Hypocrite - Theatre Etymology - Part 53

Most people know that if they call somebody a hypocrite, that means they think that the person is pretending to be one way or pretends that he or she does something when the opposite is true. A person may go out and act like he or she gives tons of money to charitable causes when really, all the person does is try to get even the poorest people to spend money on whatever he or she is selling. Maybe a person goes out in public and says or at least acts like he or she never uses bad language, but at home that person constantly uses swear words.

A quick overview of the etymology of the word hypocrite tells us that it comes from the Middle English word ipocrite which comes from the Old French which comes from the Late Latin word hypocrita which comes from the Greek word hypokritḗs (ὑποκριτής in the original Greek) meaning a stage actor, pretender, or dissembler.

The short etymology tells us that the word comes from the theatre being that it could mean a stage actor. However, there is more to the word. The word hypocrite is actually a compound word when coming from the Greek. It is made up of the Greek words hypo and krisis. Hypo means under and krisis means to distinguish, to judge, or to interpret. This makes the word hypocrite mean somebody who interprets from under.

This may sound strange at first, but it isn't. In Greek theatre, the actors would wear huge masks. Each mask was different so audiences could tell the characters apart. Because actors wore these masks, they were known to interpret the story of the play from under the masks.

The word eventually moved into vocabulary meaning any person who pretended to be something they were not. It was often used in religious texts to refer to people who pretended to be pious or morally good, but were not. At this time, it was often spelled ypocrite. The form of the word as hypocrite seems to have come about sometime in the 1500s.

In the early 1700s, hypocrite started to mean a person who acts in opposite ways to what he or she states about his or her beliefs or feelings. As far as language goes, this seems to be a surprisingly long time.

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Hanky-Panky - Theatre Etymology - Part 52

When people today hear "hanky-panky," they tend to think that it has to do with people engaging in sexual activity. After all, that is how most people use the term. It can also mean bad behavior or trickery. It is this second definition that comes from the theatre and performances.

The term hanky-panky originated in the 1840s. It is thought that it came from the magician's handkerchief and might be an alteration of hocus pocus. The first time it appeared in print seems to confirm these theories. It was in 1841 in the British humor magazine Punch, or the London Charivari. It stated, "Only a little hanky-panky, my lud. The people likes it; they loves to be cheated before their faces. One, two, three – presto – begone. I’ll show your ludship as pretty a trick of putting a piece of money in your eye and taking it out of your elbow, as you ever beheld."

By the 1900s, the meaning of loving or sexual activity became associated with the term hanky-panky. It is likely that the term became and stayed popular because of the rhyming words.

The origin of hanky-panky (neither term having a meaning that means the same thing when the words are put together) is considered an H-P rhyming compound created sometime between 1835 and 1845. Other H-P rhyming compounds are hocus-pocus, higgledy-piggledy, hinky-pinky, hinkity-pinkity, hodgepodge, and hokey-pokey.

Hanky-panky has since been used for the title of many things. A few of these things are musical albums by Tommy James and the Shondells and a musical album by Hank Jones. There's also an episode of King of the Hill titled "Hanky Panky" and 1982 and 2017 films.

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Winter Wonderettes in Lake Charles, LA for Seven More Performances!

Four girls, each dressed in their own color dress, stand in a line, singing Christmas carols. They've been hired as the entertainment for Harper's Hardware Holiday Party. During one of them, one of the girls, Betty Lou, does not want to sing in German, so while she sings in German, she does it not so well, even though the other girls congratulate her. During the whole time, the girls are waiting for Santa to appear, but he never does. Other antics take place that even include audience members. This is just part of the fun that is Winter Wonderettes.

The play is full of 60s versions of Christmas carols. It is family friendly and will easily be enjoyed by all ages. This is a great way to spend a Friday or Saturday night or a Sunday afternoon.

