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Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:36 pm
by Slava
Also known as go up in your lines. It means to forget one's lines in acting, especially on stage. Can anyone find out its origins? It may be as simple as "directional," meaning that we usually look up when lost in such a manner. When and where it started, I have not found as yet.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 5:37 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Never heard it in ten years in hs, college, and seminary theater. "Dry up," or "dried" was common. Often an actor would just point to the prompter in dress rehearsal for the cue. Bound to be some other theater people out there. Have you heard it? Maybe it's regional.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:38 am
by Philip Hudson
I am no thespian so the phrase has never come my way. It sounds okay though. "Break a leg," is one of the dumb things actors say.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:42 pm
by Perry Lassiter
"Break a leg" developed from the superstition that it was bad luck to wish a performer good luck! So the reverse should also hold true? No? Ergo, "break a leg" somehow arose to mean "I wish you a great performance!" Huh?

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:44 pm
by Philip Hudson
I knew that Perry. "Break a leg" is still dumb.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:20 pm
by gailr
There are superstitious practices in any group that help bond the members in a common experience, regardless of relevance outside the group.

Other examples: athletes or fans who wear 'lucky' (e.g.: unwashed!) garments to continue a winning streak; nurses who won't mention the fly on the ward, tie knot in the corner of a dying patient's sheet, or absolutely never speak the word 'quiet'; realtors who advise even non-Catholic clients on the 'St. Joseph ritual' to sell a house.

It looks silly from the outside; yet superstitions 'work' if and when adherents feel more confident because of observing the group's ritual, and perform better because of that confidence.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:55 am
by bnjtokyo
The earliest uses of the phrase "go up on [one's] lines" are
"If I varied from Bonforte's earlier speech then I simple went up on my lines" A Heinline Trio 1957
In an interview with James Stewart by Janet Maslin in the New York Times dated Oct. 9, 1983, Mr. Stewart said, in connection with the filming of "Rope," " . . . don't let me go up on my lines now!"
But neither source provides any explanation as to why this expression means what it does to actors.

Re: Go Up On Your Lines

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:11 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Someone trying to remember something often looks up, if often only with his eyes. Perhaps that's it?