On opening night, Meredith leaves the theatre altogether and, weather permitting, takes a walk to clear his head. Watch for him going through his paces outside Steppenwolf. Now appearing in The Crucible.

Taylor prefers a “holistic” approach to unwelcome frissons: spraying the theatre with a flower essence appropriately called Calming. Current production: Sounds So Good Makes You Wanna Holler.

Jethmalani arrives early and runs through every line to drill the words into his brain—-a method akin to memorizing the multiplication tables. Now appearing in Merchant on Venice [yes, that’s the title].

One of Brennan’s rituals involves The Trophy, “a nondescript gold guy found in a dumpster” embossed with the letters “SMC.” The cast member who receives it must make up phrases for SMC—like Strapping Man Comehither. Now directing The Magnificents.

To open himself up to whatever might happen onstage, Courser performs a Native American meditation and channels imaginary characters: “It lets you look at yourself from all directions and laugh at the ridiculousness of it.” Now appearing in The Fool (returns to his chair).

This veteran actor customizes bath products, meant to echo a specific character or the show’s tone, for his fellow cast members. For Cymbeline, Yando, who plays the title lead, is thinking woodsy and exotic, with a twist—-“a horrific odor for my evil stepson, Cloten.”