Shauna Temple plays Betty Jean, Victoria Burton plays Missy, Markie Hebert plays Suzy, Allison Marino plays Cindy Lou, Rebecca Harris and Sydney Landry play elves. Trip Wamsley, Michael Parker, (and I think one other - but I forgot my program right now, so I don't have all the names). I also apologize if I have any of the names wrong for the actresses and will fix them later.

You can still see the show at the following dates and times.

• Sunday, November 25, 2018 at 2pm
• Friday, November 30, 2018 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 7:30pm
• Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 2pm
• Friday, December 7, 2018 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 7:30pm
• Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 2pm

You can buy tickets for the show online at The vendini site for Winter Wonderettes at Lake Charles Little Theatre. Tickets are also available at the door, but with a show that is this popular, tickets may easily sell out.
All shows take place at The Lake Charles Little Theatre which is located at 813 Enterprise Blvd in Lake Charles, Louisiana 70605. You can call the theatre at (337) 433-7985.

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Explode - Theatre Etymology - Part 51

Most people know that explode basically means to burst open and usually to scatter pieces of whatever burst open all over the place. Of course, sometimes the word explode is used figuratively such as a person exploding with talent. That is still meant to convey that the person scatters talent all over the place.

The etymology of the word explode ties directly into its origin in the theatre. Explode comes from the Latin word explōdere meaning to drive off by clapping, or to drive away. It is the equivalent to the Latin prefix ex- which is a combining form of e and the preposition ē meaning out of, from, or beyond and the stem plod- which is a variant of the stem plaudere meaning to clap or beat.

This etymology matters because in the Roman theatre, it was common practice to applaud when an act was not liked. The applause was meant to drive an actor off of the stage. So, while explode usually now has a positive connotation when used in the theatre (unless something is literally going to explode when it isn't meant to explode), it has turned from negative into positive. It is now wanted that an audience explodes with applause because they appreciate the performance.

Some historians think that applause started as pausitive in other cultures ad continued and finally got mixed into the Roman culture. Others think that Romans made it a positive action by having an actor come out at the end of the show and basically say what translated to "Goodbye and applause."

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Twinkle Toes - Theatre Etymology - Part 50

If somebody is called twinkle toes, it tends to mean that he or she is light on his or her feet. It may also mean that the person is a good dancer. The phrase is usually used as a compliment.

It is likely that this phrase originated in dance rather than from theatre. However, both are closely related. It could have bee that a person who had to dance for theatre was called twinkle toes. There is not a certain story of origin for this phrase.

Twinkle comes from the Middle English verb twinklen or the Old English verb twinclian. Toes is the plural of toe. Toe comes from the Middle English word and the Old English word tā. It may also come from the Dutch word teen, the German word Zehe, or the Old Norse word tā.

Twinkle toes is now often used to name dance companies or dance classes, especially for little girls. It has also been used to name the shoes that light up when children walk in them. It may be found in names of makeup or shoe paint as well.

An example of how twinkle toes is used to mean light on one's feet is found in the face that Fred Flintstone's bowling nickname is twinkletoes. A video of the reason for this can be viewed below.



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Strut Your Stuff - Theatre Etymology - Part 49

If you strut your stuff, it means that you act with confidence or that you show off your talents or fashion with pride. It can also mean to behave in a pretention and showy manner. It may also mean that you want to show people that you can do well.

While there isn't a clear theatre origin for this phrase, it seems pretty obvious that it probably came from some type of performing arts, so likely, the theatre. When used in a performing arts sense, it means to show off how good you are at performing. An actor struts his stuff on stage when he is good. A ham may strut his stuff even if he isn't a good actor.

The word strut comes from the Middle English word strouten meaning to protrude stiffly, swell, or bluster or the Old English word strūtian meaning to struggle. The Old English is a derivative of *strūt coming from the Middle English word strut meaning strife.

The word you comes from the Middle English and the Old English word ēower which are genitives of gē. a form of ye. It could also desecend from the German word euer.

