JOG.--A short flat used to vary a set by being placed between regulation flats to form angles or corners in a room.
LASH-LINE.--Used on flats to join them tightly together.
LEAD-SHEET.--A musical notation giving a melody of a popular song; a skeleton of a song.
LEGITIMATE.--Used to designate the stage, actors, theatres, etc., that present the full-evening play.
MELODRAMA.--A sensational drama, full of incident and making a violent appeal to the emotions.
MUGGING.--A contortion of the features to win laughter, irrespective of its consistency with the lines or actions.
OLIO.--A drop curtain full across the stage, working flat against the tormentors (which see). It is used as a background for acts in One, and often to close-in on acts playing in Two, Three and Four.
ONE.--That part of the stage lying between the tormentors and the line drawn between the bases of the proscenium arch.
OPEN SET.--A scene composed of a rear drop and matching wings, and not "boxed"--that is, not completely enclosed. See "BOX SET."
PALACE SET.--Palace scene.
PART.--Noun: the ma.n.u.script of one character's speeches and business; the character taken by an actor. Verb: to take, or play, a character.
PLAY UP, TO.--To pitch the key of a scene high; to play with rush and emphasis.
PLUGGER.--A booster, a singer who sings new songs to make them popular.
POINT.--The laugh-line of a gag (see "GAG"), or the funny observation of a monologue.
PRODUCE, TO.--To mount a ma.n.u.script on the stage.
PRODUCER.--One who produces plays, playlets, and other acts.
PROPERTIES.--Furniture, dishes, telephones, the what-not employed to lend reality--scenery excepted. Stage accessories.
PROPERTY-MAN.--The man who takes care of the properties.
PROPS.--Property-man; also short for properties.
PROSCENIUM ARCH.--The arch through which the audience views the stage.
RIGGING, STAGE.--The ropes, pulleys, etc., by which the scenery is worked.
RIPPLE-LAMP.--A clock-actuated mechanism fitted with ripple-gla.s.s and attached to the spot-light to cast wave-effects, etc., on or through the drops.
ROUTE.--A series of playing dates. To "route" is to "book"
acts.
ROUTINE.--Arrangement. A specific arrangement of the parts of a state offering, as a "monologue routine," or a "dance routine."
SCENARIO.--The story of the play in outline.
SET.--Noun: a room or other scene set on the stage. Verb: to erect the wings, drops, and flats to form a scene.
SET OF LINES.--Rigging to be tied to drops and other scenery to lift them up into the flies.
SIGHT ACT.--See "DUMB ACT."
SINGLE MAN--SINGLE WOMAN.--A man or woman playing alone; a monologist, solo singer, etc.
SLAP-STICK BUSINESS.--Business that wins laughs by use of physical methods.
SMALL-TIME, THE.--The circuits playing three or more shows a day.
SOUND-EFFECTS.--The noise of cocoanut sh.e.l.ls imitating horses'
hoof-beats, the sound of waves mechanically made, and the like.
SPOT-LIGHT.--An arc-light with lenses to concentrate the light into a spot to follow the characters around the stage.
STAGE-DRACE.--An implement used with stage-screws to clamp flats firmly to the floor.
STAGE-CENTRE.--The centre of the stage.
STAGE-LEFT.--The audience's right.
STAGE-MANAGER.--One who manages the "working" of a show behind the scenes; usually the stage-carpenter.
STAGE-RIGGING.--See "RIGGING, STAGE."
STAGE-RIGHT.--The audience's left.
STRIKE, TO.--To clear the stage of scenery.
STRIP-LIGHT.--Electric bulbs contained in short tin troughs, hung behind doors, etc., to illuminate the backings.
TAB.--The contraction of "tabloid," as burlesque tab, musical comedy tab.
TALKING SINGLE.--A one-person act using stories, gags, etc.
THREE.--The stage s.p.a.ce six or more feet behind the rear boundaries of Two.
TIME.--Playing engagements. See "BIG-TIME," "SMALL-TIME."
TORMENTORS.--Movable first wings behind which the Olio runs, fronting the audience.
TRAP.--A section of the stage floor cut for an entrance to the scene from below.
TRY-OUT.--The first presentation of an act for trial before an audience with a view to booking.
TWO.--The stage s.p.a.ce between the Olio and the set of wings six or more feet behind the Olio.
TWO-A-DAY.--Stage argot for vaudeville.
WING.--A double frame of wood covered with painted canvas and used in open sets as a flat is used in box sets; so constructed that it stands alone as a book will when its covers are opened at right angles.
WOOD-CRASH.--An appliance so constructed that when the handle is turned a noise like a man falling downstairs, or the crash of a fight, is produced.
WOOD-SET.--The scenery used to form a forest or woods.
WORKING DRAPERY.--See "DRAPERY, WORKING."
WORK OPPOSITE ANOTHER, TO.--To play a character whose speeches are nearly all with the other.