Home > “Break a Leg” > About the Book > Spelling

For copy editors, this is a loaded question! Officially, both spellings are proper English. A lot of people use them interchangeably.

At least in these books– and on this website– there’s a method to the madness.

The usual American spelling is “theater”. But a lot of businesses want to look classy, so their names use the British spelling of “theatre”.

In the books, when the word comes up as a generic term, it’s spelled with “er”. When it comes up as part of a name, it’s spelled with “re”. That’s why the books refer to “movie theaters” in general, but they also refer to “the Versailles Theatre” specifically.

It may seem strange, but it’s in line with common usage. Of all the real-life theaters featured in these books, they all handle it in much the same way… for whatever that’s worth!

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Home > “Break a Leg” > About the Book > Spelling
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