The word stuff comes from the late Middle English verb stuffen meaning to equip or furnish which comes from the Old French verb estoffer meaning to stuff which comes from the Frankish verbs *stopfōn and *stoppōn which are akin to the word stop. The word stuff could also come from the Middle English noun which comes from the Old French word estoffe which is a derivative of the verb.

Today, there are many theatre and dance companies that use the phrase "strut your stuff" for their names. There are also songs such as the following song from 1980 by Young and Company called "Strut Your Stuff."



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To Sing a Different Tune - Theatre Etymology - Part 48

If somebody sings a different tune, it means they have changed their opinion about an issue or a person. This often means from bad to good. However, it does not have to be that way. It just means that the opinion has changed. Many dictionaries define the phrase as changing the way one talks about something. This would show some literal type of sound, but that does not have to be how it is, either. Of course, this does not have to do with literal singing.

While the exact source of the phrase is not clear, it might have its beginnings in the theatre. TV Tropes has an article about a Counterpoint Duet. This is where one character sings one tune to a set of chords and another character sings a different tune to that set of chords. This is to show that the characters have different opinions. If the characters come to have the same opnion, they may both end up singing a different tune to the set of chords. If only one changes his or her opinion, the tune may change to the other character's tune.

The word sing comes from the Middle English word singen or the Old English word singan. It cold also be derived from the Dutch word zingen, the German word singen, the Old Norse word syngva, or the Gothic word siggwan. The word different comes from Middle English which comes from Anglo-French which comes from the Latin prefix different- (which is a stem of differens). It also comes from the present participle of the Latin word differre. The word tune comes from Middle English variation of tone which comes from Middle English which comes from the Latin word tonus which comes from the Greek word tónos meaning strain, tone, or mode. It literally means a stretching and is akin to teínein meaning to stretch.

You can watch a video about the idiom "to sing a different tune" from USEmbassyBogota below.



An example of a counterpoint melody is "I Think I Got You Beat" from Shrek: The Musical. You can watch the video below and hear how Sherk and Fiona disagree, but then in their disagreement start to have a moment where they come to "sing a different tune" about each other even though it isn't shown outright.



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To Get Into the Groove - Theatre Etymology - Part 47

If you get into the groove of something, it means that you become comfortable with doing that thing. Today, it is used in the theatre to mean that a person is getting used to acting or is getting comfortable in the role or position they are in within the theatre. However, even though the term is still used in the theatre, it had a different start within it.

During the 1600s, scenery was changed by having a set of grooves on the stage floor in which flats were inserted. They could be moved for scene changes by using a pole that hooked onto them to move them where they needed to be. Thus, when a flat was in position for the current setting, it was "into the groove." People had to get flats "to get into groove" in order for them to be in the correct places for the show.

The word get comes from the Middle English verb geten which comes from the Old Norse word geta meaning to obtain or beget. It could also be descended from the Old English suffix -gietan (which comes from the Middle English word yeten), the German suffix -gessen as in the German word vergessen meaning to forget. The word groove comes from the Middle English word grofe or groof meaning mining shaft. It may also be descended from the Middle Dutch word groeve, the Dutch word groef, or the German word Grube meaning pit or ditch.

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To Drag Your Feet - Theatre Etymology - Part 46

To drag you feet can have a literal meaning of actually not picking up your feet and dragging them along the floor so a part of the foot touches the floor. It can also have the meaning of doing something else that is not what needs to be done. This is in order to delay what needs to be done. This can be as simple as actually walking somewhere or it may mean doing an activity that is different to the one that needs to be done. You might also do the activity, but do is slowly and reluctantly because you do not want to do it.

Sometimes it is said that a person drags his or her heels rather than feet. Both ways work. It seems that this phrase might come from the theatre when describing a type of walk for a character who does not want to do what he or she is supposed to do in the play. The character is know to drag his or her feet or heels. Another way some scripts may write this is that the character may shuffle.

