Musicals Word Search With Stage, Song and Backstage Words

New puzzle hides 16 stage words, from Audition to Ovation, and Print or save as PDF adds the answer key.

Name Date

Musical Theater Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

RGPROPSOTAQVUST

EAOAEJFDCHORUSR

HGSAUUCURTAINCL

ETLAWCUGHNOIIDG

ANATGOBEMATINEE

RYIBUSMEROSHBAL

SBERNTIMSUSHERN

AAIDDUQDLOPCANB

LLTDEMRWUAOUOSY

LLIBRETTOETEVHG

BACKSTAGEFLNATB

ODADTNNSCRIPTES

AOUDUETEBYGLIHB

NPUHDTNGEUHFOIA

WEBAYSYSTLTGNWJ

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

RehearsalREHEARSAL
ScriptSCRIPT
CostumeCOSTUME
PropsPROPS
CueCUE
LibrettoLIBRETTO
BalladBALLAD
DuetDUET
ChorusCHORUS
UnderstudyUNDERSTUDY
UsherUSHER
BackstageBACKSTAGE
CurtainCURTAIN
SpotlightSPOTLIGHT
MatineeMATINEE
OvationOVATION

16 of 24 words from the Mixed Stage Words list.

Pick three words you found and use them in one sentence about putting on a show.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

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Answer key: Musical Theater Word Search

RGPROPSOTAQVUST

EAOAEJFDCHORUSR

HGSAUUCURTAINCL

ETLAWCUGHNOIIDG

ANATGOBEMATINEE

RYIBUSMEROSHBAL

SBERNTIMSUSHERN

AAIDDUQDLOPCANB

LLTDEMRWUAOUOSY

LLIBRETTOETEVHG

BACKSTAGEFLNATB

ODADTNNSCRIPTES

AOUDUETEBYGLIHB

NPUHDTNGEUHFOIA

WEBAYSYSTLTGNWJ

REHEARSAL, SCRIPT, COSTUME, PROPS, CUE, LIBRETTO, BALLAD, DUET, CHORUS, UNDERSTUDY, USHER, BACKSTAGE, CURTAIN, SPOTLIGHT, MATINEE, OVATION

Next step Print the music word search for instruments and notation

All 167 words

Putting On a Show 21

Audition A tryout where you sing, dance or read a scene to win a part.
Blocking The planned moves that tell each actor where to stand, walk and sit.
Callback A second tryout for the few performers the director wants to see again.
Callboard The backstage bulletin board where schedules and notices are posted.
Casting Choosing which performer will play each part.
Choreography The planned dance steps of a show.
Costume The clothes a performer wears to look like a character.
Cue A signal, such as a spoken line or a light change, that tells you to do something.
Fitting A session of trying on stage clothes so they can be pinned and sewn to size.
Makeup Color and powder for the face that keep features clear under bright lights.
Memorize To learn your part by heart.
Props Objects an actor handles on stage, such as a letter, a cane or a teacup.
Rehearsal A practice session for the show, held before any ticket is sold.
Run-through A practice of a whole act or show from start to finish without stopping.
Script The printed pages that hold every spoken line of the show.
Set The scenery built for a show.
Sitzprobe A German word for the first practice where the singers and the orchestra work together.
Strike To take the scenery apart and clear the stage after the last show.
Wardrobe All the costumes of a show, or the room where they are kept.
Warm-up Gentle singing and stretching that gets voices and bodies ready.
Wig False hair worn to change how a performer looks.

Show all 167 words (146 more)

Songs, Music and Dance 25

Ballad A slow song, often about love or longing.
Belt To sing out in a loud, strong voice.
Book The spoken story of a musical: the plot, the characters and the talk between songs.
Chorus The singers and dancers who support the leading performers.
Diction Saying each word so clearly that the back row can catch it.
Downbeat The first beat of a measure, shown by the conductor's downward stroke.
Duet A song for two singers.
Ensemble A group of singers, dancers or actors who perform together.
Entr'acte Music or dancing performed between two acts.
Finale The last song or scene of an act or of the whole show.
Libretto The full text of a musical, spoken words and song words together. Italian for small book.
Medley Several tunes played one after another as a single piece.
Number One song or dance in a show.
Orchestration The job of arranging a show's music for the instruments of the orchestra.
Overture The orchestra's opening piece, played before the story begins.
Recitative Words half sung and half spoken, in the rhythm of everyday speech.
Repertoire All the songs and parts a performer has ready to perform.
Reprise A song or tune that comes back later in the show.
Routine A set piece of entertainment, such as a dance or a comedy bit.
Score All the music and lyrics of a show, written down.
Showstopper A song that earns so much clapping that the show has to pause.
Solo A song sung by one performer alone.
Sung-through Describes a musical that has almost no spoken dialogue.
Tap A dance in shoes with metal plates that click against the floor.
Vamp A few bars of music repeated over and over as an accompaniment.

