Common theater terms unfamiliar to mainstream audiences?

[twinbelters]

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!

Updated On: 12/20/10 at 01:53 PM

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:15pm

I 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.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:18pm

A lot of people don't know that the inside of the theater is referred to as the "House".

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:29pm

Cast recording.

[Tag]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:30pm

Pretty much any theatrical term is unfamiliar to a mainstream audience.

[tazber]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:31pm

11 O'clock number
Entr'acte
Beat (as in a pause)
Libretto
Swing

[twinbelters]

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"?

Updated On: 12/20/10 at 02:32 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:36pm

Or "top drawer".

It's not just where you keep your socks.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:43pm

Hehe, that made me think of "trunk song." "You've got a top drawer trunk song there."

[ahhrealmonsters]

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

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 2:52pm

Sitzprobe! I know theatre people who don't even know that term.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:00pm

To go "up" on a line(s) is a term that very few theatergoers are familiar with.

[twinbelters]

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.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:03pm

Proscenium, 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.

[bwaylvsong]

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.

[Mark_E]

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.

[backwoodsbarbie]

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"

[Eris0303]

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.

[newintown]

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.)

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 3:55pm

I 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?"

[twinbelters]

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.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:00pm

Ghost Light
Fire Curtain
Aside
Skirt
Rake
Thrust
Cheat (out/in)

[ahhrealmonsters]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:06pm

twinbelters- 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.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 4:06pm

When I was directing high school productions, the principal used to blush when I talked about "mounting a production".

[AwesomeDanny]

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.