Violet Christen stage manages ‘Cinderella’

Above: Managing lines. Violet Christen ’27 takes notes from the director. Christen helps train other student diretors Elena Peklo ’28 and Harleigh Link ’27. Photo by Katherine Dietz '26.

Story by Delaney Jackson '27

With Marian’s fall production of “Cinderella” coming up, junior Violet Christen has been busy preparing for her second year of stage managing. This job requires working closely with the cast and crew of the musical— something Christen has learned a lot about within the past couple of years.

Last year, “Grease” was chosen as the school musical— it was Christen’s first time managing a show. Her main inspiration was the people she got to work with while on backstage crew freshman year. 

“I met some really awesome people in the cast and in the crew,” Christen said.

Going from a two-week crew to working on a show for 2 months with only one other manager was a challenge for Christen. Balancing this activity on top of her other responsibilities such as Operation Others, Core Team, and school, has forced her to make the most of her time. 

“It is a very big time commitment to be in all of these things and stage manage, which takes about half of my afternoon,” Christen said.

As Christen teaches two other girls the secrets of stage managing, she remembers what Aurora Ness, class of 2025, taught her. 

“She was always really, really nice and understanding when I messed things up,” Christen said. Ness’s training helped prepare her to lead on stage.

Because of her leadership position, Christen works closely with the staff of the performing arts department. “I really enjoy working with Mrs. Delisi, Mr. McCandless and especially [set design instructor] Danny [Fell]. He’s really, really fun to work with, and they’re super understanding,” Christen said.

She also enjoys working with the cast and crew, but sometimes she has to put her foot down and be firm with them. 

“The hardest part is definitely when I have to instruct them and be firm with them because they’re also my friends,” Christen said. Her ability to balance her relationships with her friends and the need to instruct them is crucial to working on stage.

Working on stage comes with some fun traditions, too. For years, the crew has been in charge of keeping a troll doll by the name of Mandy. 

“Once every performance, stage managers will try to sneak Mandy on stage somewhere,” Christen said. “Obviously, no one in the audience knows where she is, so that’s always really fun to try to figure out a hiding spot we’re gonna put her in.”

After a couple of shows on crew and a couple of stage managing, Christen highly recommends working some sort of backstage theater job. 

“For, specifically, people who are interested in being on the crew for the musical, definitely just try it,” Christen said. “If you are doing backstage but you’re interested in being a stage manager, try to observe your stage managers. Notice what they’re doing and you should really talk with them and talk with me to see if that’s something that’s getting interesting,” she said.

Her current project is the fall musical, “Cinderella,” with shows on Oct. 21-26.