Any role in a circus production could be considered — to use an old idiom — a cog in the wheel. But if there is one person that has the honor and responsibility of turning the crank that sets the whole machine in motion, it’s the stage manager. This final article of The Circus Designer Series pays homage to the specialized expertise of circus stage managers. I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Mia Caress, a performer, production manager, and stage manager who hails from four generations of circus folk. “My great-grandparents had a dog act with Ringling. My grandmother was raised on the show. She did head-to-head and hand-to-head on the wire with her sister. My grandfather rigged my grandmother’s act, and they drove to various cities. He used to pack his eyelids with tobacco to stay awake on the road. Isn’t that crazy? My mom was raised on the road with Ringling, training in everything, as kids do with the circus. She grew up in a sixty-foot trailer where they would go out and shoot their dinner wherever they were.”

Caress noted the differences in her upbringing compared to her ancestors, but she also emphasized how circus people always felt like home: “Circus people reading this article will understand that there’s a certain type of person that feels really familiar.” Caress recalled growing up around the Show Folks of Sarasota, Florida. “Even if I’d met them for the first time, there was something about them that spoke to me as a kindred spirit.” ...