The Green Room?

ShadowInTheWings · The Green Room?

Since we have this lovely area of the green room for crew, I thought I'd ask something. I had always assumed the green room was for the actors, but I was recently informed by an expereince crew member that it's actually for the crew. During intermission one night, the green room was so crowded with cast that there was no room for me to sit down, so I left. I made to the comment to one of the cast members that the cast had taken over the crew's domain, and was informed that the green room is for the actors. Now I'm confused! What is the primary purpose for this lovely room? Us or the actors?

a Tech

Our green room isn't really used by anyone. The drama teacher and TD's offices are in there. Occasionally, we use it for quick-change booths when we don't feel like setting a real one up. Usually though, crew hangs out in the shop, at the rail, or in the ASM's alcove and the cast hangs out downstairs in the dressing rooms. They're not allowed backstage during the show unless it's right before a cue.

Aimee

We tend to have our green room for the band. The actors use the dressig rooms and the band has the green room. The techies have there own staff rooms.

what_the_heck013

Our green room is for the cast. The crew has their closet, which is rather roomy.

cabaretfreak

At the theater we use, the techies hang out in the small backstage area, and the cast uses their dressing rooms.

Though at our school, we rent a theater, we use a small room that is adjacent to the stage/backstage. We also use the hallway as a place for freedom to roam. Then we use a bathroom for changing, and a classroom for people to hang out/change/put on makeup. So I guess we have several green rooms.

Descartes

The green room is for the actors. The crew is randomly scattered around.

Des.

ShadowInTheWings

That theory bothers me. I mean, the actors already have a dressing room (in varying degrees of niceness, depending on the theatre), and the crew (in most theatres) don't have anywhere else to be (that's excluding the booth for the technicians). I kinda like the theory that the green room is for us.

Brigantine

I always thought it was like a 'waiting room' to the stage, and thus more for actors. (don't TV talk shows use Green Rooms for guests?)
About.com had this to say:
“Green Room”
Glossary

From Maria Knapp,
Your Guide to Theater.

Definition: The Green Room is the social room for the actors to hang out and relax in. If an actor has a long time between times on-stage, she may choose to wait in the Green Room rather than the dressing room, which can be crowded. The Green Room was named this because when theatrical lighting was in its early stages, lime was burned to create a very bright spotlight. (Thus the term "Limelight.") It blinded the actors causing them to see green spots in front of their eyes. They were lead to the Green Room until their vision cleared and they could see again.
------------
And this from World Wide Words:
[Q] From Bob Lallamant: “I have always wondered why the reception room for performers—opera singers, actors and the like—is called the green room?”
[A] Originally, the term referred to an off-stage room in a theatre where actors could rest while they were waiting for their cues. A lot of theatres now don’t have green rooms, often through lack of space. These days, the term applies as much—if not more often—to the reception room in a television studio where guests wait before appearing.
Why it should be called a green room is a minor mystery. The first recorded use is in a play by Thomas Shadwell called The True Widow, first performed at Dorset Garden Theatre in London in December 1678: “No, Madam: Selfish, this Evening, in a green Room, behind the Scenes, was before-hand with me”. The use of a here might suggest it was just a green-painted room, but a slightly later example, in a book called Love Makes Man, written by the actor and dramatist Colley Cibber and published in 1701 makes the usage clear: “I do know London pretty well, and the Side-box, Sir, and behind the Scenes; ay, and the Green-Room, and all the Girls and Women Actresses there”. Colley Cibber was closely associated with a different theatre, the Drury Lane.
It has been suggested that the room was painted green to rest the actors’ eyes after exposure to bright stage lighting, but in the early 1700s, when lighting was by candles, that could hardly have been much of a problem.
In an article in De Proverbio, an online journal of proverb studies, George B Bryan points out that the colour green has long been associated with the theatre, perhaps originating in the liveries worn by members of acting companies in the time of Shakespeare. Mr Bryan also records that green baize was sometimes used to cover the stage at this period to protect the costumes of the actors.
This is a possible origin of an associated usage, the green, for the stage itself, which is still sometimes to be heard. The direct connection seems to be twentieth century rhyming slang: greengage = stage, but there may be a subconscious—or even a direct—link back to the colour of the stage covering.
What is clear from the early citations is that the usage was not limited to a single theatre (and so was not an accident of paint colour or wall covering) , but otherwise, its origins are obscure.

I think for a TV show or large/professional company it is for actors, but for small theaters it should be for anyone, if you have one. Just my opinion. Smile

Our theater doesn't have one.

snowie86

Wow........ That was really interesting! Thanks!