The word drag comes from the Middle English noun and verb which probably comes from the Middle Low German word dragge, grapnel, or draggen meaning to dredge. The word foot comes from the Middle English and Old English word fōt. It is also descended from the German word Fuss which is akin to the Latin word pēs and the Latin stem ped-, as well as the Greek word poús and the Greek stem pod-.The word shuffle comes from the Low German word schuffeln meaning to walk clumsily or with dragging feet, or mix (cards). The root of shuffle is akin to the root of shovel.

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Mary Poppins Jr. in Lake Charles for Two More Performances

"Smarty Pants!" a young man yells as he falls to the ground trying to keep up dancing to a woman spelling out a long, peculiar word. Of course, this word, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, has become common to the English language by now. That young man is none other than the chimney sweep, Bert, and the woman is Mary Poppins.

Bert is played by Clay Corley and Mary Poppins is played by Leslie Israel. These two are definitely two to keep your eye on when it comes to theatre. Clay has been in many local theatre productions prior to Mary Poppins, Jr. and has always had the talent it takes to stand out in a crowd. Leslie is wonderful and she captures the warmth and charm as well as the strictness of Mary Poppins very well. Also keep a look out for Scarlett Chaumont who plays Jane Banks.

Of course, this production would not go anywhere if it weren't for all of the wonderful cast and crew. Added to these three starring performers are Jaylin Williams as George Banks, Allie Snyder as Winifred Banks, Stuart Riviere as Michael Banks, Bailey Knowles as Katie Nana, Mattie Schaffer as Mrs. Brill, Abram Conner as Robertson Ay, Zach Benoit as Neleus Statue, Olivia Delano as Cupid Statue, Hailey Willeford as Bird Woman, Juliet Riviere as Miss Smythe, Cole Becton as Chairman, Tristan Wainwright as Von Hussler, Quiad Nichos as John Northbrook, Kaylee Carroll as Mrs. Corry. Mary Hope McDaniel as Miss Andrew, Elizabeth Campbell as Police Officer, and Dylan Freeman as Messenger.

The park strollers are played by Abram Connor, Ashlyn Gros, Bailey Knowles, Blair McManus, Bliss Nichols, Cooper Self, Duff Nichols, Dylan Freeman, Elisabeth Pettefer, Elizabeth Foster, Emma Menard, Hailey Willeford, Juliet Riviere, Kathryne Berken, Kayee Carroll, Kaylee Mayo, Mary Hope McDaniel, Mattie Schafer, Nioe Jade, Quaid Nichols, and Rachel Rqiquelmy. The honey bees are played by Amerial Ericon, Aubree Babas, Gabriela Barrios, Jolie Leubner, Maylee Rodgers, McKenzie Menard, Olivia Gibbs, and Randilyn LeJeune. The bank clerks are plays by Aaron Mayo, Ashlyn Gros, Bryton Malone, Cecleia Barrios, Christa Collier, Hunter Becton, Jordynn Mobley, and Kassie Piatt.

The show is choreographed and directed by Kristen Harrell and assistant directed by Taylor Trahan. The musical director is Virginia-Kate Jessen with Costumes by Maria Lewis and Make up by Chelle Martin. There are many more people that could be listed, but due to having limited time to write, I must wrap up by saying that the Show Coordinator is Brittany Menard.

You can see this show two more times in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It is playing at LaGrange Auditorium at LaGrange High School at 3420 Louisiana Ave, Lake Charles, LA 70605. The next times the show can be seen are Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 7pm and Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 3pm. Tickets are $12 at The Christian Youth Theatre Lake Charles page or $15 at the door.

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Star-studded - Theatre Etymology - Part 45

Star-studded can be taken literally. A sky can be star-studded meaning that it is filled with stars. However, star-studded also has a theatrical meaning. It means that a show is full of famous people. These famous people have been come to be known as stars.

