Theater / Theatre

Hansey · Feb 11, 2012

As far as I am aware, "theater" is typically the American spelling, while "theatre" is typically British. However, often a specific venue's name uses the "theatre" spelling. For example, I am using the Cutler Majestic Theatre as a location in my current WIP.

When referring to the location by name, I am currently spelling it the way it is properly spelled, as above. When referring to it generally though, my instinct is to use the "theater" spelling.

Example:

In its day, the Cutler Majestic Theatre would have been brightly lit, bathing the street in an an orange glow on performance nights. Tremont Street would have been busy with people heading to the theater for the evening, either to Cutler or one of the other theaters on Tremont.

(I know this sentence needs work. I'll get to it)

Anyway, does it make sense to use the "American" spelling of theater in every case except in a proper name? My instinct says yes, and writing "theatre" looks wrong to me. (And my spellchecker doesn't like it either.)

DeleyanLee · Feb 11, 2012

I was taught that theatre (the production) is performed in a theater (the physical place).

Apparently this could also be an Americanism, but I don't know.

alleycat · Feb 11, 2012

Hansey said:
Anyway, does it make sense to use the "American" spelling of theater in every case except in a proper name?

To me it does. Companies often do use "Theatre" in their name, but theater is the more typical American spelling.

AnWulf · Feb 12, 2012

theater

Hansey said:
Anyway, does it make sense to use the "American" spelling of theater in every case except in a proper name? My instinct says yes, and writing "theatre" looks wrong to me. (And my spellchecker doesn't like it either.)

In the US, it makes sense. Theatre is often benoted in proper names as a marketing ploy but otherwise it is mainly theater.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 12, 2012

In the U.S., both are used. Here, a theater is usually a place where you watch movies, and a theatre is a place where you watch plays.

Maryn · Feb 12, 2012

I agree with the OP's take on it and disagree with Mr. Ritchie.

If the joint's proper name is the Something Theatre, that does not mean it's magically a theatre, lower case. (In Canada and the UK, it would already have been a theatre, of course.) It would still be a theater.

There is no distinction in spelling between the building where plays are performed and the one where movies are shown. There still exist venues used as both, at different times in their histories. Each names itself. My city has playhouses in permanent residence at one Something Theatre and two SomethingElse Theaters, and shows its movies at both theaters and theatres, depending on what the owners have chosen to name the facility.

So the Cutler Theatre could be one of the surviving grand theaters, no problem.

Maryn, with a strong opinion on this

mscelina · Feb 12, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
In the U.S., both are used. Here, a theater is usually a place where you watch movies, and a theatre is a place where you watch plays.

Um...no.

Theater is the US spelling. Theatre is the UK spelling. Just like center and centre. And, just like little shopping malls with pretensions who use "shopping centre" on their signs, some theaters in the US use and prefer the British terminology. Within the US theatrical community theater/theatre is a long-running debate.

Before my agent sent out my Theater series, we had a back and forth about the spelling of the word too. I won. My theatrical troupe is in the US; they do not perform classic plays and are more cutting edge--therefore I use the spelling 'theater.'

However, if my theatrical troupe had been a company who specialized in classic plays (Shakespeare, Ibsen, Moliere) then they would have probably used the 'theatre' version.

CaroGirl · Feb 12, 2012

Jamesaritchie said:
In the U.S., both are used. Here, a theater is usually a place where you watch movies, and a theatre is a place where you watch plays.

Outside the US, the cinema is where you go to watch films and the theatre is where you go to watch plays.

In the US, you go to a theater for both. I'd use that spelling always unless it's a reference to the proper noun: The Porn Queen Theatre (for example).

Hansey · Feb 12, 2012

Maryn said:
So the Cutler Theatre could be one of the surviving grand theaters, no problem.

And grand it is indeed. This is a photo of the inside of the Cutler.

Thanks for the feedback all. I was pretty comfortable with my original conclusion but it never hurts to see what others think.

augusto · Feb 12, 2012

Well, I was in a play at Theatre in the Round, named for the Theatre in the Round Players. I was also in a play at the Guthrie Theater, a building named after a fellow named Guthrie. If that helps.

Maryn · Feb 12, 2012

Exactly, augusto. The theater's owners get to determine how its name is spelled, without regard to whether it's for live performance or movies.

Maryn, glad to hear from you

augusto · Feb 12, 2012

Glad to hear from you, too, Maryn. But what I was going for was that one was named for the performance (or performers) and the other for the building that housed it, that theatre is what goes on inside a theater.

Chase · Feb 12, 2012

You know, JAR may have something about one spelling being ritzier than the other. Along the Milk River, which we Montanans share with Albertans, we have tire centers and tyre centres.

At the former, you get plain old rubber tires filled with air for an okay ride. At the latter, you get classier rubbre tyres filled with ayr, like riding on a cloud.

Jamesaritchie · Feb 13, 2012

CaroGirl said:
Outside the US, the cinema is where you go to watch films and the theatre is where you go to watch plays.

In the US, you go to a theater for both. I'd use that spelling always unless it's a reference to the proper noun: The Porn Queen Theatre (for example).

In the U.S. you can go to the theater for both, but I've been to a lot of stage plays here that used "theatre", but never to an ordinary movie place spelled this way, unless it had once been a theatre, and they kept the spelling.

There is no hard and fast rule, but snootiness, or whatever it is, often determines how it's spelled.

Theater / Theatre

Hansey

She who distributes the cookies

DeleyanLee

Writing Anarchist

alleycat

Still around

AnWulf

Jamesaritchie

Maryn

I Tried

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Hansey

She who distributes the cookies

augusto

Maryn

I Tried

augusto

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

Jamesaritchie