What Really Goes on Backstage?

With several extra minutes available prior to a show, I actually got though an entire Playbill recently and was tickled by Seth Rudetsky's Onstage and Backstage article entitled Stage Dictionary. I'm usually more interested in what happens on the stage, not behind it. The closest that I've gotten to such insight was The Understudy and more recently A Life in the Theatre with Patrick Stewart. But somehow I don't think that these productions are fair representations of what really goes on backstage.

So, here are a few phrases that Seth Rudetsky enlightened me on:

1) Half-Hour Call - the time that actors must sign in before a show
2) Rent Mics - visible mics worn by the actors - named after Rent
3) Ten Out of Twelves - 10 hour rehearsal days

Check out Seth Rudetsky's other Playbill.com articles at Seth Rudetsky Onstage & Backstage