Fogeyman

Heh. We don't vene have a green room. We're in a converted movie theater.

OnceUponATime

I can beat you. We're a converted church. Our green room is the kitchen. Which we have to share with the catering crew (we do dinner shows). Our dressing rooms are the backstage hallways. Men on left, women on right.

nat915

We don't actually have a green room at the theatres I work with. However, I was under the impression that the green room is where you wait at when you're not onstage. Any time I've used a green room, it was for warming up before contest or a vocal performance.

Incidentally, a green room on a tv talk show is where the guests wait to go on at. They have food there and stuff.

LaurelDP

We don't have dressing rooms in our theatre, unless you count the public bathrooms.

So basically the green room is our dressing room.

And it is primarily for actors. We have a TV feed of the stage throughout the whole show, and makeup set up for touchups, as well as several cases of water for refreshment.

We tend to split off into others rooms as well, though. Like the Blue Room (tech closet with amazing acoustics) and another room in the theatre.

lightingjohn

Our Green Room is also the male chorus dressing room. Seems to work okay as outside is a covered area (actually the disabled persons access to the Green Room) so usually the crew have there coffee or tea out there and smoke, so the cast join in. Makes it very friendly.

mtgirl118

We don't have tech members. If the set needs to be changed, we (the actors) change it. We have a lighting guy and a sound woman and that's it. We don't have dressing rooms. We use our green room to dress. The boys use the wagon room because there are not a lot of them. Our theater is a converted blacksmiths shop. It's pretty cool. The wagon room auctally has a gigantic wagon in it. It's kind of creepy. Our leads in Gypsy use a room that used to be the blacksmith shop as their changing room because their changes are so fast. If you aren't a lead and you have a fast change you change in the stairwells (our green room is upstairs over the stage).

EDIT - I see many of you have TVs to hear and see the stage. No fair! We just have to listen hard.

Ellen

behind_hazel_eyes_525

One of the theaters I perform and choreograph in has a green room right off the stage door and it is typically used for the actors who have a long time between appearences...we have like a tv set up in there that has a live view of the stage and stuff.

The Modern Art Movement

I don't know what the musical theatre people use it for, but the ballet company uses it to corral kids in the prodcution, until after the show (when local celebs, dignitaries, etc., gather for drinks and socialization, etc.) It's a rather big (and extremely nice) green room--and it really is green.

