Out from the shadows, Chicago’s non-Equity stage managers take a turn in the spotlight

Chicago Sun-Times: Last year, Kyle Aschbrenner had to have a talk with his charges after one of them drew a penis on a bulletin board. “I had to tell everyone to sit down and be like, ‘While I find this very funny, I have to tell you guys not to do stuff like this,’” Aschbrenner recalled. Aschbrenner doesn’t run after-school detention at a high school for misfits. He’s a non-Equity stage manager — perhaps the most stressful, complex, occasionally absurd, and underappreciated job in Chicago theater.