Descriptionary

dress-room list a posted list of dressing rooms assigned to performers.

drop any stage curtain that can be raised or lowered.

farce a wacky comedy based on wild or unlikely or ludicrous situations.

first-night list a list of reviewers, sponsors, and other VIPs invited to attend an opening night, as dis­tinguished from the second-night list.

five minutes to curtain the traditional warning call to all performers five minutes before the show. Also, "five minutes, please."

flashpot receptacle that holds flash powder that is ignited to produce smoke, fire, or explosive effects.

flat an upright piece of painted scenery.

flood a floodlight or broad-beamed light.

fly a floor, platform, or loft over the stage, for lights and other equipment. Also, to suspend scenery from above the stage floor.

fly crew the crew who operate the overhead lights and other equipment on the fly.

fly gallery a sidewall platform where scenery lines are sometimes secured.

fly plot a diagram of lighting placement in the fly; a rigging plan.

footlights a row of lights along the foot of the stage, sometimes recessed in a trough, sometimes not.

front of the house the box office, lobby, and busi­ness offices at the front of a theater.

full-dress a full dress rehearsal.

gel a colored plastic (formerly made from gelatin) filter placed in front of a light to produce a colored beam.

go to table to rehearse lines while sitting around a table with other performers.

grave a hole in the stage.

green room a performers' waiting room near the stage.

ground row a piece of background scenery that sim­ulates a landscape, skyline, horizon, or other location.

head spot a spotlight directed on a performer's head.

high comedy comedy having witty, intelligent dia­logue, as distinguished from low comedy.

hit the boards slang for to go on stage.

horseshoe staging seating that forms a horseshoe configuration around the stage.

hot of a microphone, live.

houselights the lights that illuminate the audience.

icebreaker an opening number in a musical.

intermission bell a bell, chime, or buzzer rung to alert the audience that intermission is nearly over.

keg light a 500-watt spotlight shaped like a beer keg.

kill to turn off the lights or to remove scenery from the stage.

klieg light a large, powerful, wide-angle spotlight.

lap dissolve the fading out of one light and bright­ening of another, for effect.

legitimate theater serious plays and musicals, as distinguished from burlesque and vaudeville.

light rehearsal a practice run of light changes and lighting cues.

light tower a tower, often of scaffolding, on which lights are hung.

live pack scenery to be placed on the stage, as dis­tinguished from dead pack, or scenery to be taken off or that has already been used and put away.

live stage a stage with scenery.

loge a theater box in the front section of a mezza­nine or balcony.

low comedy slapstick or physical comedy, as distin­guished from high comedy.

lyric theater a theater specializing in producing musicals.

makeup call the time a performer must report to the makeup department.

marquee at the front of a theater, the projecting, rooflike structure advertising the upcoming show and its top performers.

matinee an afternoon show.

melodrama a play in which the emotions are acted out in an exaggerated fashion.

noises off sound effects made from off-stage.

Obie annual award given to those involved with off-Broadway productions.

off Broadway low-budget or experimental produc­tions performed in theaters other than those in the Broadway and Times Square area of New York.

oleo a painted curtain used as background for a brief scene while the set is changed from behind.

open full to start the show with the entire cast on stage.

opening night the first formal performance before an audience and critics.

opry house slang for an old theater.

orchestra pit the space below the stage where the musicians play.

overture a musical lead-in to a musical production number.

page a curtain to pull a curtain together so that the two halves meet at midstage.

pan to slowly sweep a spotlight from left to right, or vice versa.

Pan-Cake performers' heavy makeup.

papering the house giving away numerous free tickets in order to fill the theater.

parapet a low wall along a balcony.

parquet a theater's main floor, also known as the orchestra.

pass door a door providing access to backstage from the auditorium.

passion play a play centering on the suffering of Christ.