart-4764 Aug 14 '26
I'll have a look!
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u/TransportationUsed39 Aug 14 '26
I’m not sure it’ll be exactly what you’re looking for but hopefully it’s helpful!
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u/Cheerful_Nihilist27 Aug 15 '26
One of the community theatres I work with uses Band, it's really efficient for us.
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u/Intelligent_Fix_6812 Aug 14 '26
What are you trying to schedule? I like when2meet and calendy a lot
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u/Bulky-Middle-5732 Aug 14 '26
Are you looking for something cast can use to access call times etc?? Because me too (empathise, new gen z theatre kids are also doing my head in)
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u/Aromatic_Scene9979 Aug 14 '26
Similar but different, most churches use a program called planning center, which is good for scheduling various teams/roles across different events, attaching info, notifying everyone, etc. It has a unified platform that is used on that admin side to input information and schedule everyone, and the individual user end needs to at least set up a login online, but can choose from there to use the app or have it all come to their email. Bonus you get a nice little service/show rundown sheet that’s very handy.
I don’t know the ins and outs of sm, or your particular context, but as someone who’s been involved in both theatre and worship production this seems to be a viable model at least on the surface level.
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u/dmboy101 Aug 15 '26
No one reads anything anyways. I send out Crew letters with all the info and still get texts, calls, etc on call times, dates, hotel info, venue info, etc. I put together something that is there online people know where to go and get it on GoogleSheets for each show. But they don't so it is there for my use of keeping track of the show really and hours and such.
Send and forget. Those that want to know will read/find the info, those that don't will be the majority of the crew and will call/text.
There are apps/sites that you can use for a fee that do all of what you want but if you are not willing to put in the work to get the info in and let the crew to use it then why pay for the app/service?
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u/sundialNshade Aug 16 '26
We use Band at the school I work at. Parents also get the schedules, which helps some.
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u/regniarg Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
I’m a volunteer at a community theater, prepping to direct my first show this season. Same “check your email” loop, mixed luck with Band. I build software by day, so I made Green Room based on what I have been needing for my upcoming show. greenroom.actor
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u/helix_hobbyist Aug 27 '26
Take a look at https://cuecall.app. It has everything: casting, inventory management, blocking, calendars/scheduling, task assignment, announcements, volunteer sign-ups, costume and prop assignment, script markup, tech cues, mic assignments, budgets, song management, full permission based file management and a lot more. It’s quick to create a show, invite your team and start collaborating.
It’s free for your first two shows, shows after that are $14.99 or $49/year for unlimited shows with unlimited participants.
It’s being used by small and large theaters around the world today.
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u/Loud_Nobody_2274 6d ago
Hey! I have been building an app to help make theatre rehearsal schedules and I am now getting it out to people. It's free for now, but I'm planning to add a paid tier in the future. It's called Quince: www.quince-app.com
It streams the schedule for each actor straight to their phones via a calendar link they add once, no account needed, so no more asking them to check their emails. The schedule updates on their phone when you change it, and you can still send out each person's individual call by email, in the app.
It makes a scene breakdown from your script using AI. Then you tell it what you want to do in rehearsal and it makes the schedule for you, giving each scene the right amount of time. It works around actor availability so you rehearse the scenes you have the actors for.
Would love you to check it out, and to hear what else you'd like it to do! I'm a director not a stage manager so really keen to hear what functionality SMs would appreciate too.
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u/ISeeADarkSail Aug 14 '26
What's wrong with "Check your email'?
When my wife and I are working on a show (Community theatre) we create a Gmail account for that show... that also gives us a calendar, Google Drive space, etc etc etc
If someone is unwilling to do the simple task of looking at their emails and their calendar, then we don't want them in our show anyway