Is The Ghostlight On And Other Amusing Theatre Facts You Need To Know You Didn't Know You Need To Know...

Today's blog which I do hope you enjoy, contains some highly informative and very amusing bits [following the first amusing bit I wrote touching on the Language Of Theatre] which really are all why "there IS no business like our beloved show business."🎭💫

The other day in my blog "Funny Adelaide Bits," I described how my ten fellow Scene Painting classmates, our seventy-two year old Professor Emeritus, and I serendipitously dared to ride down the 

Mt. Everest of hills following our final class.  Until I had posted that blog I hadn't caught a huge gaffe I made in the piece.  Because the language of theatre is so ingrained in me it comes bursting out of my mouth 

or here on these pages unexpectedly.  For you see I actually had described in that blog piece how if we had the misfortune of speeding down Mt. Everest heading [stage right] we would plunge into a icy creek.  Thus we needed to go [stage left] down Mt. Everest.  Who else but Adelaide describes flying down a snow packed hill where [stage right] is creek and [stage left] is becoming airborne?!!  Which by the way we became.😃  And avoided the creek.🤩

In the end I chose to leave the gaffe I made of having fallen into using my theatre language by allowing it to remain.  I decided there was a charm of my having innocently used a language I not only spoke for many decades but forever hold dear.  That life, the very unique life of show business and its language will always be a special part of Adelaide you too, have now come to know.🎭💫

Theatre is bursting with traditions, rituals, and yes, superstitions too that we who were born with theatre in our souls have been known to take very seriously down through the centuries which makes the mysticism and magic of theatre even more profound.

As my life has been steeped with all this vast treasure

I thought you may just enjoy being enlightened with a little of this wealth too.

Saying "break a leg" instead of saying "good luck"...

"Leg" in theatre is actually the curtains hanging in the wings stage left and stage right masking the backstage.  Breaking a leg means one has broken past this barrier and made it successfully onstage.  Some believe this phrase was born in early vaudeville when performers waited backstage and it was decided in the moment if their act would go on, so if they were sent on they had broken past the curtain leg.

Others believe theatres have many ghosts from our vast past hanging around who have nothing better to do than cause mischief by making the opposite of what you want to have happen.  So by wishing for something bad like breaking a leg will bring something good like a performance or successful play instead.

Merde...

Merde actually translates to "shit" in French.  You see the orgin of this tradition traces back to 19th Century Paris when attendees of the Paris Opera Ballet would pull up to the famed Palais Garnier in horse-drawn carriages.  The more merde the more audience members, thus success with a sold out House.

Do not whistle in the theatre...

In the 1600s theatres began to employ mechanisms to  raise curtains, scenery, props and even actors.  The rigging of these theatrical "fly systems" was very similar to that of many sailing ships then.  So it was only a matter of time before sailors were finding work as  theatre crew.  On the seas sailors communicated to each other through a code of whistling.  When they began working in theatre this means of communication followed.  A certain combination of whistles could mean instructions to raise or lower scenery.  

The huge problem with this though was if a actor just happened to cross the stage whistling the sailors working the fly system would very easily confuse that whistling to be THEIR ditty for a cue.  This then would place in grave danger anyone far below on the stage who became terribly crushed by a wrong scene change brought on by the errant whistling.  

Of course now centuries later theatre technology has drastically changed.  Yet our penchant for keeping our superstitions alive and thriving still means no whistling.  Period.  Nada.  Zilch.  Never.  Ever.  

You see we take our long held embraced traditions very seriously. 

Wing it...

This phrase of ours has now been incorporated into the greater colloquial lexicon these days, but when actors would "wing it" they were going on stage unprepared.  Like partying hard because they got the role in a play whose lines they were supposed to have memorized but didn't...get...memorized.  This is where "winging it" comes in you see by having the audacity to come on stage unprepared to play a part without memorizing any lines and THEN...either relying on the prompter in the wings or have pages of the script precariously taped to the Theatre Set, props, or...the...wing...flats.  Thus "winging it."

In the limelight...

Limelight was the first gas lamp alternative for lighting theatres.  Invented in the early 1800s limelight was generated by heating calcium oxide with a blend of oxygen and hydrogen.  Theatres began using limelight in the 1830s for what became our early spotlights.  

So now we continue our grand cherished traditions we devotedly keep by saying, "Those in the limelight are the center of attention" when they are actually in the spotlight shining down upon them.

Never ever mention "Macbeth" in a theatre...

Even just WHISPERING the name of one of William Shakespeare's bloodiest plays inside of a theatre is a most egregious taboo.  In fact if one were to commit such a terrible act this will send most of us who have given our lives to theatre into a high state of panic.  I am talking terror here folks.  

Now there are a variety of speculations as to why saying the play's name in a theatre is considered such bad luck setting aflame fear in our hearts.  One possible reason for this superstition passed down through the centuries comes from the incantations of the three witches in Macbeth.  It is believed that Shakespeare either adapted these very spells from real witches or actual books of black magic.  This then opened the play up to the forces of darkness which are rumored to plague productions of what most now refer to as "The Scottish Play."

So if anyone DOES make the dreadful mistake of saying "Macbeth" in a theatre, we theatre people have some countercurses we believe will keep the doom from occurring.  One must follow these instructions exactly or shit happens.

First, rush outside the theatre.  NOT walking mind you but RUSHING.  Got it?  Then you MUST spin around in a circle THREE times, NOT four.  You do NOT want to screw this next part up.  After you spin THREE times, you MUST spit.  Do NOT forget to spit.  This spitting part is very VERY important.  How important?  So important I shall tell you again.  Spin.  THREE times in a circle.  Spit.  You MUST get the spitting procedure exactly correct.

Never ever place a peacock feather onstage...

So why is a beautifully ornamental bit of plumage bad luck in a theatre production?  The pattern on a peacock feather creates an eye or according to legend an evil eye, which brings REALLY bad juju to a production.  And we're talking BAD juju here too.  The idea of the evil eye hidden in objects extends back as far as the Ancient Greeks in their theatre productions.  

Peacock feathers were also feared by early Europeans as they were part of the ornamentation of the Mongol hordes who invaded parts of the continent during the Middle Ages.  So for a long time peacock feathers were looked upon by Europeans as part of a sinister dark and bloody history.  Much like the Macbeth curse you SO do NOT ever want such savagery and evil associated with a production.  Especially one you happen to be the Set Designer for.  Thus please keep your peacock feathers from entering any theatre you intend to visit.

Be sure to turn on the ghostlight...

Never EVER leave a stage entirely dark.  Trust me on this.  Turning on the ghostlght is a very important thing to do.

Practicality might be part of it since there is always a plethora of obstacles like furniture, trap doors, a well constructed theatre set, and orchestra pits which tend to create accidents.  

Theatre people all down through centuries of our proud history strongly believe our theatres are inhabited by theatre ghosts who need the ghostlights too.  

Commom sense may be another explanation for our ghostlights.  For when theatres were first lit in the early 1800s before electricity and the lights were powered 

by gas which as you know gas is combustible and could build up pressure within the gas lines.  Running the flame of a ghost light in a theatre during non-performance times burned excess gas eliminating the pressure that might result in an explosion.  And though we no longer use gas to light theatres with anymore our superstitious tradition still remains fully intact passed down from one generation to the next.

So now my dear ones I have opened up some of Theatres' vast superstitious treasures for you.  I hope you may enjoy having been enlightened by my wisdom.

Now do NOT forget to spit after spinning THREE times and LEAVE THE GHOSTLIGHT ON.