NTC’s
Dictionary of Theatre and Drama Terms,
Jonnie Patricia Mobley, National
Textbook Company, 1992
1. Break a leg: Born of the superstition that if one wishes
“good luck” the perverse gods will send the opposite, but if one wishes bad
luck, they will trick the gods into send good luck
2. Royalty: Payment made to a playwright/company to perform
his/her play. They were first paid
in the eighteenth century
3. George Spelvin: The false name used in the playbill to
conceal an actor’s identity when playing two roles in a show.
4. Alan Smithee: The false name a director gives when
he/she wants to remain anonymous
5. The Ghost walks: A term used by actors for payday.
In Shakespeare’s time, the actor playing the Ghost in Hamlet was also
the stage manager who delivered the pay to the other actors.
6. Dark: A theater that is no longer used, or a night in
which there is no performance
7. American Theatre Wing: The organization that conducts
the Tony Awards
8. Antoinette Perry Awards: Commonly called the “Tony”
awards. She was and actor, director
and theatre activist in the 1930s and 40s.
The first Tony awards were given out in 1947
9. Off Broadway: Commercial theater productions away from
the central theater district in NYC. The
plays produced there are either experimental or in need of a more intimate
setting. Some Off Broadway
theaters: Sullivan Street Theatre, Circle in the Square, John Houseman Theatre.
10. Second banana: The assistant to the lead comic in a show. He is always the butt of his jokes. Comes from an old burlesque gig when the comic and his assistant did shtick with bananas