Term of the Night: (the) shape up, shaping, shape the hall

(the) shape up, shaping, shape the hall--look for work (longshoreman’s term, lit. showing up to show you are in shape). Before most last-minute replacement work was routed through the union hall, men would show up to the theater with their tools, shaping the load in or loadout to look for work. Shape the hall means to go to the replacement room to wait for possible work.