Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#1
Posted: 12/20/10 at 1:53pm
Hey-yo!
I have read discussions about general audiences lacking knowledge of what a "preview period" is. Is it safe to assume this is a term that has fallen out of use in the mainstream dialogue?
What about "out-of-town tryout"? A musical's "book"? "The West End"? "The Great White Way"? What about a musical "transferring"?
Are these terms familiar to fans of Call of Duty and Avatar? What other terms would you say we cannot assume people from outside this message board would know off hand?
I would argue that tech terms like "scrim" and "gel" are more insider speak. What I'm looking for is terms that were once perhaps readily discussed by audiences but may have fallen into lack of common use.... terms that newspapers and journals would once have used feeling that it was an understood term. I could see arguments for "workshop" going either way.
Thanks for you insight!
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#2
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:15pmI was helping friends decorate for christmas and dropped something from the top of the ladder and yelled "HEADS!" and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. None of them stopped to look up or make sure they didn't get hit. I just looked like a jack ass.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#2
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:18pmA lot of people don't know that the inside of the theater is referred to as the "House".
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#3
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:29pmCast recording.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/19/05
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#4
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:30pmPretty much any theatrical term is unfamiliar to a mainstream audience.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#5
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:31pm
11 O'clock number
Entr'acte
Beat (as in a pause)
Libretto
Swing
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#6
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:32pm
The "house" is a good one. "Front of house," "back of house," "the front of the back of the house." I guess people know what an orchestra is at least.
"Heads!" surprises me because I would think "heads up!" or "watch your heads" is a common enough term to make the leap in understanding.
Somewhat OT: I was surprised to discover that many of my colleagues do not know that the term "A-1" is not just a bbq sauce.. it means "A number 1," "head of the pack," "first class," and other synonymous phrases. This came up in art, media, and the law class where I argued trademarking "A-1" is like trademarking "Bravo!" or something similar.... many thought A-1 was a Heinz invention.
EDIT: Good ones Ljay and Taz. "11 O'Clocker" would definitely draw blank stares, but I can see journalistic theater criticism making a reference to that.
Also, "standby" perhaps? "Show-stopper?"
What about the ones I mentioned and have pasted below?
What about "out-of-town tryout"? A musical's "book"? "The West End"? "The Great White Way"? What about a musical "transferring"?
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#7
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:36pm
Or "top drawer".
It's not just where you keep your socks.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#8
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:43pmHehe, that made me think of "trunk song." "You've got a top drawer trunk song there."
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#9
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:48pm
House left/right, stage left/right
Day light day of rest (an Equity term)
Half hour (what it means)
EPA (Equity Principal Audition)
Many theatre jobs most people don't know about:
PSM
Company Manager
House Manager
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#10
Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:52pmSitzprobe! I know theatre people who don't even know that term.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#11
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:00pmTo go "up" on a line(s) is a term that very few theatergoers are familiar with.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#12
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:02pm
You mean a prova all'italiana? I had to look it up.. =)
I'm guessing since no one is addressing the four I asked about, I should just assume they would need a definition for a general audience. If I were to say, "The Human Comedy transferred from The Public," general audiences would not assume that meant THC opened on Broadway.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#13
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:03pmProscenium, house curtain, and deck. A lot of people don't know that most Broadway shows have their own deck/ floor with tracks on it for the set pieces.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#14
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:22pm
Read, as in "you read pretty young"
And a shocking number of people don't know the difference between a director and a producer.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#15
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:34pm
"The West End"?
I'd say the majority of the UK population would know this term. "West End" is to the UK population as "Broadway" is to Americans.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#16
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:36pm
"Strike"-as in striking a light, a prop, a set piece
"Call"-as in 6:00 pm call time
"Track"-as in the progression of each character or ensemble member's movements throughout the show
"scrim"
"cyc"
"thrust"
"apron"
"pit"
"fly"
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#17
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:43pm
At the stage door of Catered Affair I overheard Harvey Fierstein discussing how people don't know what a "book" is.
I think the term "out-of-town-tryout" is pretty self explanatory. I think people are less likely to know why it is done rather than what it is.
Recently, I was talking to an actor I know and he said he had done a "reading" that morning. After we parted ways the friend I was with asked what a reading was.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#18
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:48pm
Like book, libretto now seems pretty foreign.
I've always hated sitzprobe - it somehow strikes me as pretentious. What's wrong with "rehearsal with orchestra?" (Despite the five extra syllables.)
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#19
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:55pmI was at Time Stands Still on Wednesday and before the show one of my friends asked why the stage looked "foggy" and I told him that there was a scrim down and he went "what's that?"
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#20
Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:59pm
The fact that musicals without books have one "best book" Tony's has certainly done some damage in clarifying exactly what the term means.
Thanks guys for your additions. Many of these are very insider/technical industry terms, however.
I don't know if many Americans know what "The West End" is, though, Mark_E. Frankly, I wonder sometimes if mainstream audiences would know what Broadway is if it wasn't represented on television and films so readily.
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#21
Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:00pm
Ghost Light
Fire Curtain
Aside
Skirt
Rake
Thrust
Cheat (out/in)
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#22
Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:06pmtwinbelters- That's actually been an issue (Tony nominated/winning books that don't have books). Technically, the bookwriter is responsible for outlining the entire musical, so it's more than just the spoken dialogue. However, many people (I wonder if voters do, too) just consider the spoken dialogue as book.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#23
Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:06pmWhen I was directing high school productions, the principal used to blush when I talked about "mounting a production".
Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?#24
Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:11pm
When I talk about musicals to friends who aren't quite as interested in them, I have to always watch how I phrase things. Nobody can figure out that the book is the script. A lot of people have trouble grasping the concept of previews. Other things I'm sure they've never heard of include:
ASM (assistant stage manager)
strike (striking the set)
Difference between call, curtain, and curtain call (so many people think they know what these mean but end up just being so confusing)
Overture (almost everybody in band at my school thought that overtures are just in opera/classical and others thought overtures had singing)
Rake (the raked stage--I know tons of people who would be shocked to hear that the stage is slanted)
Readings/workshops
Off-Broadway/Regional/Community (I know many people who think that off-Broadway means anything that's not on Broadway)
Licensing a show--It's surprising how many people think you can just perform a show after buying a script, without paying for the rights.
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