first nightn.
/ˌfəːs(t) ˈnʌɪt/, U.S. /ˌfərs(t) ˈnaɪt/ The night on which a play, opera, film, etc. (or a particular production of one) is first performed publicly; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > [noun] > dramatic performance > time or occasion of performance
play-dayc1563
playtime1616
first night1702
play night1717
play-party1796
1702 G. Farquhar Inconstant v. 88 I cou'd wish that my whole Life long were the first Night of a New Play.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 15. ⁋7 The missing of an Opera the first Night.
1860 C. Dickens Let. 28 Dec. (1997) IX. 354 On Boxing night, I was at Covent Garden. A dull pantomime was ‘worked’ (as we say) better than I ever saw a heavy piece worked on a first night.
1871 Punch 8 July 8/1 A first night's audience is an exceptional one.
1919 P. G. Wodehouse Damsel in Distress xii. 144 He felt a wave of stage-fright such as he had only once experienced before in his life—on the occasion when he had been young enough to take a curtain-call on a first-night.
1959 P. Bull I know Face xii. 216 For these reasons I try to avoid going to first nights and taking part in the attendant tralala.
2011 Church Times 4 Nov. 35/5 The first night was, of course, a triumph, but all he cared about was the non-appearance of a cherished prop.
Compounds
General attributive.
ΚΠ
1747 T. Whincop Scanderbeg 183/2 The noise of these First-Night Gentlemen was so great.
1843 Illustr. London News 29 Apr. 294/1 Those bursts of emotion..which must tell with a first-night audience.
1861 E. Cowell Diary (1934) 244 The small audience was one of the usual ‘first night’ ‘critical’ ones.
1894 Westm. Gaz. 3 Apr. 2/3 A ‘first-night’ notice.
1946 Theatre Arts Nov. 652/1 Young actors who have played juveniles or ingenues with a Toby show seldom succumb to first-night nerves in later years.
1953 N. Coward Diary 17 Sept. (2000) 220 It is not in verse although it is supposed to be, neither is it particularly ‘significant’, which foxed the first-night audience considerably.
1995 Daily Mail 19 Oct. 3/1 But soon after the film's end, he skipped the first-night party and headed for the Ritz.
2002 Daily Tel. 22 Mar. 23/1 The 18-gear mountain machine given to him by Nicole Kidman as a first-night present.
Derivatives
first-ˈnighter n. a person who attends a first night.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > theatre-going > theatregoer > [noun] > first-nighter or previewer
first-nighter1874
previewer1921
1874 London Society July 50/1 Any familiar first-nighter can tell to an absolute certainty if there is money or not in a new play.
1882 D. Boucicault in Daily News 23 Nov. 6/7 Persons who call themselves ‘first nighters’..who attend the production of all important plays.
1886 tr. ‘F. du Boisgobey’ Steel Necklace v. 79 All the first-nighters had turned out in force.
1900 Harper's Weekly 24 Mar. 274/3 Some of the most experienced first-nighters in New York who saw her act Frou Frou declared that they had rarely been so impressed by any first appearance.
1995 G. Drabinsky Closer to Sun xix. 398 Crowds bursting with excitement lined up outside the Pantages Theatre to see the first-nighters. Celebrities and dignitaries began arriving.
first-ˈnighting n.
ΚΠ
1881 Country Gentleman 31 Dec. 1390/1 The lady who this week has been so extensively first-nighting, however, is not unknown in what may be by courtesy termed social circles.]
1887 Daily News 3 May 6/1 The social philosophy of first nighting.
1947 Billboard 21 June 4/2 Today, patrons feel they can only bend the elbow for a half hour or so before the bar is locked, decide to go straight home after first-nighting.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Sept. c6 (headline) Leno's high ratings show the thrill of first-nighting... Mr. Leno's new prime-time hour attracted an enormous first-night audience of almost 18 million viewers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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