Things you never realised and now feel dumb about.- Page 3

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 12:57pm

Weez: Hey, at least FinishingtheHat2 has something to contribute to this thread, even though it is not Broadway related!

[Weez]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 1:24pm

At least by posting that he's admitting he's dumb for thinking it, right?

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 1:42pm

I grew up in an area with only one performance space within about 75 miles. It's located right downtown and is about 2.5x what the Gershwin Theatre is. I'd been to SEVERAL touring shows there since I was a kid and I assumed that's how big ALL theatres were. Especially on BROADWAY.

Well, so I go up to see my FIRST Broadway show at the Marquis theatre. We were standing out in the lobby area and someone from the house staff had opened the doors to the theatre. I caught a quick glimpse of the show curtain and thought it looked way too close. Something was wrong here. We had seats on Row V. Now, like I said in my local venue, I would have known that Row V might as well been a mile away from the stage.

So the staff takes my ticket and I walk in the theatre. Instantly, my jaw drops. I could not believe how close we were to the stage. Even on row V.

Just imagine my suprise at the Shubert and the New Amsterdam...

[SAluva2]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 4:09pm

I was very young at the time but I was not sure if Ethel Merman was a man or a woman for the longest time...there really is no excuse for that.

[fosca3]

Posted: 7/7/08 at 9:39pm

I always just assumed that Hunter and Sutton Foster were married

[Patash]

Posted: 7/7/08 at 10:07pm

fosca3, Sutton and Hunter Foster ARE married. Just not to each other!

Posted: 7/7/08 at 10:12pm

When I saw GYPSY, I didn't realize that June's boys were named after the places they were picked up from on the train. I just thought they were named L.A. and Tulsa and that sort of thing because they had weird names...

[Marianne2]

Posted: 7/7/08 at 10:42pm

Mine is probably one of the worst. I obviously knew about Hairspray being a Broadway musical before the movie came out last summer. So to get myself in the mood for the movie coming out, I rented the original movie. I was sitting there for a good 10 minutes expecting to hear songs from the musical that I knew. But, I then found out that that musical only came out in 2002. :0 I still can't believe I thought the new movie was going to be exactly the same as the original.

[caitlinette]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:06am

I used to think, until fairly recently, that actors didn't wear wigs. When I saw Wicked, I was obsessed with what I assumed was Eden Espinosa's hair. I was so envious! Until I realized...

Almost everyone I talk to who doesn't really know theater assumes the same thing.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 12:55am

I had no idea that Andrew Lippa wrote John & Jen until just recently. I felt a little stupid...

[canmark]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:17pm

The Damn Yankees threads reminded me that back in the day I used to think that "Whatever Lola wants" was Lola Falana's personal song. I had no idea it came from Damn Yankees (which I later thought was about the Yankees, rather than the Washington Senators...).

[BwayFan4]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 8:11pm

Kinda theatre related
When i was in high school i went to the Bucks County playhouse for a high school competition. during the day i went to the restroom...even looked at the photo on the door....and the whole time i was going i thought it strange that there were no urinals.....upon leaving i realiz(s)ed that i was in the ladies room

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 8:50pm

It took me about three viewings of Dreamgirls (the stage version) to realize who the father of Effie's child was. I didn't get the whole Act 1 "I'm not feeling well, I've got pain" was that Effie was pregnant. I just thought she had eaten some bad Chinese food.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 11:14pm

I once thought Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote Les Mis. Oops.

[verynewyorkcurious]

Posted: 7/9/08 at 11:51pm

I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but..

I have no idea what "blocking" is.

and also, are all actors (ensemble included) members of the equity? and um..what exactly is the equity? I always assumed it's the union group of Broadway actors.

What's a non-equity tour of a show?

[Ella_17]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 5:47am

Eastwickian, are you from the UK? my french teacher is and I remember once when someone in my class finally got a concept she said "the penny dropped didn't it. We all kind of stared at her and she said it was a british expression.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 9:55am

"I have no idea what "blocking" is."

Blocking is the movement of actors on the stage and their positions on the stage. For example, if an actor enters through a door and crosses over to a sofa and sits down, that actor has been blocked to cross to the sofa and sit. For every show, the stage manager draws a diagram of all the positions of the actors on the stage and draws diagrams of all their movements while on the stage.

"and also, are all actors (ensemble included) members of the equity? and um..what exactly is the equity? I always assumed it's the union group of Broadway actors."

Equity is the short term for Actor's Equity which is the union for actors and stage managers. There are different types of theaters, some have union actors and some do not. All Broadway theaters are equity and only use union workers. Many regional theaters are equity but employ non-union actors in smaller roles to help them get their union status. There are productions of musicals that go out as "non-equity" tours meaning they aren't using union workers, although some have hired one or two union people.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 10:01am

Ella_17: Yes I am and have only just realised how nonsensical that saying is if you've never heard it before!

For my part, I'm confused by the recent American saying "I could care less" as logically it means that you do care. Over here, we say "I couldn't care less"....

And why do people spell ridiculous 'rediculous'?
Updated On: 7/10/08 at 10:01 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 10:06am

And why do people spell ridiculous 'rediculous'?
The same reason they spell definitely "definatly."

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 10:22am

People have been confusing misspeaking "couldn't care less" for a very long time, it certainly isn't recent.

It's a mistake that not all Americans make. Assuming all Americans misspeak this phrase is actually insulting.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 10:31am

My apologies if I phrased that badly. What I meant is that (in my limited experience) I've never heard it used by a non-American, not that all Americans do it. And obviously the mangling/evolution of English language is certainly not something I would blame/credit just America for

EDIT Lizzie Curry: Fair point! I suppose everyone notices/commits different speeling erors Updated On: 7/10/08 at 10:31 AM

[Weez]

Posted: 7/10/08 at 2:14pm

I believe that saying "could care less" when you mean "couldn't care less" was originally Jewish sarcasm (some Americans *do* get sarcasm! This explains Judge Judy! ), but because people are stupid and didn't get the sarcasm and realise they meant the opposite, it became more widespread. Of the primarily English-speaking countries that immediately spring to mind, America's the one with the most open Jewish culture, which is why it seems to have come from America.

And I'm pretty sure I originally got that explanation from the board many moons ago, so if I'm wrong, it's YOUR fault. ^_^

And why do people spell ridiculous 'rediculous'?

My stock answer for any "why" question: because they're stupid. (Srsly, it's a damn good answer for pretty much any question beginning with a "why". Try it and you'll see!)

[Rose_Lee]

Posted: 7/17/08 at 8:00pm

For a really long time, I didn't realize that Blake Daniel was Gideon Glick's replacement in Spring Awakening. I thought that he played Jonathan B Wright part and that J.B.W. was the replacement, and that Gideon was still on. I feel like an idiot now.

[fanpires]

Posted: 7/18/08 at 9:02pm

when i was younger, i listened to the little women obcr for my first time. i couldn't understand why sutton foster's name was right on the cd cover as though it was important or something. for the longest time, i thought sutton was a guy and "he" played laurie. *_*

oh, and i thought marin mazzie was a guy in the passion obcr when i was 16. i thought marin was a boy's name... Updated On: 7/18/08 at 09:02 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/19/08 at 2:01pm