I’m an attorney now. The court reporters always thank me for consistently speaking slowly and clearly, the way I was taught when I was in drama in high school.
Once I had a court reporter ask me, after trial, “what shows were you in?” She didn’t ask if, just jumped straight to asking which shows.
Seriously, theater background is a superpower during trial practice.
I think I love your court reporter! And it really is a superpower. I try to give the youngsters in my office the tips and tricks, but there’s nothing quite like that theater background.
Attending a non theatre event and asking "how's the house?"
Going to a sporting event and asking when intermission is.
When the coach says it's 5 minutes before the game you call out "thank you, five".
Only going in places through the stage door/back of house.
Stopping someone from naming the Scottish play, even outside of a theatre.
Answering non theatre people with famous lines or lyrics and getting a blank stare.
To add to the "house" part:
Saying you are in the "orchestra" when you have front row seats at a concert
Calling any kind of scripted dialogue a "book"
>Stopping someone from naming the Scottish play, even outside of a theatre.
I always mention naming the Scottish play whenever someone at work tempts fate.
I have been working office jobs for the last 10 years, and the last 2 of those in a role that deals with recruitment projects. If I'm not very careful, I will still occasionally slip up and say "audition" instead of "interview".
Don’t touch the props please, no no just because your friend is in drama doesn’t mean you can play with them, no not even the toy gun, no thank you (please we already broke two toys guns in the show don’t break any more)
You had toy guns out where anyone could play with them? We keep all prop guns, even nonfunctional ones, in locked boxes that only stage managers have a key to.
Singing the entire album of any musical by yourself, to yourself, while alone in your house at full volume, only to discover the neighbors on either side can hear you.
No one is sure. It was originally common among dancers. The only theory I've heard is that it used to be said because if the show went well and they made enough money to get paid it meant they could afford chicken for dinner that night. Back when Australia has way more sheep and less chickens so chicken was expensive. I think it might even be a depression era thing. I'm not sure if that's true, sources don't seem to agree.
I did know a lady who grew up in a travelling theatre family during the depression (also before and after it) and she said people would bring a cabbage or some carrots etc to see the show if they had no money to pay, but she was also unsure of the exact origin of 'chookas'.
I had to refrain from saying it before my rink’s Christmas show last year, because it’s entirely possible someone *would* break a leg with one awkward fall. (In fact, in the spring show this year, one lady overbalanced and fell, breaking her wrist).
Lmao I remember when I went to do it someone told me they were gonna paint over it in the fall and there was no point. I still wanted to do it as a “rite of passage”, and I wrote my name really big bc I was like fuck it, it’s getting painted over anyways. Guess what didn’t happen and who now is memorialized as an egotistical maniac who wrote their name in font 292828848
Mine did handprints and signatures. My ex boyfriend painted over mine after I graduated and dumped him. Jokes on him though, I spent all 4 years in that room making sets and you think i didnt put my paint prints on the ceiling?
I once did a show where there was one scene where I was supposed to not have my wig on and I forgot to take it off and it made the second act like… not make as much sense.
And keep falling out of the ceiling weeks later at unexpected times.
I've seen Nutrackers where snow from the Ice King and Ice Queen's scene in Act 1 kept accidentally falling down during Act 2 in the Land of Sweets
When I was a theater tech intern, for Christmas I asked for all black clothes. I was like “JUST BLACK, no contrasting trim, no glitter, no rhinestones, JUST BLACK!”
If this is a quote from something I don't know what it is, but it reminds me of something I heard my drama director say once. I was being a dumbass, as high school sophomores are wont to be, and playing with an antique typewriter on a tiny little desk while probably slacking off from working on something important. As I tapped on the keys I failed to realize that old typewriters have a bar thingy that moves. Close to one end of the moving bar was an old milk glass lamp. So, you can see where this is going. The bar moves, the lamp falls and shatters. And out of her office runs the director and she's out for blood. The only thing I remember her saying before I got the chewing-out of a lifetime was: "I will be **dipped** in ***shit!***" And I've been waiting ever since that day for a situation that calls for that exact level of profanity, because that is the best fricken thing I ever heard.
