The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater

WINGS

Wings: translation

The term has two meanings. First, it is the area immediately offstage where actors wait to make their entrances. They wait "in the wings," because the second meaning is the painted canvas flats in a 19th-century wing-and-drop setting. Later varieties of stage settings might still use wing flats painted black to mask offstage areas on either side of the set. Before the advent of strict union regulations, theatres were remarkably casual about allowing special guests to stand in the wings to watch the show. There are numerous tales of actors who could play excruciatingly poignant scenes on stage and then drop character instantly as they moved into the wings. An actor who did not know his lines would contrive to get through a performance by keeping hissidesin the wings to consult between entrances on stage; this practice was known as "winging it."

  1. wings—wings translationSynonyms and related wordsHershey bar L R acting area apron apron stage aviation badge backstage badge band shell bandstand bar board bridge chevron chic...Moby Thesaurus
  2. wings—swing...Английские анаграммы
  3. wings—кулаки...Англо-русский геологический словарь
  4. wings—wings n pl AmE sl Where can I find me some wings Где бы мне достать немного порошка героина там или кокаина...Англо-русский новый словарь современного неформального английского языка
  5. wings—n. крылья...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  6. wings—фин. сокр. от warrants into negotiable government securities abbrev. WINGSwarrants into negotiable government securitiesеврооблигации с варрантами на приобретение госуда...Англо-русский экономический словарь
  7. wings—крила...Англо-український словник
  8. wings—n pl AmE sl Where can I find me some wings Где бы мне достать немного порошка героина там или кокаина...Новый англо-русский словарь современной разговорной лексики