This blog will contain commonly used words, phrases, lingo, vernacular, and other Broadway related terms that every Broadway fan should know. It will be continuously updated and I'll refer to it constantly, in case I say something you might not understand. If you think I've missed something, please feel to leave a comment and I'll gladly add it!
And now, without further ado, here is the Broadway Dictionary:
A:
Acoustics: the science of sound as applied to theatres, relating to how sound travels and reverberates.
Actor: a person who performs on stage, in film, or on television.
Audition: a trial performance to appraise an entertainer's merit so that they may be cast in a show.
B:
Backstage: the entire area behind the stage of a theatre, including the dressing rooms.
Blocking: stage movements by actors, including entrances, exits, and any steps taken in any direction across the stage.
Blockheads: what Stephanie J. Block fans pathetically call themselves.
Broadway: the New York commercial theater and amusement world; specifically : playhouses located in New York in the area between the Avenue of the Americas and Ninth Avenue and from W. 41st Street to W. 53d Street
Broadway.Com: A popular theatre website that focuses not only on news, but getting to know the performers as well. They also give popular stage actors their own video blogs. Kyle Dean Massey, Andy Karl and Jackie Hoffman have received their own Broadway.com blogs.
BroadwayForBrokePeople.com: a website that mainly features discounts for Broadway tickets.
Broadway Theatre: to be eligible for a Tony award, a Broadway theatre must house 499 seats or more. Theatres with less than that are considered off-Broadway and even off-off Broadway (see off and off-off Broadway).
BroadwaySpace.com: the Broadway equivalent to Myspace.com. Fans and performers alike can join the website and discuss theatre.
@BroadwaySpotted: slightly tasteless yet nonetheless addicting Twitter feed that "spots" Broadway stars that are out and about, both in and out of New York.
BroadwayWorld.com: self-described as "Broadway's premier web resource." They focus mostly on news. Their message board is popular, and the people who frequently post are known for being stupid, rude fuckheads.
BwayDaily: a popular livejournal community that tells what people really think in regards to certain theatre news. They also have an entirely addicting weekly "anon post."
C:
Call-back: a request that an actor return for an additional audition.
Character Role: a supporting role with pronounced or eccentric characteristics.
Chemistry: something Laura Bell Bundy and Christian Borle have a LOT of. Naw, just kidding. Chemistry is a mysterious element that creates excitement when two actor appear onstage together. Okay, maybe they do have that.
Cheno High Note: Kristin Chenoweth's ability to belt a high C and higher.
Cold Reading: Delivering a speech or acting a scene at an audition without having read it beforehand.
Community Theatre: a non-equity theatre in a city or town.
Cue: a line of dialogue, action, or sound, onstage or off, that tells an actor, techie, stagehand or stage manager to do something.
Curtain: 1. the start of a performance.
2. the long piece of fabric, etc, that hangs in front of a stage, covering it before the show begins.
D:
Diaphragm: the lower part of the lungs, filling the abdominal space, the supports the voice when actors or singers breathe correctly onstage.
Diction: clear, sharp pronunciation of words, especially of consonants.
Director: the person that tells yo' ass what to do!
"Do You Even Go Here?": A reference to Mean Girls and a popular response when someone says something so ridiculous that you don't even know why they're there. For example:
Fan A: I hate Neil Patrick Harris.
Fan B: WHAT THE FUCK?! DO YOU EVEN GO HERE?!
Downstage: the area of the stage closest to the audience.
E:
Equity: 1. The commonly used short term for the main stage actors union, Actors Equity Association.
2. What actors who are represented by the AEA are referred to as.
F:
Fannaleigh: What Annaleigh Ashford fans pathetically call themselves.
Finding Your Light: an actor's ability to sense when he or she is properly placed in respect to stage lighting.
Flop: a show that failed to draw and audience, or a terrible show. For example...Carrie has been named as a popular Broadway flop.
G:
H:
Hairballs: what Hair fans call themselves
Hilty High Note: Megan Hilty's ability to belt a high C or higher.