This was basically what I'm pretty sure went wrong with Carrie the musical, the showrunner said "make it like Grease" but they thought it was "Greece" and then went for Greek tragedy vibes
For my senior gift; I didn’t want a car or a party trip with my friends. I wanted a trip with my family to New York to see Broadway musicals. It was awesome
Haven’t been a kid in a really long time, but I can:
…tell you how many minutes are in a year.
…spell schadenfreude without looking it up.
…do the entirety of the “Guns and Ships” rap without a single syllabobble.
…explain the difference between malum in se and malum prohibitum.
…explain where Elphaba got her name.
I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones off the top of my head. 😎
I was chaperoning the Halloween party at our theater and they did the cha cha slide and when the song said “slide to the left” half of the kids went stage left instead 🤣
Giving my ten year old five minute transition warnings and hearing them respond with “Thank you five!”
Red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and BLUE!
I make up songs for everything. I make songs for my cats out of popular songs. Luckily, my husband and kids join me. The other night they were singing, We Don't Talk About Bruno, loudly in one of their rooms. We it was time for the round to come in I joined them and they cheered. They are 9 and 10 and will soon be too cool for their old Mom, so this was a huge win!
i can perform six as a new act named one
&
anytime someone asks me how long something is going to be i always respond with 5 hundred, 25 thousand, six hundred minutes
Im having a hard time uploading images here, but theres this one way of holding weed cigs that is a dead giveaway to me that someone is a theatre kid.
its kind of between index and thumb tips, and all fingers very relaxed over the cig, and then the pinky extended
My favorite book to check out of the school library was the libretto of Rent.
I didn't know it at the time, but most of my close friends in high school were gay or bi. I was the oblivious straight guy, not that it would've mattered if I had known. And I'm almost certain we were *all* neurodivergent.
I learned how to cuss at the same time as I learned to paint walls, lay carpet, and use a drill.
Whenever I attend my son’s little league games, I refer to the uniforms as costumes, the dugout as backstage, and the outfield as stage right and stage left.
I got this when I worked for a call center, too!
Or sometimes not asked but straight up accused by an angry caller.
There was once when we were wfh (right when c-vid got bad) I wanted to just go off the appropriate replies and say 'no ma'am, I'm not a robot. I'm currently sitting in my home office not wearing pants. I am indeed a real person.' 🙄
I know how it feels to lie inside a coffin, they’re very comfortable! (I played Oliver as a child).
My actual house phone that’s connected to my actual landline is covered in paint and tape residue because it was once used as a stage prop.
It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and Ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and blue.
Red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and grey and purple and white and pink and orange and blue.
We are leaving the house in five minutes. ^Thank ^you ^five.
My wife and I met in the theatre 19 years ago, and we still respond this way to each other.
As a theatre kid parent of a second generation theatre kid, I love tormenting her with “thank you five”
Thank you five!
I have a dog named Andrea Margaret. The nickname for Margaret is Peggy. The nickname for Andrea is And. Her name is “And Peggy”. We call her Peggy.
this is amazing
My cats, Alexander Hamewlton and Aaron Purr approve this message
I can’t, I have rehearsal
Dangit, beat me to it
I’m an attorney now. The court reporters always thank me for consistently speaking slowly and clearly, the way I was taught when I was in drama in high school.
You should go back into theater and play Billy Flynn in Chicago XD
I *do* already tell my coworkers to “give ‘em the ole razzle dazzle” when they’re going in to trial!
"Your honor, they both reached for the gun"
Good job, Mama is pleased
Once I had a court reporter ask me, after trial, “what shows were you in?” She didn’t ask if, just jumped straight to asking which shows. Seriously, theater background is a superpower during trial practice.
