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.

Term of the Moment: Shaping

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 at load-ins or loadouts with their tools, looking for work. When I first showed up at the replacement room in 1993, the late Bobby Hancox greeted me in a wreath of cigarette smoke, and said, "You shaping?" I nodded, not knowing what he meant.