The reason why celebrities are called stars is a bit more complicated. The first use of the word star meaning a celebrity came from 1751 in Bays in Council with an announcement saying, "You may Shine the brightest Theatric Star, that ever enliven'd of charm'd an Audience." The reason for this usage comes from Shakespeare, Molière, and Chaucer.S

In The House of Fame, Chaucer wrote, "O God Who made nature, am I to die in no other way? Will Jove transform me into a star?" Then, Shakespeare wrote "We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and stars as if we were villains on necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion" in King Lear and "an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken; / It is the star to every wand’ring bark, / Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken" in Sonnet 116. While these usages don't refer to a person specifically, they led up to that usage.

In 1662, in School for Wives, Molière wrote, "this young star of love, adorned by so many charms" referring to the character of Agnes. From this, it was easy for others to start using star to refer to a person. Even though star is recorded as early as 1662, it is reported that star-studded was not recorded until sometime between 1950 abd 1955. Star comes from the Middle English word sterre or the old Old English word steorra. It can also come from the with Old High German word sterra which is akin to the Old High German word sterno, the Old Norse word stjarna, the Gothic word stairno, the Latin word stella, the Greek word astḗr, and the Sanskrit word stṛ. Studded is a form of stud. Stud comes from the Middle English word stude meaning knob or post. It may also come from the Old English word studu meaning post, the Middle High German word stud, or the Old Norse word stoth meaning post.

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Showstopper - Theatre Etymology - Part 44

Most people know that a show stopper is a part of a production that goes so well that it can actually cause the production to pause because of the positive audience reaction. This is usually because of long applause and perhaps a standing ovation.

This is a good thing in the theatre. Showstoppers are wanted because that means that people are so impressed that it is likely they will tell others to come see the show. The etymology of showstopper is literally the word show plus the word stopper. The world show comes from the Middle English verb showen or s(c)hewen meaning to look at or show or the Old English verb scēawian to meaning to look at. It may also be descended from the Dutch verb schowen, the German verb schauen, or the Middle English s(c)hew(e) which is the derivative of the Middle English verb first given. The word stopper is a form of the word stop. The word stop comes from the Middle English verb stoppen or the Old English suffix -stoppian (as in the word forstoppian meaning to stop up). I may also be descended from the Dutch or Low German word stoppen or the German word stopfen. The all come from the Vulgar Latin word stuppāre meaning to plug with oakum wich is a derivative of Latin stuppa meaning coarse hemp or flax. Stuppa comes from the Greek word stýppē.

Interestingly, while the phrase showstopper is still positive in the theatre, it has been adopted by software developers as a negative term. In software development, it means when a snag in programming is hit so that the program no longer runs or doesn't run properly. Thus, it is a showstopper for the programmer.

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Guest Post 2 - Theatre Anagrams!

Hi, it's Briana again. Bridget says she is sort of feeling better, but not totally. Here I present to you something fun--Theatre Anagrams! What is an anagram? It's the rearrangement of letters in a word or phrase to get another. This can range from very simple to very complicated. It has been said that anagrams never lie. I don't know about that, but I do find them fun!

I'll start simple with the word THEATRE. From this we can get AT THREE and THEREAT! When and where will the show take place? Thereat, at three!

A very simple one is WINGS and SWING. Interestingly, Both can be used as theatre terms, and a swing may at times have to wait in the wings!

Terms can be interesting, but so can names of shows. It can be entertaining to think about what a show with the anagrammed title might be about, or if the new title somehow fits the real musical, or part of the real musical.

ANNIE could be INANE or A NINE. Both sound like critics' opinions if you ask me!

OLIVER could be I, LOVER! Without even anagramming but just reading it in a silly way it says O LIVER! So, it can be about when the title character falls in love, or about food!

CATS is a play with several ACTS. Though they sing, it's not jazz, and they don't SCAT. Not one person in the entire CAST!

These all have some relevance, but others do not. RENT anagrams to TERN ... and this show has nothing to do with birds. So what do you think the show TERN would feature?

Go ahead! Try out your own!

Guest post! Creative Commons Music by Briana Delaney

Hello, Bridget is very sick today and is asleep. (I do know she likes musicals, but I managed to catch her both snapping her fingers and singing in her sleep.)

