Expression of the Night: by offer

by offer-- when an actor has achieved star status or is a famous character actor, he or she may refuse to audition anymore. The producers hire the star "by offer." "Colman Domingo didn't audition for "Rustin." He was hired for the film by offer."

Term of the Day: showstopper

showstopper: a rousing high-energy dance number or solo that literally stops the show with the volume of applause. Or a major mechanical screw up or crew member mistake that literally forces the show to stop until the error is corrected. In the most extreme versions, the house curtain is brought in and the SM makes an announcement on the god mike along the lines of "There will be a short delay."

Term of the Day: legs

legs--when a head refuses to leave his/her office or is physically incapable of doing so, an assistant will become their legs, going around the theater and running a load in or load out. "When the old head played guitar in his office for the last five years of his career, his assistant became his legs, running the crew and making sure the load in was going well."

Term of the Day-- to walk someone in

to walk someone in--when a Broadway head with a lot of juice takes a protege and walks them into the office of the theater executive who hires heads. Also, to make an introduction to the the executive who does the hiring. For some legendary heads, this was a sure route of getting their own people hired as heads on Broadway.

Term of the Day: drive by

drive by--to go to the monthly union meeting to get your card stamped and to vote, staying for less than five minutes. If you don't go to four union meetings in one year, you have to buy next year's stamps for your card. To make sure it's a quick entry and exit, some drive by members will pretend to be on the phone, so people don't engage them. Since the Covid pandemic, there is no voting new members in at the monthly meetings.

Term of the Day: a hit dump

 

a hit dump--when a juke box musical dumps most of the hits in the second act. From Jesse Green's review of Alicia Keyes' "Hell's Kitchen," November 19, 2023.

Term of the Day: fire-lining

 fire-lining--when a line of stagehands will pass items down the line, like up or down stairs, such as many gallon jugs of sterilized water to feed a fog machine.