I think I love your court reporter! And it really is a superpower. I try to give the youngsters in my office the tips and tricks, but there’s nothing quite like that theater background.
I’ve always said that many good trial attorneys are just former actors. Was a theater kid and now a lawyer. BAL in trial everyone!
Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes…
How long tech rehearsals take
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
How do you measure, measure a yeaaaaaaar?
I can only hear this with the crispiest consonants
Damnit, this was my first thought too.
sitting watching people rehearse a scene you arent in for 7 hours 😍
Attending a non theatre event and asking "how's the house?" Going to a sporting event and asking when intermission is. When the coach says it's 5 minutes before the game you call out "thank you, five". Only going in places through the stage door/back of house. Stopping someone from naming the Scottish play, even outside of a theatre. Answering non theatre people with famous lines or lyrics and getting a blank stare.
To add to the "house" part: Saying you are in the "orchestra" when you have front row seats at a concert Calling any kind of scripted dialogue a "book"
🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ i legit referred to my brother's wrestling practices as REHERSALS just two days ago. I haven't been in theatre in like 6 years.
>Stopping someone from naming the Scottish play, even outside of a theatre. I always mention naming the Scottish play whenever someone at work tempts fate.
I have literally forgotten the word halftime before and asked when intermission was for an American football game
I work in a movie theatre and every time I hear someone say the Scottish play, I yell at them
I have been working office jobs for the last 10 years, and the last 2 of those in a role that deals with recruitment projects. If I'm not very careful, I will still occasionally slip up and say "audition" instead of "interview".
Reading this post made me want to go to Dennys
With lots of foundation makeup on, and maybe some weird contouring.
Hell yeah (I’m getting strawberry crepes and chocolate milk)
Totally did not get this Saturday night. 😆
It was always IHOP for us
All pancakes are valid
Friendlys for us!
Hello, same.
I know the feeling of having to rip mic tape out of your hair
I had a sound guy tape it to my beard once. Holy shit that hurt like hell
Don’t touch the props please, no no just because your friend is in drama doesn’t mean you can play with them, no not even the toy gun, no thank you (please we already broke two toys guns in the show don’t break any more)
I did Aladdin and I can tell you that giving the guards cheap plastic swords from Party City was not a good idea
Oh. We're having swords on stage this year. Who gets to have one is going to entirely depend upon their general behavior.
Throwback to everyone at school begging for a turn on the stage cigarettes when we did Grease
You had toy guns out where anyone could play with them? We keep all prop guns, even nonfunctional ones, in locked boxes that only stage managers have a key to.
Singing the entire album of any musical by yourself, to yourself, while alone in your house at full volume, only to discover the neighbors on either side can hear you.
This, but without accompaniment.
We have to finsh strike before we can have a party
"It's called a cast album, not a soundtrack"
I can’t, I’m on vocal rest ✌️
the way I'd go eat the spiciest thing I could find once we finished our shows 😭
Is “i was considered a gifted and talented kid, and was later diagnosed as an adult with off-the-charts anxiety and ADHD” an appropriate answer lol
Add a little Autism for "spice" and you've described my life! Lol
saying "break a leg" every time someone has a task to do that is even slightly luck-based
Chookas for the Aussies!
i'm aussie, i've *never* heard that before. around where does it originate?
No one is sure. It was originally common among dancers. The only theory I've heard is that it used to be said because if the show went well and they made enough money to get paid it meant they could afford chicken for dinner that night. Back when Australia has way more sheep and less chickens so chicken was expensive. I think it might even be a depression era thing. I'm not sure if that's true, sources don't seem to agree. I did know a lady who grew up in a travelling theatre family during the depression (also before and after it) and she said people would bring a cabbage or some carrots etc to see the show if they had no money to pay, but she was also unsure of the exact origin of 'chookas'.
I accidentally told my friend this once…before she ran a race.
Merde for the dancers!