I:
In the Round: a theatre in which the audience is seated all around a central, typically round, stage.
Internal Cover: an understudy who has a regular role in a show, but also understudies another part. For example: Noah Weisberg played Aaron Schultz in Legally Blonde the musical, but also understudied for Emmett Forrest. (See also "understudy")
J:
K:
L:
LuPwn: a reference to when Patti LuPone told of an audience member during LuPone Gypsy for taking pictures. She literally stopped the show and yelled at him for doing so.
M:
Mannerisms: Gestures, facial expressions, and vocal tricks that a particular actor uses again and again in different roles.
Mean Girls: You don't know what this is? DO YOU EVEN GO HERE? GTFO.
Method Acting: An internalized form of acting that uses experiences from an actor's personal life to help produce onstage emotion, or it can also be referring to an actor's need to fully emerge themselves in their part, a la Laura Bell Bundy needing to wear pink all the time to play Elle Woods, painting her dressing room pink, etc.
Monologue: a literary composition written in the form of a soliloquy.
N:
Non-Eq: what actors who are not represented by the AEA are referred to as.
O:
Obies: Annual awards show for Off-Broadway shows in New York
Off-Broadway: a part of the New York professional theater stressing fundamental and artistic values and formerly engaging in experimentation. For example, the New World Stages.
Offstage: commonly used to refer to an actor's life outside of the theatre or their everyday life.
Off-Off Broadway: an avant-garde theatrical movement in New York.
Open Call: an audition open to anyone, regardless of experience or union affiliation.
P:
Places Call: the call the stage manager gives to tell the actors that it's showtime.
Playbill.com: another lesser-known theatre website that also focuses on both news and getting to know Broadway performers.
Q:
R:
Raked Stage: a tilted stage with its upstage space raised higher than its downstage space. This is where the terms "upstage" and "downstage" derived from. Though once popular, raked stages aren't typical anymore. The Gershwin stage is raked, as are some other Broadway stages.
Range: the vocal extent of an singer's voice, from its lowest note to its highest.
RENThead: what fans of the musical RENT call themselves.
S:
Shubert Alley: A famous theatrical thoroughfare between 44th and 45th Streets, just west of Broadway, it was created by the space between the back of the Astor Hotel and the Shubert and Booth Theatres. The alley was fenced off for many years, used by actors in the two theatres as a cool place to spend intermission and, at one end, served as a terminal for a New Jersey bus line. To hide the unsightly alley from pedestrians on the sidewalks, a row of large theatre posters were put on the fence. The posters stayed even after the buses left and the walkway was open to pedestrian traffic. After the demolition of the hotel and the erection of a skyscraper in its place, the famous alley was widened and, still featuring a row of posters, remains a popular site with players.
Stage left: when onstage, the actor's immediate left.
Stage right: when onstage, the actor's immediate right.
Standby: an understudy whose only job is to cover one role. They are not in the show but are the first choice if the lead cannot do the show. Sometimes, they are not required to be in the theatre once the show begins, other times the standby must be contactable via cell phone and within a five-mile radius of the theatre. Other times, like in Next to Normal, all standbys must be present at the theatre at half-hour call with all other actors.
Soliloquy: a dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections.
Stan: a combination of the words "stalker" and "fan.," and is also a reference to the Eminem song "Stan." Normally used to refer to over-obsessive theatre fans.
T:
THE TONYS: THE GREATEST EVENT EVER CONCEIVED BY MAN. The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in the Theatre are the annual awards ceremony for Broadway shows. The cut-off date for new shows to open is typically April 30th, and the awards ceremony are held in June.
Theatremania.com: another lesser-known theatre website that focuses mostly on news.
U:
Understudy: an actor, often playing another part, who learns another role, so as to be able to perform it if the regular actor cannot perform.
V:
W:
X:
Y:
Z:
Emma Zaks: the greatest theatre actress to have ever lived. /sarcasm
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