Term of the Night: happy star, happy theater

happy star, happy theater--if the star is happy, the mood in the theater is good.

Term of the Day: kicking the can down the road

kicking the can down the road--refusal to make a decision in hiring, often in hiring new heads or extra stagehands. "When his extra man retired, the head refused to hire a new stagehand full time, just kicking the can down the road for a later decision."

Term of the Day: an itch

an itch--an annoying person. "The older actress ignored her younger, romantic co-star offstage. He was a constant itch during rehearsals and production."

Term of the Day: actor whisperer

actor whisperer-- director or stage manager good at working with actors. In the case of PSMs, a person able to calm down or contain a difficult actor.

Quote of the Day: "The juke-box musical is the cockroach of Broadway musicals"

"The juke-box musical is the cockroach of Broadway musicals"--this gorgeous line comes from New York Times theater critic Jesse Green's scathing review of the new musical "Summer," which details the life of Donna Summer, which is presently at the Lunt-Fontaine and is actually making a lot of money. The use of the term cockroach implies that juke-box musical, where old songs from a particular artist are used, will survive everything on Broadway, including nuclear war.

Term of the Night: Runyonesque character

Runyonesque character, Damon Runyon character--eccentric Broadway character. Damon Runyon was a 1920s and 1930's newspaper man whose short stories on the Broadway world inspired the musical "Guys and Dolls." The characters in the short stories included mobsters, showgirls, bookies and Salvation Army charity workers. Often the characters operated in the grey areas of the law, hanging out in nightclubs and bookie joints, looking for the next score. Occasionally people who work in the modern stage industry have some of these characteristics of this bygone era. I knew an alcoholic stagehand who ran book out of a Chinese restaurant. Some of the old Westies who work on Broadway have good stories, as well.
"When the musical 'Jersey Boys' opened in 2005, the son of the late Four Seasons bass player Nick Massi would show up to scalp tickets for the Broadway hit. When he kept trying to approach the cast when he was drunk, he was banned from the theater and the stage door.  He was a Runyonesque character."

Overheard Stagehand Line #16: "I'm going to his wake..."

"I'm going to his wake to make sure he's dead."