drop curtain

American  

noun

Theater.

1. a curtain that is lowered into position from the flies.

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drop curtain British  

noun

1. Also called: drop cloth.   drop.  theatre a curtain that is suspended from the flies and can be raised and lowered onto the stage

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Etymology

Origin of drop curtain

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

The house chandeliers rose, the lights dimmed, the orchestra tuned, the black drop curtain went up, and “Madama Butterfly” got underway.

From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2019

But it’s another kind of show-stopper I’m speaking of today, the kind my taxi friend fears lurks behind every drop curtain.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2011

Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty When Lydia Lopokova, a former Diaghilev ballerina, went to see her old company perform in Paris in 1924, it was Picasso's drop curtain for the ballet Le Train Bleu that most impressed her.

From The Guardian • Sep. 23, 2010

Pablo Picasso's drop curtain for Le Train Bleu ballet, at the V&A in London.

From The Guardian • Sep. 23, 2010

I stand on the stage, with a drop curtain down, and my screen before it.

From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 2, 1857-1870 by Dickens, Mamie