Theater Superstitions - Wishing Good Luck

Superstition: To wish someone "Good luck" before a show is bad luck.

Generally, it is considered bad luck to wish someone good luck in a theater, the expression "Break a Leg" replaces the phrase "Good luck" There are many theories of the origin of this superstition of wishing luck to the actors, but here are a few:

- After a good performance during Elizabethan England, actors were thrown money on the stage and they would kneel down to collect the money thus 'breaking' the line of the leg.

- Similarly, for the curtain call, when actors bow or curtsy, they place one foot behind the other and bend at the knee, thus 'breaking' the line of the leg.

- If the audience demands numerable curtain calls and the actors are moving on and off stage via the wings they may 'break the legs', 'legs' being a common name for side curtains/masks.