1. Many singers believe it's unlucky to wish each other " good luck ". The agressiveness of some traditional alternatives may reflect the tension of the final moments before a performance begins.
Toi, toi, toi! Break a leg! Merde! Spitting in the ear.
2. Quoting, or even referring to MACBETH is unlucky because it's about witchcraft and death. Do it by mistake and you'll have to go out of the room, turn round three times, spit and swear violently. ( Even then you mightn't be let back in. )
3. Live flowers on stage are unlucky. ( Probably because they wilt under lights and, if they fell on the floor, performers might slip on them. )
4. Whistling backstage is unlucky. ( Traditionally the men who worked the ropes to let heavy scenery down from the flies were recruited from sailors, who signalled to each other by whistling. A whistle from anyone else could send an iron bar down on a singer's head.)
5. Some singers can't perform at all without a lucky mascot. You know you've got a problem when you can see your makeup mirror for teddybears. ( But even Pavarotti picks up luck nails before an entrance. )
6. Disciplined preparation for performance is one thing. Ritual repetition is another. ( If you really can't leave the dressingroom until you've sung a particular set of exercises in a particular order, you've probably crossed the boundary. )
7. Touching the stage floor just before the curtain goes up is one of the oldest recorded singers' superstitions.
8. The full moon or black cats seen through glass bring bad luck to a performance.
9. Opals and green costumes should never be worn on stage. Bad luck!