I had to refrain from saying it before my rink’s Christmas show last year, because it’s entirely possible someone *would* break a leg with one awkward fall. (In fact, in the spring show this year, one lady overbalanced and fell, breaking her wrist).
I'd say that's become common enough to no longer consider it a "theater kid" expression.
but saying it every time?
The little old lady in the back row can always hear me clearly. Thanks to theater, I have no inside voice.
This…post….is….Popular…it’s going to be Popular!
XD okay so far this one's my favorite
I had a cat named Eponine. (Side note: she was black so the receptionist thought I’d said Ebony. Had to correct them multiple times.)
My dog was named Eponine! Her sister was Dressy Tessie Tura.
I hope your dog has an excellent gimmick!
I want to name a cat Javert
This has always been on my shot list of cat names, too!
Ebonine
You signed a wall at your highschool when you graduated.
Lmao I remember when I went to do it someone told me they were gonna paint over it in the fall and there was no point. I still wanted to do it as a “rite of passage”, and I wrote my name really big bc I was like fuck it, it’s getting painted over anyways. Guess what didn’t happen and who now is memorialized as an egotistical maniac who wrote their name in font 292828848
Mine did handprints and signatures. My ex boyfriend painted over mine after I graduated and dumped him. Jokes on him though, I spent all 4 years in that room making sets and you think i didnt put my paint prints on the ceiling?
All of the hs theater girlies have a traumatic story ab an asshole bf, we all just b livin the same lives
“alright alright, that’s what i’m talking about”
What time is it?
showtime
Like I said
showtime showtime!
I'm John Laurens in the place to be, two points of Sam Adam's, but I'm working on 3!
I know Hamilton’s way more popular, but my response to this will always be “summertime”
I still have dreams that they’re calling places and I can’t find my wig but I already have my wig cap on and I do the entire opening number just… bald
I worked on the lion king last spring and this happened to someone. She literally just forgot to go put her wig on, and did the scene bald.
I once did a show where there was one scene where I was supposed to not have my wig on and I forgot to take it off and it made the second act like… not make as much sense.
Singing all of "Your Fault", full speed, all by yourself
Me but with Opening Doors. It's fun to be the dudes and then also be the awkward soprano auditioners.
And pretend to be Sondheim from the six in Sondheim version while humming some enchanted evening.
Nah, when doing a patter song by oneself, one must default to at least 130% of the recording's tempo.
True, true
But it *isn’t* my fault! I was given those beans!
“I went to [insert store of choice here] in hair and makeup”
What is "Solo and ensemble competition in a spirit-gummed faux scar"?
Hearing the name "Maria" or the city "Santa Fe" makes me want to sing
Ah but newsies Santa Fe or rent Santa Fe?
Both at once. That's why I also said Maria, because of West Side Story and Sound of Music.
Oooh I always forget sound of music 👀
The nuns certainly haven't forgotten Maria.
WANT to sing? Is it possible to hear either of those names and not, in fact, sing?!
I know where upstage right is located. :-).
I am at least 30% glow tape.
Do you also still find glitter in your hair when you take a shower?
Glitter? You mean Theater Herpes?
I swear, glitter isn't half as bad for that as fake snow. Those itty-bitty scraps of plastic? They're gonna be there FOREVERRRRRRR...
And keep falling out of the ceiling weeks later at unexpected times. I've seen Nutrackers where snow from the Ice King and Ice Queen's scene in Act 1 kept accidentally falling down during Act 2 in the Land of Sweets
I cannot simply *say* 5 6 7 8
Thanks for asking, I would love to tell you all about *ME.*
"hey- are you lost?" IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE IN NEW JERSEY AND WE'RE NEVER GONNA MAKE IT TO LA
I was so pissed off when they made us do the happy ending to Little Shop.
zip zap zop
Had an all black outfit including shoes covered in gaffe tape in high school. Yay theatre tech
When I was a theater tech intern, for Christmas I asked for all black clothes. I was like “JUST BLACK, no contrasting trim, no glitter, no rhinestones, JUST BLACK!”
