Okay, first time here, so be kind - in our theater, we have two resident stage managers, myself and another lady. It really depends upon the show whether we call from the booth or back stage. If the show is large, we tend to call from the booth, but we have two ASMs as well as a deck manager to keep things under control. All of us are on headset and in constant communication with each other.
If the show is small (or if we can't get enough deckhands), we tend to call it from backstage, especially if it's a LU/LD show.
As for recruiting, we always have a volunteer working
FOH to answer any questions that folks might have about being backstage. We have an active volunteer group as well as holding an 'open
house' three times a year for anyone interested in working backstage. We also recruit heavily during auditions. So far, this has worked very well for us.
Charlie