<p>While everyone is tied up in knots awaiting audition results, I will post this question as a distraction. Which spelling do you prefer, and why? Having perused a number of formal and informal essays on the subject, I find myself in the -er camp. You?</p>
<p>I’ve always been in the re camp. It just sounds more European to me and I like all things European.</p>
<p>Hahaha, thank you for posting this, Glassharmonica–I’ve always wondered about this too! Are there really essays about it? To me, “er” seems right, at least in America, but my teaching colleague (high school arts) insists on “re” (and especially resents being called a “drama” teacher). Grammar/spelling nazi that I am, I tend to suspect there’s an element of pseudo-highbrow pretension going on, but I would love to find out whether there’s an actual difference in meaning. It does seem as though “theatre” is becoming the predominant usage. Any other insights out there? Oh, and congratulations to your daughter, Glassharmonica, on her double Fordham acceptances!</p>
<p>I’ve always heard/felt that “theater” is the building, and “theatre” is the art form, personally.</p>
<p>I was born and raised in Europe under the British Curriculum and we were always taught it was ‘theatre’. Then again my American mother spells it ‘theater’. I think it’s really just the difference between British English and American English :P</p>
<p>D won’t speak to me if I spell it theater, so I always spell it theatre. I think that means I know which side of the bread my butter is on. (Buttre?)</p>
<p>^^same here Gwen</p>
<p>I don’t know if this link will be allowed:
[Theatre</a> Spelled “re” T-Shirt by dramacorrect- 345017467](<a href=“Theatre Spelled Re Dark Tshirt345017467theatre Gifts - CafePress”>theatre re blk Men's Value T-Shirt Theatre Spelled "re" Dark T-Shirt | CafePress)</p>
<p>but if it gets deleted, it’s from cafe press and it’s a t-shirt that has “theater” with the “er” crossed out and “re” written over it…</p>
<p>Haha, thank you SD! I spy a birthday present!</p>
<p>“Theatre” is the more British spelling, which I tend to use because I spent a lot of my childhood in Britain–and probably also because the best theatre I have seen has all been in Britain. “Theater” is simply the more American spelling, and I notice that the more I have been participating here the more I slip into that spelling.</p>
<p>I have heard the “one is a builiding, the other is the art form” explanation before, but that is not supported by any dictionary.</p>
<p>But if you don’t want to sound like a complete hick, don’t pronounce it “thee-AY-t’r”.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>My son insists on “theatre,” and I picked it up from him. He admits the pretension, but doesn’t care. He seems to feel that using the “-re” variant indicates that you are “in the know”…one of the cognoscenti regarding this branch of the arts.</p>
<p>If I’m writing about a place with a formal name like “such-and-such theater,” I try to honor their spelling…if I notice, and my fingers don’t forget.</p>
<p>Re the American vs British question, what about the publication called “American Theatre” (another great birthday present!) that a lot of our college age kids have subscriptions to?</p>
<p>I’d be interested to know what it was, in your reading, that placed you in the “-er” camp, glassharmonica.</p>
<p>I agree re: using whichever spelling the school prefers, and I regularly check online to make sure I have it right! At Kenyon College, where my daughter was a theatER major, the department actually uses “drama”–is that old school?–but in their materials, they spell it theater. Awesome liberal arts program, btw, with many alumni working in…um…drama. 
