tread the boards

Idioms  

1. Act on the stage, as in Her main ambition was to tread the boards in a big city. This idiom uses boards in the sense of “a theatrical stage,” a usage dating from the mid-1700s. It dates from the mid-1800s but was preceded by the idiom tread the stage, first recorded in 1691.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tread the boards

At 83, he is eager to tread the boards once again — and to continue working as steadily as he has for the last six decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

For his 2012 album, “Viva Duets,” he collaborated with Latin American artists like Chayanne, Thalía and Marc Anthony; in Newark, he’ll tread the boards with one of his daughters, the singer Antonia Bennett.

From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2015

But he has vowed that this is the last year he will tread the boards dressed in the dame's clothing.

From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2013

Miller, 29, is the latest British film star to tread the boards in the West End.

From Reuters ● Jan. 21, 2011

Corneille did not, however, like Molière, tread the boards as an actor.

From Classic French Course in English by William Cleaver Wilkinson