trod the boards
Worked in theater
Trod the boards means performed on stage as an actor.
The boards are the wooden planks of a theater stage, and to tread them is to walk across them while performing.
The phrase is slightly theatrical itself, often used nostalgically or with affection for the craft: She trod the boards for forty years before retiring.
- propsTheater accessories or praise
- in the wingsPrepared but not yet visible
- stageRaised performance platform
- theaterVenue for live drama
- performanceCarrying out a task
actor · masque · vaudeville · Elizabethan theater · repertory · summer stock · break a leg · curtain call · standing ovation · thespian · greasepaint · stage presence · role · steal the show · take a bow · playhouse · center stage · Broadway