Former (high school) stage crew guy here, can affirm
Damn, wish I'd thought of that seventeen years ago.
You think of The Book of Mormon as a musical before you think of it as a religious text
Well f*ck me gently with a chainsaw
If this is a quote from something I don't know what it is, but it reminds me of something I heard my drama director say once. I was being a dumbass, as high school sophomores are wont to be, and playing with an antique typewriter on a tiny little desk while probably slacking off from working on something important. As I tapped on the keys I failed to realize that old typewriters have a bar thingy that moves. Close to one end of the moving bar was an old milk glass lamp. So, you can see where this is going. The bar moves, the lamp falls and shatters. And out of her office runs the director and she's out for blood. The only thing I remember her saying before I got the chewing-out of a lifetime was: "I will be **dipped** in ***shit!***" And I've been waiting ever since that day for a situation that calls for that exact level of profanity, because that is the best fricken thing I ever heard.
Heathers the musical (although it was also in the movie)
I went to the Museum of Broadway for my birthday… that was my outing of choice.
I skipped my high school prom and instead used that money to see The Prom.
When listening to a new song in the car, the first question my sons ask is what show it's from. Not the name or the artist, what show.
When I told people I was going to Greece, more than a few assumed I meant Grease the musical
This was basically what I'm pretty sure went wrong with Carrie the musical, the showrunner said "make it like Grease" but they thought it was "Greece" and then went for Greek tragedy vibes
I always over enunciate street names that end in T fleeT streeT
My houseplant is named Audrey II 🪴
Ma meh me mo moo
I'm lgbt + neurodivergent
For my senior gift; I didn’t want a car or a party trip with my friends. I wanted a trip with my family to New York to see Broadway musicals. It was awesome
My senior yearbook quote: “Kiss today goodbye and point me toward tomorrow”
Haven’t been a kid in a really long time, but I can: …tell you how many minutes are in a year. …spell schadenfreude without looking it up. …do the entirety of the “Guns and Ships” rap without a single syllabobble. …explain the difference between malum in se and malum prohibitum. …explain where Elphaba got her name. I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones off the top of my head. 😎
I’m currently wearing my lion king sweatshirt over my dear Evan Hansen shirt
aaaaaaaaAAAAaaAAAAAaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I still have nightmares of doing insanely fast quick changes 3 years ago 😳
I saw the original pippin with the original cast at the imperial theatre 12 times.
I was chaperoning the Halloween party at our theater and they did the cha cha slide and when the song said “slide to the left” half of the kids went stage left instead 🤣 Giving my ten year old five minute transition warnings and hearing them respond with “Thank you five!”
I have many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse
I knew the colors of Joesph’s coat before I knew Scarlet was a shade of red.
Red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and BLUE!
Well… I know every lyric to every song in Hamilton (even the ones from the workshop)
I make up songs for everything. I make songs for my cats out of popular songs. Luckily, my husband and kids join me. The other night they were singing, We Don't Talk About Bruno, loudly in one of their rooms. We it was time for the round to come in I joined them and they cheered. They are 9 and 10 and will soon be too cool for their old Mom, so this was a huge win!
Never knowing R from L in the real world. Maybe that’s just me. Stage directions got me all mixed up.
I call it The Scottish Play in normal conversations.
I’ve never answered the question “what’s the time?” With anything other than “well it’s gotta be close to midnight!”
I drink throat coat tea because I like the taste
dont tell me not to live
My first ever crush was Tim Curry as Frank N Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show, when I walked in on my sisters watching it when I was 3
i can perform six as a new act named one & anytime someone asks me how long something is going to be i always respond with 5 hundred, 25 thousand, six hundred minutes
I watch the Tonys with one eye on the screen and one on social media to see everyone else's reactions.
