Old Vaudeville Bit of the Day: spittake

spittake: where one actor spits in the face of another for comic effect.

Term of the Day: lockout

Term of the Day: lockout--when management locks organized labor out of a job site during contract negotiations. Often the action will result in negative publicity for management.

To my brothers and sisters of Local #1 IATSE who face lockout by management from the Metropolitan Opera on August 1st, I will see you on the picket line.

Term of the Day: "Hey, we all have to play in this sandbox."

Expression of the Day: "Hey, we all have to play in this sandbox." When stagehands from different departments are bickering over turf issues during a call or a workcall, a cooler head might point out that we all have to work together. Often said with humorous intent.

Sarcastic Bit of the Day: "If you like him, invite him to dinner."

"If you like him, invite him to dinner": When two stagehands are engrossed in conversation at the expense of working, the crew chief might yell, "If you like him, invite him to dinner," so they go back to work.

Term of the Moment: cheap it out

cheap it out (v.): to use cheap, inappropriate materials when building scenery. "The shop used pine when building the deck instead of a hardwood...they cheaped it out."

Term of the Day: sloucher

sloucher (n.): a stagehand who tries to do the least amount of work possible, who has to be forced to work.

Terms from Equity: "shove with love"

"shove with love": to push an undertrained or hesitant actor onstage. During a recent performance of a show I am working on, a newly hired and undertrained vacation swing was thrown into a track she had only rehearsed a few times. The stage manager instructed the other actors to look out for the swing and to take care of her. "If she's about to miss an entrance, give her a 'shove with love'," he said, to make sure she gets onstage.