Cast and Crew 31

Accompanist A musician, often a pianist, who plays along while someone sings.
Actor A person who plays a character on stage.
Actress A woman who plays a character on stage.
Cast All the performers in a show.
Choreographer The person who invents the dances and teaches them to the cast.
Composer The person who writes the music.
Conductor The person who leads the orchestra and keeps singers and players together.
Crew The team that builds, moves and runs everything the crowd does not see.
Dancer A performer who tells the story through movement.
Designer A person who plans the look of the scenery, the costumes or the lights.
Director The person in charge of how the whole show looks, sounds and moves.
Dresser A helper who gets performers into and out of costumes, fast.
Hoofer A slang word for a professional dancer, above all a tap dancer.
Impresario A person who organizes and pays for public entertainment.
Ingenue The part of an innocent young woman, or the performer who plays it.
Lead The main part in a show, or the performer who plays it.
Librettist The person who writes the book, the spoken story of a musical.
Lyricist The person who writes the words of the songs.
Playwright A person who writes plays.
Producer The person who raises the money and runs the business side of a show.
Prompter The person who whispers a forgotten line to an actor from out of sight.
Stage manager The person who runs rehearsals and oversees the stage and the actors.
Stagehand A crew member who moves scenery and furniture between scenes.
Standby A performer who is not in the show each night but waits at the theater to cover a part.
Star A famous performer whose name helps sell tickets.
Swing A performer who learns many group parts and steps into any one that is empty.
Thespian A formal word for an actor, from Thespis, a poet of ancient Greece.
Troupe A group of performers who work and often travel together.
Understudy A performer who learns another person's part and goes on if that person is out.
Usher The person who shows you to your seat and hands you a program.
Walk-on A tiny part with no lines to speak.

Story and Script 24

Act One of the big parts a show is split into. Most musicals have two.
Ad-lib Words made up on the spot, often to cover a mistake.
Aside A remark to the crowd that the other characters pretend not to hear.
Bit part A small part with only a few lines.
Dialogue The words characters speak to each other.
Entrance The moment a performer comes on stage.
Epilogue A short speech or scene after the story has ended.
Exit The moment a performer leaves the stage.
Farce A comedy packed with silly mix-ups and unlikely surprises.
Line One piece of text that an actor speaks.
Melodrama A play with exaggerated feelings and characters who are plainly good or plainly bad.
Monologue A long speech by one character.
Musical A play that tells its story with songs and dances.
Operetta A light, funny kind of opera with spoken words between the songs.
Pantomime Telling a story with movement, gestures and faces, and no words.
Prologue An opening speech or scene that comes before the story starts.
Revue A show made of separate songs, dances and skits, often poking fun at the news.
Role The part a performer plays.
Scene A part of an act that happens in one place at one time.
Skit A very short comic scene.
Soliloquy A speech in which a character alone on stage thinks out loud.
Stage whisper A loud whisper that the whole crowd is meant to hear.
Tableau A moment when everyone on stage freezes like a picture.
Vaudeville An old kind of variety show with singers, jugglers, comics and dancers.

Parts of a Theater 27

Aisle The walkway between blocks of seats.
Apron The strip of stage that reaches out in front of the curtain.
Auditorium The big room where the audience sits.
Backstage Everything behind the scenery, including the dressing rooms.
Balcony An upper floor of seats that hangs over the main floor.
Booth The small room at the back where the crew runs the lights and sound.
Box office The window where tickets are sold.
Catwalk A narrow walkway high above the stage, used by the crew.
Center stage The exact middle of the acting area.
Downstage The front of the stage, closest to the crowd.
Dressing room The room where performers put on costumes and makeup.
Flies The space high above the stage where scenery hangs until it is lowered.
Greenroom The lounge where performers wait when they are not on stage.
Gridiron The metal frame high over the stage that holds the ropes for scenery and lights.
House A theater, or the crowd inside it, as in a full ___.
Lobby The entrance hall where the crowd waits before the doors open.
Loge A private box of seats, or the front rows of the mezzanine.
Marquee The roof over the entrance, often with a sign that names the show.
Mezzanine The lowest balcony, or its first few rows.
Offstage Out of the crowd's sight, in the wings or behind the scenery.
Pit The sunken space in front of the stage where the orchestra plays.
Proscenium The front of a stage and the big arch that frames it like a picture.
Stage left The actor's left side when facing the crowd.
Stage right The actor's right side when facing the crowd.
Trapdoor A hinged door in the stage floor.
Upstage The back of the stage, farthest from the crowd.
Wings The hidden spaces at the left and right where actors wait to enter.

