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

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

A half-century later, an organiser has been recalling how those who would go on to be among the world's most beloved comedy performers were lured to tread the boards.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2021

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

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

From Reuters • Jan. 21, 2011

The part was given to Westwood, a professional actor, and Otway never essayed to tread the boards again.'

From The Works of Aphra Behn, Volume III by Summers, Montague