Theater vs. Theatre — Page 2

theater looks ignant.

Look, it is what it is and you can be as ornery as you please. It is just good knowledge to know how most people in theatre spell their artform. If you don't want to spell it "theatre"--knock your lights out with "theater". Be a rebel. Whoop dee doo.

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I just like sounding BRitish and putting theatre.

I just alwaysed used THEATRE because it looked...(for lack of a better word) more elegant. haha

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This thread is funny.

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I'm with you, Revo! And I love Bjork!

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I'm with all of you! Wheeee hee! It doesn't really matter!

The British also spell "center" as "centre"

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Basically it's up to you to use whichever spelling whenever you feel it's appropriate. Obviously there are multiple ways to approach the issue and to back up whatever spelling you use. And it's really not worth getting too wrapped up in the history behind it or feeling you need to subscribe to one ideology or another. I dig that you're just curious to know which is correct, I researched it myself at one point, and ultimately realized it doesn't really matter which you use as long as you're consistent. I personally use "theatre" for anything having to do with live stage work, and "theater" for the place where movies happen.

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I use "theatre" out of general snobbery, as it helps to distinguish what we do from a multiplex in a mall somewhere. And it's not true that theatER is the building. Look at any Broadway theatre. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's a single Broadway house that spells it ER.

The one annoyance about this debate is that every time I do a show I have to memorize every entity involved in the production that uses that word in their name, and which way they spell it. Very often it doesn't match between the producer, the venue, and whatever other companies are involved, and I have to remember which is which. And one time, it was the So-and-So TheatRE Company, but when refering to them as a business, the official name was the So-and-So TheatER Company, Inc. Now that was confusing!

Well, it's "theatre". Always. That might just be the Canadian in me though.

Updated On: 10/5/06 at 01:21 AM

I find it hilarious when Americans say something like "THEATER is the correct spelling." There are very few occasions when the American way is the correct way to spell a word (centre being another example and catalog as well). I place such hubris uright up there with "Do you speak American?"

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I spell it theater.

While I'm at it, I also write glamor, catalog, dialog, prolog, anesthesia, esthetic, etc. English is not my native language, so I learned the American way when I emigrated.

I'd spell the British way had I moved there instead.

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Updated On: 10/5/06 at 03:33 AM

Dover is correct. Every NYC legitimate theatre is spelled Theatre, not Theater, as in, The Shubert Theatre is the flagship theatre in the Shubert chain of theatres in New York City.

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Updated On: 10/5/06 at 07:36 AM