Love the t-shirt, SD, but I don’t think my actor son has ever even noticed that there re two spellings! :D</p>
<p>I think Theater is acceptable when referring to a building, but when referring to the form of art I am a firm believer in the re spelling. So you can have a Theatre class that is taught in a Theater, but if it was called Theater Class I would find that unpleasant.</p>
<p>^^ In that case, stay away from not only Kenyon, but Juilliard and Syracuse, both of which refer to their “drama” programs but spell theater class with the “er.” Both Temple and Pace also use the “er.” Still think it’d be interesting to find some kind of valid reason for this variation, but I suspect it’s just one of those usage things, and I share the hypothesis that the “re” is a British-ism. Certainly bears no relationship to the quality of the program. </p>
<p>Whatevre…</p>
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</p>
<p>Not if you’re talking about the buildings on Broadway because all of them spell it <em>theatre</em>. I’ve been to theatres in many different cities that spell it as such - National Theatre in D.C., Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, Pantages and Ahmanson Theatres in L.A., Auditorium and Geva Theatres in Rochester, Ensemble Theatre in Cincinnati, Walnut St. Theatre in Philadelphia, just a few I can think of offhand. :)</p>
<p>Tisch, Fordham, and Marymount Manhattan all use the <em>re</em> spelling for their programs and classes. I’m sure they aren’t unique in that regard. I think we’ve had this discussion here on CC before.</p>
<p>I said acceptable, not required.</p>
<p>I’m always good either way. My hubby has been on a rant lately about “actress” versus “actor.” It’s a common complaint. Still, I think we can all agree that theatre is also theater and actor can also be actress.</p>
<p>Or maybe not? (Have at it, as always!)</p>
<p>It’s really not about who or however this has been discussed in the past. It’s about how young artists see themselves today in 2012. My kid is also a voiceover actor. How does he see himself? As a “voice actor.” So, actors position themselves. They understand the moniker.</p>
<p>Acting is a business.</p>
<p>Bville, i agree, and language is an ever-changing organism. It’s entertaining but not crucial to parse these distinctions (and I know that was the intent of the OP–to spark discussion). You point out some interesting usages–I’ve used “actor” for both genders since I was a neo-feminist college student 35 years ago! One that interests me lately is “music theater” as opposd to musicAL theater. That was new to me, and I wonder if anyone else knows whether one or the other is “more correct” or, again, if it’s just a regional or other usage difference.</p>
<p>Most of the -ess words we have in English (like “actress” or “waitress” or even “poetess”) were actually invented by feminists, in a period long ago (over a hundred years ago, I think) when certain careers started opening up to women, and so quite a few women, particularly feminists, were quite proud of this and wanted to advertise the fact. (Remember that in Shakespeare’s day, the English speaking world had NO ‘actresses’) Many modern feminists, however, say that thess -ess words are now archaic. We should no longer see it as unusual that women are in these careers, so no longer need a different word.</p>
<p>“Actor” can now mean a male or female actor. (Of course there are still some archaic usages, like awards for “best actor” and “best actress”) I do still use the word “actress” instead of the more cumbersome “female actor”. But I do have to say “male actor” or just “men” if I need to be specific in the other direction.</p>
<p>I stated before that the “one means a building, the other means the artform” explanation of theater/theatre is NOT supported by any dictionary that I am aware of, but I have heard it as sort of a theatrical urban legend. Note that this forum is specifically for “TheatER/Drama Majors.” I tend to use the spelling “theatre” simply because I have spent so much of my life in the UK. But I am beginning to use the spelling “theater” the more I hang with all of you.</p>
<p>Yes, the more recent use of “music theatre” instead of “musical theatre” has me wondering too. My son is at Tisch “New Studio on Broadway for Music Theatre and Acting,” which was formed just two years ago. NSB probably has an explanation for it. I should ask my son if it has ever been discussed in studio.</p>
<p>
Good one, Times3!</p>
<p>Here is a link to one of the more interesting discussions I have read on this topic:</p>
<p>[Theater</a> (or theatre) piece | The Grammarphobia Blog](<a href=“http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/theater-theatre.html]Theater”>http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/theater-theatre.html)</p>
<p>
[quote]
It helps to know that the word is ultimately derived from the Latin theatrum, and that its spellings in other languages are roughly divided along linguistic lines—Romance versus Germanic.</p>
<p>In Romance languages, the final syllable is spelled with -tr rather than -ter. For example, teatro in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese; teatru in Romanian; and th</p>