Lately, Â I’ve noticed something about curtain calls at the theatre. Â For a long time, Â when seeing Fringe shows or smaller independent theatre, that during the curtain call, the actors will “salute the booth”, which means that they acknowledge the stage manager (and therefore the crew). Â The salute of the booth takes the same form as the acknowledgement of say, the conductor that you see after a musical. Â This is, in my opinion, a good practice. Â After all, the crew works just as hard (if not harder) than the actors, and they deserve acknowledgment.
However, when I go to other theatres; Â if I go to a Mirvish show they don’t salute the booth. The last time I was at a Stratford show, they didn’t salute the booth.
So, a question: is Saluting the booth something that’s considered “unprofessional”? If not, why does it not happen in larger houses? Â Why doesn’t everyone salute the booth?
It’s all about directors preference, in my experience. I worked at Pacific Theatre in Vancouver for three years as resident stage manager and it was about 50-50. Some directors said that they didn’t like it aesthetically, for others the curtain call was choreographed to fit the feel of the show and a salute didn’t feel appropriate. I honestly don’t care one way or another: I still like the argument that if people have no idea I exist I have really done my job well. That said, I appreciate the desire to acknowledge the work of the whole crew.
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