Term from Another Union: Sub City

Sub City--when the orchestra pit is mostly sub musicians. Sometimes, the result is horrible. "Right after Christmas, the pit was all Sub City."

Term of this Moment: Gypsy run-through/invited dress

Gypsy run-through/invited dress--paper is given out to dancers and members of the theatrical community. They clap at everything.

Term of the Night: garden-variety asshole

garden-variety asshole--difficult stagehand with no power.

Wardrobe Term of the Day: French alteration

French alteration--placebo alteration for a troublesome actor, calming them down by pretending to fix a costume.

Term of the Day: flop sweat

flop sweat: when producers start to freak out during production or previews that they may have a flop on their hands, so the creatives are directed to make radical changes, adding or cutting songs and monkeying with the book. Sometimes the freak out is justified and the show is saved, and other times the cuts or addition damage the living organism. "The producer broke into a flop sweat that the show was going to bomb and demanded radical changes to the finale." (term from Patrick Healy, New York Times, April 17, 2014) 

Prop-Specific Term of the Moment: broken stud = shovel

broken stud=shovel...”If you break a stud while working on the seats, you are out. You’ll be digging ditches.”

Term of the Moment: "Call the hall"

“Call the hall”--calling the replacement room of the union hall, looking for a man to work at that moment.

Ditchdigging Term of the Day: break your shovel

break your shovel--destroy contact, lose job

Prop Term of the Day: coke the stage

coke the stage--when a deck is slippery or even perceived by actors or dancers as slippery, the prop person will mop with a small amount of Coke in their mop bucket to make the deck less slippery. Sometimes the deck becomes too sticky after mopping with Coke.

Term of the Day: first broom

first broom--assistant to a house propman

Ambiguous Term of the Moment: go-to guy

go-to guy--hard worker (can be sarcastic)

Ode to Fascist Politicians: Giuliani barriers

Giuliani barriers--metal barriers put out in front of theaters, named after Mussolini-like former mayor of New York City. See also: bike racks

Term for Now: fragile cookie

fragile cookie--person barely holding it together

Term of the Moment: "Fork it"

"Fork it"--to move something with a forklift.

Term of the Minute: kiss the ring

kiss the ring--paying tribute to the head, like a loyal vassal...I have also heard a more obscene interpretation of this action.

Broadway History Moment: “Checks are Bouncing”

“Checks are Bouncing”--nickname for the financially troubled 2001 Broadway revival of “Bells are Ringing”

Term of the Moment: “beat the clock” mentality

“beat the clock” mentality--to do everything as quickly as possible, possibly making unnecessary errors. Inspired by the 1970's TV show.

Storage Term of the Day: "Bury this"

"Bury this"--to get rid of a hamper, a cut piece of scenery or a dead prop, buried deep in the basement or against the upstage wall, possibly blocked by other items.

Term of the Day: dropsy

dropsy--the tendency to drop things. “I have a bad case of the dropsies today.” Also: Butter hands

Stiff Term of the Day: good-enough stiff

good-enough stiff--a stiff good enough to sub, but not good enough or connected enough to take a full-time job on Broadway.

Term of the Night: breaking the fourth wall

breaking the fourth wall-- when a character addresses the audience

Term of the Day: stay in character

stay in character--to maintain the accent or the demeanor of the role you are playing onstage and sometimes even offstage. "Two actor friends of mine stayed in character, using their English accents from the show, while picking up their cars after the show."

Term from Another Union: booth singer

booth singer--actor or actress who is on a Broadway musical, but may only sing in the booth and may not go onstage. Usually, booth singers also understudy principals or ensemble members in the show.

Term of the Day: drug skinny

drug skinny-- when a young actor or actress has a sudden weight loss from excessive drug use and general partying. Typical drugs are Ecstacy and meth.

Term of the Closing Moment: stop clause

stop clause--a clause in a theater-rental contract that says if a show dips below a set financial amount in ticket sales for two weeks in a row, the theater owners have the option of forcing the production to close and vacate the theater. "Despite rave reviews, the recent revival of 'Side Show' dipped below $550,000 a week in ticket sales, so the theater owners exercised their stop clause in the theater-rental contract." Usually, the theater owners have a more promising show waiting to come in.
(see the New York Times article from December 13, 2014)

Another Stagehand Nickname: Le Miza Bob

Le Miza Bob--a miserable stagehand named Bob, always complaining and sucking the life out of those he works with. A takeoff on the title of the never-ending musical Le Miz. In Local #1, we have a Le Miza Bob working Legit and one working on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

Term of This Moment: met at the back of a truck

met at the back of a truck--to meet your peers in Local One when you are 18 or so unloading trucks. "I've known Bobby for 20 years. We met at the back of a truck when were 18." It can be an intense bond.

Term of the Moment: Word of mouth

word of mouth: gossip about a show. Positive word of mouth can pump energy and ticket sales into an iffy show. Negative word of mouth can chip away at a healthy show and eventually kill it.

Term of the Day--spending money like a drunken sailor

spending money like a drunken sailor--sometimes shows come to Broadway and spend money with reckless haste, despite poor ticket sales.

Term of the Day--a yutz

a yutz--a stupid, useless person (from Yiddish)....see also mook.

Term of the Day: hard exit

hard exit--when you have to leave a call at a set time to go on to another call. You are not able to do overtime that may suddenly come up. "I told the boss I had to make a hard exit at 5 p.m. to get to my Broadway preset by 5:30."

Mythical Figure of the Day: leprechaun

leprechaun--when you say his or her name, they appear. An Irish faerie that delights in mischievous behavior, but in  the theater setting, it is a person who magically appears whenever you say his or her name. "You can't ever gossip about the company manager, for she magically appears like a leprechaun when you say her name."

Theater Cops

theater cops-- police officers from the local precinct who patrol the Theater District. Often these officers are well known to the community and well liked. They know the characters who hang out in the Theater District, like the too persistent autograph collectors and the occasional stalker.

Archaic Terms We Use: take a gander

take a gander--take a look at something. "Take a gander at the Austrian...it appears to be hung up on the stage left side."