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We used to have several traditions, but our new directors made us stop all of them. stressed

Oh, my high school has a very involved tradition that has mutated strangely over the years.... rolleyes

We had "Circle Up" before every single show in my high school, where we all stand in the dressing room with our hands held with the right one crossed over the left one and people (usually starring upperclassmen) say to the rest of us what a tumultuous journey it's been and what a wonderful show we're going to have. Then we close our eyes and somebody squeezes the person's hand next to them. It goes around in a circle with no talking and we try to go all the way around without losing the energy. Then somebody usually screams "Let's ******** this puppy!" or "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!" or some other innuendo, then everyone else shouts it in return. It's actually a wonderful way to focus.

Recently, it's been added that men have to drop trow and ladies have to hike their skirts up over their heads, but I've only been part of 1 Circle Up where this silliness was actually implemented. And it may have died out by now. Who knows.

At my college we just have a sort of town meeting before the show. It does nothing to calm the nerves.

In high school we would all sing the fireman song before going on stage. It went "My father was a fire man, he puts out fires, Hmmmmm.
My mother was a fire man, she puts out fires, Hmmmmm.
{insert cast or crew member of the night} was a fireman, they put out..., Hmmmmm"
We also had this rubber chicken that had been given to us my freshmen class by our director of that show. He told us to pass it down from class to class, which we did. A senior was the keeper of it and then all the seniors in the show voted and on closing night it was passed down to the junior that won the vote. They still do it I hear, though no one knows the reason why it started. That died with my class.

Now in college we have a "Green Room." We all stand in a circle, holding hands and since we are a catholic university, we pray. We pray for a safe and good show, thank the lord for each other and all the work that has been put into it, then we say "Our Father" and ask our patron saint, our angel, and the symbol of our organization (Pasqual) to pray for us as well if anyone that has a loved one that has passed to pray for us as well.

Yeah. Traditions can be fun. If they were getting in the way of performance I can see why, but if not, then that's just stupid.

OH! I forgot more (we have a lot).

1. There must always be a piece of luon from either the Man of La Mancha or Amadeus built into the set. Partially because they took FOREVER TO PAINT, partially because they were amazing plays.

2. In the Props Annex (a scary old abandoned and condemned building on the high school property that we all loved dearly and is unfortunately no more), anyone brave enough to go down in the basement writes their name on the blackboard and the date to prove they were actually there. Some of the dates go back to the 70's.

3. The Thespian Christmas Party. The theatre teacher invites all her graduate Thespians back to her house for a day after christmas party so we can all catch up. No highschoolers allowed. xp

We have a catwalk up on the front of house where a lot of people ahve signed their names on the rafters in sharpie up there. it's not so much scary, but usually only the most priveleged techies get to go up there a lot and most of the actors never even set foot up there. We joke that that's where the theatre ghost spends most of her time, which is why we laugh at stage managers who have to call shows from up there xD