Anyway, that means she wants me to write a guest post. Will I do it? I "guest" so!

So how about this...

If you put on theatrical productions, there will probably come a time when you need music. However either not having time or not having money may make securing the rights to music difficult. The fact that you likely need what is known as "grand rights" makes this even more difficult. Grand rights is the right to perform musical compositions within the context of a dramatic work. This includes stage performances such as musical theater, concert dance, and arrangements of music from a dramatic work.

What can be done to avoid this conundrum?

It is not okay to just use music (and sounds for that matter) without permission. Do not think this is ever an option. You never know who might be watching your show!

You could create your own, but it is possible that you are missing necessary elements such as the skill to do so, equipment, or time.

Thus the best option in my opinion is to use music that is either out of copyright (though this can be hard to find, or may not suit your production needs) or use music that is in the Creative Commons.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons provides free, easy-to-use copyright licenses to make a simple and standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative works–on conditions of their choice.

Since Creative Commons licensing can vary, check FAQs for what is allowed and what is not, as well as what is required. Some sites may only list the type of license they use, so here is the official guide to those: Creative Commons Licenses

I have also compiled a list of a few resources for you. I hope this comes in handy for someone!

♫ One of the most famous sites for royalty-free music is Incompetech by Kevin MacLeod.
Music from Incompetech

♫ Another option is Purple Planet
Music from Purple Planet

♫ The next site I am listing is Audionautix by Jason Shaw.
Music by Audionautix

♫ There is also Bensound.
Bensound

♫ Another possibility is soundimage.org by Eric Matyas. This site also contains sound effects.
Music by soundimage.org

There are, of course, others, but these are some I happen to know!

^{This is your guest blogger, Briana Delaney, signing off!}

Theatre Resources - Part 3 - Stage Manager Paperwork

Unfortunately, I'm still sick. I even slept all day. So, it's more resources time. It's no secret that stage managers need tons of different forms. One theatre may require lots more paperwork than another. Whether a theatre requires only rehearsal reports and check in lists or if they require planning sheets, script analysis, stage plans, and prop lists, you can find downloads of those forms online.

One of the best places to find this paper work is The Non-Profit Organization United States Institute for Theatre Technology's Sample Management Paperwork site. The forms can be downloaded directly or they can be used as an example for creating documents.

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Theatre Resources - Part 2 - Theatre History

I'm still not feeling good and my sister had me panicked earlier. So, this time, I'm just going to give a resource. This is one of the websites my undergrad professor had as a reference for me and I still use it to this day.

It is a good source to see if there are theatre movements or type of theatre listed. Theatre History.

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Tongue Twisters - Part 5

Unfortunately, I am still sick. I'd love to give some more informative posts. Yet, right now, it'll have to be some more tongue twisters because I can hardly gather thoughts at times. The only things I can truly think clearly are that it hurts to swallow and that I don't have a voice.

You know the drill. Say them slow to annunciate and practice speaking so others can understand you. Say them fast over and over to have fun and see how easy it is to mess up. Make sure you have fun laughing at your mistakes! Don't take it seriously when doing that!

• Is this your sister's sixth zither?
• Toy boat.
• If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
• Give papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
• Free flea spray.
• Three free throws.
• Switch wrist hair.
• A champion mapmakers knapsack was jam-packed with mashed potatoes.
• She sat upon the balcony inexplicably mimicking him hiccuping while welcoming him in.
• Wilma tilted windmills..

If you enjoy my content, please consider becoming one of my patrons through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/TheatreGeek where I will be sharing more in-depth content, answering your questions, sharing which types of software I use and how to find them, and more. By becoming my patron, you allow me to create more content about theatre and more theatrical content.

You can also give a one-time support by tipping at my my Ko-fi page. It is much appreciated and allows me to continue writing my blog instead of doing drudge work in order to make the little bit of money I can to afford to take time to write.