/stayj"man'ij/ , v. , stage-managed, stage-managing .
v.t.
1. to work as a stage manager for: When he wasn't acting, he stage-managed a repertory theater.
2. to arrange or stage in order to produce a theatrical or spectacular effect: The clients were most impressed with the way she stage-managed the whole presentation.
3. to arrange or direct unobtrusively or in secret: He stage-managed Mediterranean black-market operations from his secluded villa on the Riviera.
v.i.
4. to work as a stage manager.
[ 1875-80; back formation from STAGE MANAGER ]