Stop the Show! Would we even miss intermissions?
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
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Is it an artistic inhale? Or just a shady way to sell you some snacks? The world of intermissions will certainly (*ahem*) give you pause.
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“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Cast Album Released May 31.” Playbill, playbill.com/article/the-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee-cast-album-released-may-31-com-126059. Accessed 18 Jan. 2024.
Broadway’s Best Shows. “Persisting Pauses: The Status of Intermissions on Broadway.” Broadway’s Best Shows, www.broadwaysbestshows.com/post/persisting-pauses-the-status-of-intermissions-on-broadway/. Accessed 18 Jan. 2024.
“Cut the Intermission, Please. Why I Hope the Pandemic Ends a Theatrical Tradition.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2021, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-05-11/theater-without-intermission-broadway-reopening.
Escolme, Bridget. “The duchess of malfi, the knight of the burning pestle, and the malcontent: Shakespeare’s Globe, January-April 2014.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 2, 2014, pp. 209-218, doi.org/10.135....
Gray, Ellen. “Is Intermission Dead? Lots of Hit Musicals and Plays Are Now Skipping Them.” Https://Www.Inquirer.Com, 15 Feb. 2020, www.inquirer.com/arts/theater-no-intermission-come-from-away-west-side-story-20200215.html.
Marston, John, and John Webster. The Malcontent. Printed by V.S. for William Aspley, 1604, emed.folger.ed....
“A tale of two manuscripts.” Philologia Classica, vol. 14, no. 1, 2019, doi.org/10.216....
If you're reading THIS comment below with the weirdest thing you've ever seen happen at an intermission? That's how I'll know you read this far. 😉
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We need to bring back Overtures. It’s like these musicals don’t have them anymore and I miss them, because it gives a chance for the orchestra to show off.
oh it does soooo much more than that! it sets the tone for the whole evening! we've also lost them in film too! it's my favorite part of many a classic disney film!
@@calliemyersbuchanan6458I agree especially because it slowly works you into the performance
The real reason for an overture, was to allow the audience to "tune in" to the performance space, and allow them to hear the show - this is back in the days when we didn't rely on amplification.
Nowadays, nobody takes the overture seriously - talking through it, moving around, still being seated, etc - to the point where it has become redundant in many ways.
Sadly, our collective attention spans have become so short nowadays, that if there is no visual to accompany music, we tend to dismiss it. Hence, directors using the overture as a narrative element, as opposed to an audible one.
many modern composers don't write full overtures as they don't have a full orchestra. modern sounds doesn't lend themselves to extended 5 min instrumental sections. And these introductions take time away from the 2 1/2 hours most shows have to tell the stories they need.
I agree. A musical without overture is like sex without foreplay. Technically functional but not satisfying
I like intermissions because I can go to the bathroom and then I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the show.
I’ve always felt that the presence or lack of an intermission depends on the show, partly the shows length. Les Miz is simply too long to sit through without an intermission, and I think the intermission serves a real purpose in a show like Into the Woods, even if there’s the danger of people leaving at intermission because they think the show is over. On the other hand, I fully understand why Man of La Mancha was written to be played without an intermission, and it always bothers me when someone puts one in because it breaks up the flow of the show. (I feel the same way about Pippin.) So I think we’re always going to have some shows that have them, and some that don’t, which ever best fits the needs of the show. And I’m very glad you’re doing these again, because they are both entertaining and informative. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the Jim & Tomic podcast comes back eventually, too - there are still plenty of shows you haven’t covered that I would love to hear the two of you discuss, whether or not I agree with your opinions.
You hit it on the head at the end. As Sondheim always says “Content Dictates Form” the content of a show should dictate how intermissions are structured. And I think with growing diversity of content in the shows being made there will be increased diversity on if/when a show needs intermissions as well!
Happy you’re back Musical Mash!
Some shows don't have an intermission and it makes perfect sense for the mode of storytelling. A Chorus Line doesn't and i think it really adds to the heightened insular and interrogative vibe of the audition. To completely sever that tension with an intermission I think would take something away from the show
When I was putting together the list of shows w/o intermissions, you could see a minor but noticeable bump of shows without them after A Chorus Line premiered.
I’m so delighted to see you back! as an audience member, I like an intermission. My two teenage children and I saw Hadestown last year. We ended up having a really interesting discussion during the intermission about whether or not we thought the Fates were real, or just a representation of all of the different characters’ own fears. I don’t think we could’ve had that conversation after the show when all of the tragedy had played out. We were so emotionally spent, and of course, wanted to talk about all of those things, that I think that interesting idea about the Fates probably would’ve gotten lost if we hadn’t had the breather of intermission. I think for a lot of shows, intermission is important for pacing.
All of that being said, as an actor, I hate intermission. I also hate the last 15 minutes or so before the show starts because the buildup of anticipation and energy is almost overwhelming. Intermission feels a lot like that too.
yes to intermissions cause i need to pee. i can't even finish most movies AT HOME. without a pee break. the original 1776 on broadway was two and a half hours......IN ONE ACT!!!!! fuck off i need to pee, lol
This.
Here in the UK, there is a charge from the theatre to the show if the show runs without an interval. This is because secondary sales (bar, snacks, etc) are a huge source of income for these houses, and to miss the interval, deprives them of this opportunity.
The second half of the double-spaced Word document is an embedded Excel spreadsheet that, when you open it, contains a screenshot of a PDF file. This is both real and a metaphor for academics.
