Hey man, sorry I went out for dinner and drinks with the crew after work! I'm going to copy/paste the wall of text I wrote for the other guys here but I'm also an open book so feel free to use me as a resource for any questions at all or advice you might want! Wall of text: Hey man, saw your reply. What area do you live in? Not trying to be creepy, I just know tons of stagehands and a lot about the business and area is important. Basically though, you look up a theater or arena that does Broadway shows/ Large scale acts respectively. The larger the acts the easier to get your foot in the door and the more work you'll have. Go into the theater in person and ask about positions on "local crew." Hopefully it's a non-union market in which case you will have an easier time and can transition into union work later. If it is a union market, you can get on a call list, standby list, extra list etc. Basically its a list they pull from when they either have enough union hands for a gig or people are sick/ unavailable. At first, you will only work what are called "Load ins and load outs" which are when the show arrives in the city and unloads its stuff from its trucks and sets it up in the theater/ arena and when it packs all of that back up to get back on the road. These are the crucibles of your skills. The biggest advice I can give you is to make yourself stand out during these days. Jump in to any task that is given to you. The most important philosophy is this: You are not too good to do any task. There are some shitty tasks in this gig, especially for local crew. For example: deck. These are 4x8 sections of what is essentially portable stage pieces that do everything from contain automation tracks to simply acting as risers from drum kits and set pieces. They are heavy but they are few and you are a team. That is also important, foster god relationships with your crew and your team and they will have your back more than any co worker you've ever had in your life. Another piece of advice is to pick a desired specialty. There are a few different departments such as: Audio, Electrics (lighting), Carpentry (large set pieces and construction/ maintenance of theatrical facilities), Props, Wardrobe (both costumes and hair+makeup). If you want elaboration in any of these just let me know. So pick one you'd like to focus in and spend some of your free time studying something about it (audio mixing, lighting control boards, costume sewing, etc) and become decently skilled. After a while or jsut when you prove yourself, you will get onto a more exclusive sect of local crew called "run crew" which is when you are actually working when the show is in town. You are on the stage while the show is on, performing simple cues, helping the touring crew shuffle set pieces, quick change costumes, switch out mics, whatever it is your department is doing. I have done everything from pull cables for an hour to launch hundreds of balloons on stage with weezer and with the blue man group (in two separate shows obv). This is when you network. Get to know your road crews. Make friends, they are really cool and usually really diverse too. Go out for drinks or for late night chow or just bs with them. I have my job now because of connections I made in local crew. The next step is tour life. Once you've been on local crew for a year or two, start looking at touring opportunities, even if you never made it to run crew. This is when you fully realize your specialization. You are one department on tour for one single show for 3- 15 months usually. You will have time off but you will mostly be traveling this whole time. I currently live in hotels 100% of the year and jsut got back from 5 months in south America. Though the travel % is something you'll want to take note of. Usually your theater will let you come back and work when you're off tour. This stage is when you prove yourself to your touring company. Keep the budget tight, do as good a job as you possibly can and you will be rewarded. You may even be able to get into a more highly paid, specialty tour with very few crew such as the two man crew I worked with for an afro-cuban jazz band who were absolutely professional as hell and were personally requested by the touring companies. After that your options are wide open. You could apply for stationary gigs in other theaters or in warehouses, audio companies, lighting design, prop making (ala mythbusters), climb up the touring ladder, or anything you can think of/make of yourself. Also, as a stagehand, you can work anywhere in the world. your skillset is always in demand and no one minds freelance work. I worked simultaneously at 5 venues when I was cutting my teeth and the small ones taught me just as much as the large ones. Usually the industry in any given area is smaller than you think. I ran into the same people over and over and over again, whether it was at a festival in the woods 3 hours away or a small rock club, I always felt like I was a part of a community. Obviously a lot of this is not about getting your foot in the door but by setting yourself up correctly in the beginning, you will be on the road for lifelong success. Work as hard as you possibly can. Be the first one to jump in on a task, be the last one to leave the stage, be the friendliest crew, maintain safety standards (within reason) and learn as much and as quickly as you can and I guarantee you will go far. If you have any questions, even about anything, even nitty gritty specifics of stage standards and practices, I will answer them. I love to spread the gospel of live theater. this is absolutely my passion and I fell into it out of necessity. When I was desperate, theater saved my life. If I can help one person by showing them the magic of this world, I'm happy.