Why do we call it a greenroom?

Riggers/flymen used to be sailors and would whistle commands to each other.

Wasn't that debunked recently? Or was it just that theater rigging developed independently of maritime rigging?
 
Wasn't that debunked recently? Or was it just that theater rigging developed independently of maritime rigging?
People have debunked the idea that you would do this during a performance, but it seems to me that during a load in it would be a useful method of communication with all the noise that goes on. I feel like if you can't rule out that some theater in a port town employed sailors or retired sailors to load in shows.

side note: students whistling on stage is super annoying and thus I will continue to ban it by siting silly superstitions.
 
It is called the green room because that is the room the actors wait in after the show to get thier pay.

Ken Pogin
Production / Tour Manager
Minnesota Ballet

I understood that the norm was to pay the performers at intermission. (in the green room) That way they had a house full of patrons to use as leverage with the box office folks.
I have seen a rider or two that had this timeline for payment written into it.
 
Wasn't that debunked recently? Or was it just that theater rigging developed independently of maritime rigging?
Theater Rigging developed from mechanical systems in Europe, not from maritime rigging. Over time the terminology mingled and there certainly were old sailors who worked on Broadway. However, the old idea that out of work sailors brought rigging to the theater is a myth. This is a great book on the history of rigging.
 
Funny. I always was told (1960's) it was because you were "green", new and untested, until you walked out on the stage.
So, those waiting in the green room for their chance on stage hadn't had a chance to bloom yet (or fall flat on their face.)
 
Thought I heard somewhere it was because one of the early TV studios (NBC or whatever) had a green dressing room and the name sort of stuck. I like the theory that that's where you got paid though. I would've guessed it had something to with signaling the talent with like an "On Air" light or something.... as in "wait here for the green light" but that's just a guess.
 
Thought I heard somewhere it was because one of the early TV studios (NBC or whatever) had a green dressing room and the name sort of stuck. I like the theory that that's where you got paid though. I would've guessed it had something to with signaling the talent with like an "On Air" light or something.... as in "wait here for the green light" but that's just a guess.

Green Room dates back to Shakespearean era, which negates any television-related theories or money-related theories as money didn't come in green then (or ever in the UK)
 

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