From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtread the boardstread the boardshumorousAPT to work as an actor → tread
Examples from the Corpus
tread the boards• I was 22 or 23 before I decided to tread the boards.• If they start today they have something under three weeks before treading the boards.• Morris had no idea she had trodden the boards.• So it is with a good few of the faithful with whom I trod the boards in my schooldays.• And rather than treading the boards ... they were teetering two feet above them. 