command performance

1. A performance, such as a play, ballet, opera, etc., that is presented at the behest of royalty or a head of government. The theater troupe was always at the ready to give a command performance, should the queen so desire it. No, no, our prima ballerina can't be injured, not on the eve of our command performance! This is a command performance for the Queen of Denmark, so every aspect of it must be perfect.

2. By extension, any task or activity (typically outside of normal work duties) that one undertakes or performs at the request of someone in a position of authority. When I was an intern, I always had to give command performances for visiting businessmen, such as taking them out to dinner or arranging entertainment for them during their stay. Once a season, all the rookies are tasked with a command performance—going out to fetch coffee for all the veterans. Filing is your primary responsibility, but really, anyone in the department can pull you at any time for a command performance, especially if there's a big project going on.

3. Any obligatory occasion or situation that one is required or expected to attend, as at the behest of an employer or person of authority. These fundraising dinners, though technically "optional," are really command performances for the members of staff. A: "The king is asking for you, sir." B: "Goodness, I suppose he's looking for a command performance while his betrothed is here." A: "Wait, I have to go to this industry event too? But I'm only part-time." B: "It's a command performance for all of us, dear. No one is safe."

command performance

An occasion that one is obliged to attend, as in My boss's invitations to dinner are always a command performance. This term originally (late 1800s) denoted a theatrical or musical performance presented at the behest of a sovereign or head of state. By the 1930s it was also used figuratively for any more or less obligatory occasion or performance.