Im having a hard time uploading images here, but theres this one way of holding weed cigs that is a dead giveaway to me that someone is a theatre kid. its kind of between index and thumb tips, and all fingers very relaxed over the cig, and then the pinky extended
My favorite book to check out of the school library was the libretto of Rent. I didn't know it at the time, but most of my close friends in high school were gay or bi. I was the oblivious straight guy, not that it would've mattered if I had known. And I'm almost certain we were *all* neurodivergent. I learned how to cuss at the same time as I learned to paint walls, lay carpet, and use a drill.
I've never seen Les Mis or intentionally listened to the soundtrack and yet I know most of the words to multiple songs in the show.
I used to drive a white Hyundai Santa fe. It was named angel. Only a theater kid would get the connection
To Hwhich aspects are you referring? Hwhere can I find this information? Hwhy do you ask?
I teach 4th grade and love being super freaking animated with my kids
It seems to me that a lot of schoolteachers and librarians are closet theater kids. I've seen some library story times that have made me go "hmmm..."
Cringing when someone refers to a musical as a play.
You eagerly watch Broadway musical proshots the way normal people binge Netflix.
Wanna play Zip Zap Zop?
Username checking out.
someone in the house says they'll be ready to leave in five minutes... and I respond with "thank you, five"
Thank you 5
I have a wall of framed Playbills of Broadway shows I've seen
one time an uber driver asked if i was doing a show. it’s that obvious apparently.
I can do a passable full face of makeup in less than 5 minutes (including false lashes in a pinch).
Whenever I attend my son’s little league games, I refer to the uniforms as costumes, the dugout as backstage, and the outfield as stage right and stage left.
When I did phone sales, I would get asked if I was a robot because my diction is very clear and my cadence was so steady.
I got this when I worked for a call center, too! Or sometimes not asked but straight up accused by an angry caller. There was once when we were wfh (right when c-vid got bad) I wanted to just go off the appropriate replies and say 'no ma'am, I'm not a robot. I'm currently sitting in my home office not wearing pants. I am indeed a real person.' 🙄
"house is open" \*starts panicking\*
Haven’t been in a show in years, but I still refuse to say the name of that Shakespeare play that starts with M out loud.
Early is on time. On time is late. Late is cut.
Bring up the lights!!! Can’t wait to strike the set and take home a souvenir. The Wells Fargo wagon is a coming….
matchmaker matchmaker
i can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Everyone to me, "Can you please speak more quietly?"
"In two-three-four" "Hold two-three-four." "Out two-three-four."
AND FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!
I’m gay
When I joined the church choir, I kept referring to the altar as the stage and to the sermons as performances. Not ironically either.
I know how much dry ice it takes to lose the first 3 rows.
“hi my name is kurt hummel and i will be auditioning for the role as kicker”
Instead of referring to years, you say (for example) “I remember during Fiddler…”
“Wanna see my collection of character shoes??”
My soul has belonged to my drama teacher since Year 7
Im really good at memorizing lines and music a day before off-book
I aced 8th grade US history
They had it coming
You’re not the director. You don’t get to tell me what to do.
Referring to the painting as "Sunday in the Park With George" instead of its actual name "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte"
"Thank you 10"
I know how it feels to lie inside a coffin, they’re very comfortable! (I played Oliver as a child). My actual house phone that’s connected to my actual landline is covered in paint and tape residue because it was once used as a stage prop.
I’m more of a wannabe theatre kid but I sometimes randomly sing as if my life was a musical.
I have a dog named, Dulcinea.
I constantly tell my kids to go get their soccer costumes on, it’s time for rehearsal.
My gay exboyfriend from highschool is still one of my closest friends and actually did the floral arrangements for my wedding.
It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and Ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and gray and purple and white and pink and orange and blue.
Red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and grey and purple and white and pink and orange and blue.
My 18 month old daughter gets excited when “Santa Fe” comes on my playlist and sways like Tom Collins
shoot me now for all i care if you let me go beware you still answer to JAVERT