ShadowInTheWings	The Green Room? Since we have this lovely area of the green room for crew, I thought I'd ask something. I had always assumed the green room was for the actors, but I was recently informed by an expereince crew member that it's actually for the crew. During intermission one night, the green room was so crowded with cast that there was no room for me to sit down, so I left. I made to the comment to one of the cast members that the cast had taken over the crew's domain, and was informed that the green room is for the actors. Now I'm confused! What is the primary purpose for this lovely room? Us or the actors?
a Tech	Our green room isn't really used by anyone. The drama teacher and TD's offices are in there. Occasionally, we use it for quick-change booths when we don't feel like setting a real one up. Usually though, crew hangs out in the shop, at the rail, or in the ASM's alcove and the cast hangs out downstairs in the dressing rooms. They're not allowed backstage during the show unless it's right before a cue.
Aimee	We tend to have our green room for the band. The actors use the dressig rooms and the band has the green room. The techies have there own staff rooms.
what_the_heck013	Our green room is for the cast. The crew has their closet, which is rather roomy.
cabaretfreak	At the theater we use, the techies hang out in the small backstage area, and the cast uses their dressing rooms. Though at our school, we rent a theater, we use a small room that is adjacent to the stage/backstage. We also use the hallway as a place for freedom to roam. Then we use a bathroom for changing, and a classroom for people to hang out/change/put on makeup. So I guess we have several green rooms.
Descartes	The green room is for the actors. The crew is randomly scattered around. Des.
ShadowInTheWings	That theory bothers me. I mean, the actors already have a dressing room (in varying degrees of niceness, depending on the theatre), and the crew (in most theatres) don't have anywhere else to be (that's excluding the booth for the technicians). I kinda like the theory that the green room is for us.
Brigantine	I always thought it was like a 'waiting room' to the stage, and thus more for actors. (don't TV talk shows use Green Rooms for guests?) About.com had this to say: “Green Room” Glossary From Maria Knapp, Your Guide to Theater. Definition: The Green Room is the social room for the actors to hang out and relax in. If an actor has a long time between times on-stage, she may choose to wait in the Green Room rather than the dressing room, which can be crowded. The Green Room was named this because when theatrical lighting was in its early stages, lime was burned to create a very bright spotlight. (Thus the term "Limelight.") It blinded the actors causing them to see green spots in front of their eyes. They were lead to the Green Room until their vision cleared and they could see again. ------------ And this from World Wide Words: [Q] From Bob Lallamant: “I have always wondered why the reception room for performers—opera singers, actors and the like—is called the green room?” [A] Originally, the term referred to an off-stage room in a theatre where actors could rest while they were waiting for their cues. A lot of theatres now don’t have green rooms, often through lack of space. These days, the term applies as much—if not more often—to the reception room in a television studio where guests wait before appearing. Why it should be called a green room is a minor mystery. The first recorded use is in a play by Thomas Shadwell called The True Widow, first performed at Dorset Garden Theatre in London in December 1678: “No, Madam: Selfish, this Evening, in a green Room, behind the Scenes, was before-hand with me”. The use of a here might suggest it was just a green-painted room, but a slightly later example, in a book called Love Makes Man, written by the actor and dramatist Colley Cibber and published in 1701 makes the usage clear: “I do know London pretty well, and the Side-box, Sir, and behind the Scenes; ay, and the Green-Room, and all the Girls and Women Actresses there”. Colley Cibber was closely associated with a different theatre, the Drury Lane. It has been suggested that the room was painted green to rest the actors’ eyes after exposure to bright stage lighting, but in the early 1700s, when lighting was by candles, that could hardly have been much of a problem. In an article in De Proverbio, an online journal of proverb studies, George B Bryan points out that the colour green has long been associated with the theatre, perhaps originating in the liveries worn by members of acting companies in the time of Shakespeare. Mr Bryan also records that green baize was sometimes used to cover the stage at this period to protect the costumes of the actors. This is a possible origin of an associated usage, the green, for the stage itself, which is still sometimes to be heard. The direct connection seems to be twentieth century rhyming slang: greengage = stage, but there may be a subconscious—or even a direct—link back to the colour of the stage covering. What is clear from the early citations is that the usage was not limited to a single theatre (and so was not an accident of paint colour or wall covering) , but otherwise, its origins are obscure. I think for a TV show or large/professional company it is for actors, but for small theaters it should be for anyone, if you have one. Just my opinion. Our theater doesn't have one.
snowie86	Wow........ That was really interesting! Thanks!
Fogeyman	Heh. We don't vene have a green room. We're in a converted movie theater.
OnceUponATime	I can beat you. We're a converted church. Our green room is the kitchen. Which we have to share with the catering crew (we do dinner shows). Our dressing rooms are the backstage hallways. Men on left, women on right.
nat915	We don't actually have a green room at the theatres I work with. However, I was under the impression that the green room is where you wait at when you're not onstage. Any time I've used a green room, it was for warming up before contest or a vocal performance. Incidentally, a green room on a tv talk show is where the guests wait to go on at. They have food there and stuff.
LaurelDP	We don't have dressing rooms in our theatre, unless you count the public bathrooms. So basically the green room is our dressing room. And it is primarily for actors. We have a TV feed of the stage throughout the whole show, and makeup set up for touchups, as well as several cases of water for refreshment. We tend to split off into others rooms as well, though. Like the Blue Room (tech closet with amazing acoustics) and another room in the theatre.
lightingjohn	Our Green Room is also the male chorus dressing room. Seems to work okay as outside is a covered area (actually the disabled persons access to the Green Room) so usually the crew have there coffee or tea out there and smoke, so the cast join in. Makes it very friendly.
mtgirl118	We don't have tech members. If the set needs to be changed, we (the actors) change it. We have a lighting guy and a sound woman and that's it. We don't have dressing rooms. We use our green room to dress. The boys use the wagon room because there are not a lot of them. Our theater is a converted blacksmiths shop. It's pretty cool. The wagon room auctally has a gigantic wagon in it. It's kind of creepy. Our leads in Gypsy use a room that used to be the blacksmith shop as their changing room because their changes are so fast. If you aren't a lead and you have a fast change you change in the stairwells (our green room is upstairs over the stage). EDIT - I see many of you have TVs to hear and see the stage. No fair! We just have to listen hard. Ellen
behind_hazel_eyes_525	One of the theaters I perform and choreograph in has a green room right off the stage door and it is typically used for the actors who have a long time between appearences...we have like a tv set up in there that has a live view of the stage and stuff.
The Modern Art Movement	I don't know what the musical theatre people use it for, but the ballet company uses it to corral kids in the prodcution, until after the show (when local celebs, dignitaries, etc., gather for drinks and socialization, etc.) It's a rather big (and extremely nice) green room--and it really is green.

The Resource For Musicals

The Green Room?