Lights, Sound and Scenery 18

Backdrop A huge painted cloth hung across the stage's back.
Blackout The moment every stage light snaps off at once, often to end a scene.
Curtain The big drape that hides the acting area until the show begins.
Cyclorama A large curved curtain or wall across the back of the stage.
Dimmer A control that makes a lamp brighter or darker.
Footlights A row of lamps along the front edge of the stage floor.
Gel A sheet of colored see-through material placed in front of a lamp to tint its light.
Greasepaint Thick, oily stage makeup.
Headset Earphones with a small microphone, worn by the crew to talk quietly during a show.
Houselights The lamps over the seats, turned down when the show starts.
Limelight An early stage lamp that glowed by heating lime. Now it means public attention.
Microphone It picks up a voice so the back row can hear.
Scenery The painted walls, cloths and furniture that show where the story happens.
Scrim A thin see-through cloth hung on stage for special lighting effects.
Sound effect A noise such as thunder or a doorbell, made on purpose for a scene.
Spotlight A strong, narrow beam that lights one performer.
Stage The raised floor where the whole show happens.
Tormentor A tall hanging at each side of the stage that hides the wings from the crowd.

The Performance 21

Bow Bending at the waist to thank the crowd at the end.
Bravo What a delighted crowd shouts at a performer.
Curtain call When the cast returns to the stage at the end to be clapped.
Debut A performer's first appearance before the public.
Dress rehearsal A full practice with costumes and props, run without stopping like a real show.
Encore An extra song performed because the crowd keeps clapping.
Intermission The break between the acts.
Matinee An afternoon show.
Opening The first official performance of a show.
Ovation Long, loud clapping from a thrilled crowd.
Premiere The first public performance of a new show.
Preview A public performance before the official opening, so the team can still fix problems.
Program The booklet that lists the cast, the scenes and the songs.
Revival A new production of an old show.
Run The stretch of days, weeks or years that a show keeps playing.
Sellout A show for which every ticket is gone.
Stage fright The nervous feeling before you step in front of a crowd.
Standing room Space to watch on your feet after every seat is filled.
Theatergoer A person who goes to see plays and musicals.
Ticket It lets you in and tells you which seat is yours.
Tour A trip that takes a show from city to city.

How this list was compiled: 167 stage words chosen and defined for this site, with no show title, song title, character name or theater company among them. The spelling and stage meaning of each word were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, on 2026-09-19. Terms the dictionary does not give in their stage sense, such as Swing, Standby, Gel and Sitzprobe, and what Book, Score and Libretto mean in a musical, were checked the same day in English Wikipedia, starting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre. Every clue is written for this page in a child's words. Licence: own work

How it works

This musicals word search holds words of the stage only: no show titles, song titles, characters or theater companies. It hides 16 mixed stage words, such as Libretto, Understudy and Ovation, in a 15 by 15 grid.

Read the full guide

Follow the show from tryout to bows

Under the puzzle, Start from a list has ten lists. Seven follow a production in order, from Putting On a Show (21 words) and Cast and Crew (31) to Lights, Sound and Scenery (18) and The Performance (22). Print one at each stage of your show. For instruments and notation, print the music word search.

Use the clues as a stage glossary

Tick Show clues, not words. Each clue is one line in a child's words: "A second tryout for the few performers the director wants to see again" hides Callback. Two-word terms hide without the space, so Dress rehearsal, the longest entry, fills 14 squares.

The Book is a musical's spoken story. The Score is its music and lyrics; the Libretto, its dialogue and lyrics.
Before blocking rehearsals, print Parts of a Theater: Upstage is the back, Downstage the front, Stage left the actor's left.
Younger casts: pick Short Words (43 words of 3 to 5 letters), then 10 by 10 and Large print under More options.

Questions and answers

Why are there no show titles or songs in the lists?

The lists hold the vocabulary of the stage, which is the same for every production, so the sheet fits whatever your club is rehearsing. To add titles and characters from your own show, type them at the end of the word list under the grid.

What is the difference between an understudy, a standby and a swing?

An understudy plays a smaller part and learns a bigger one, ready to step in. A standby is not in the show and waits at the theater to cover a part. A swing learns several chorus and dance parts and fills whichever is empty.

Which list should I print for which group?

Start with the opening list, Mixed Stage Words: 24 words every cast member meets, such as Cue and Props. For older groups, Long Words holds 37 words of 9 to 13 letters, such as Choreographer: press Hard, and the grid grows when a word needs room.

All 167 words

Putting On a Show 21

Songs, Music and Dance 25

Cast and Crew 31

Story and Script 24

Parts of a Theater 27

Lights, Sound and Scenery 18

The Performance 21

How it works

Follow the show from tryout to bows

Use the clues as a stage glossary

Questions and answers

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