While I love theater, I spend more time in the film discourse space. What I find a little bit funny is that film criticism is also talking about intermissions in the opposite light. Several prominent movies the last couple of years stretched into the 3 hour+ territory, and the argument is being made that intermissions should make a comeback in response. So you would miss them if they left entirely.
I'm so happy to see videos from you again. Your corner of the internet is where I felt at home with all the musical theatre geeks some years ago. On that note, I think intermissions are maybe not needed, but appreciated. Not only for the public, but also the workers, and not only the actors, but everyone working on spotlights getting melted by heat, the crew running everywhere backstage. I surely appreciate from both in front and behind the curtain. Also, some intermission reprises played by the orchestra are amazing and deserves to be listened to
Agree. I always liked musical Entr'actes at the start of Act ll. They're a cool way of welcoming everyone back and supporting the tone of the show.
Tommy likes Hollow Knight!
But honestly I’m pretty pro-interval. On top of everything you’ve said it’s a great social tool. You get a moment to turn to the person you’re with and go “what do you think so far? How are you feeling? What do you think will happen?” and so on.
I always welcome an intermission, especially for something that runs 2+ hours (forcing people to sit through Les Mis without a bathroom break would violate the Geneva Convention), but there are definitely shows where it's not needed. Six clocks in at a brisk 80 minutes and is done in the style of a pop concert; an intermission would not only be unnecessary but disrupt the illusion of the premise.
My favorite justification for doing a show as one act is Come From Away: nobody in Gander got a break while the travelers were present, so neither does anyone else. (And yes, the uninterrupted flow does reflect the tension of 9/11's immediate aftermath.)
In the current London production of Guys and Dolls, there is so much happening in the intermission that you don’t really want to miss a moment! Be interesting to hear what you think about interval numbers, like Telly in Matilda, when that trend started
I think the economic considerations of a show with an intermission vs. one without probably hold a decent amount of weight, especially when it comes to selecting a show or programming a season at something like a community or regional theatre. It can be an opportunity for the producing organization to make money that they otherwise wouldn’t be making - something like concession sales is a line item in the budget that they can point to as low-cost, decent-profit. And if they program an entire season of 5 shows with no intermission, that’s a good amount of money they’d be missing out on. I wonder if that’s something that even drives playwrights and producers as they’re creating new work - are they making the choice that’s best for the story, or are they just trying to make sure that there’s an extra 15 minutes for people to buy drinks at the bar so that their work has a better chance of getting produced/breaking even?
Anyways, responding to the bonus prompt: I once went to a production of Legally Blonde where intermission ran an extra 20/30ish minutes because one of the actors got stuck in the elevator and they had to call the fire department to get them out.
I know Mary Poppins on broadway aways had elevator fears because the had to grab Mary after she flew away at the end of the show and elevator back to the stage in time for bows! Can you imagine if she got stuck!
I had a whole bit about the financial implications of intermission. Your dead on about profits - and I also couldn't find ANY producer that would admit to it so on to the cutting room floor it went. 🤷
Good to see you back, man! My mom and I were just talking about this. Not sure where I fall on this for theater, but honestly, I wish we would add intermissions *back* to films! Movies that are too short are struggling to compete with TV while movies that are too long are hard for many to sit through.
Yay! Musical theatre daddy is back!
Hurray! Musical Mash is back! I'm so happy! I just really love the way you go in-depth and out-breadth on things, and give us a lot of interesting informations as well as doorways to more interesting information, in a relatively short time. From Aristotle to 21st-century content miners in fourteen minutes, giving me a map to potential hours of my own digging into all of it? YES. MY THING. Thank you so very much. 🙏
I love intermission! It gives me a chance to talk with the people I’m with about the show, point out details we noticed that we can look for in act two, make predictions if we don’t know the show, and of course, a chance for me to SPRINT TO THE BATHROOM so I can go pee before the line becomes insane. I actually wish movies would bring them back if they are over two and a half hours long, because I gotta go to the bathroom at some point!!!
Glad to have you back! I know you don’t love it, but Miss Saigon has a big locale and action shift at the start of act II. In fact, nothing in act II takes place in Saigon/Vietnam at all except for Kim’s Nightmare.
Also, I find Sondheim’s Passion much more intense without an intermission. Since it is meant to symbolize the gradual tightening of Fosca’s grip on Giorgio, and is even done without any applause breaks, I think it is a great example of how for that specific piece an intermission is not needed at all.
I am SO happy your finally back! Missed your videos so much
Having just recently seen Wicked again for the 2nd time and with Part 1 of the film out later this year I wonder where *can* you leave it if not Defying Gravity? It’s almost In To The Woods where Act 2 is really more important than Act 1 but are audiences going to come back a year later if they know how the story ends ?
OMG YOU'RE ALIVE
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Tbh i think that if plays didnt have intermissions it would make it significantly harder for Me to attend them. Im disabled with some complex health conditions and often need a break to drink water take meds etc and I know im definitely not the only person who benefits from a break.
You're back! I'm so happy to see you again, you're my fav musical theatre youtuber!
1989 blasting from the speakers, hunger games at the movies, and Musical Theater Mash uploads?? Suddenly I’m 14 again in the best possible way
Follies and Pippin eliminated their intermissions because people were leaving. In the West End you can order your interval drink before the show and it's waiting for you on a shelf at the back of the orchestra stalls. That would never work in New York because people would be drinking other people's intermission quaff.
Often it's a matter of pacing of the content combined with audience consideration. A play could run 100 minutes straight thru... or it could run 40 min, 15 min break, then another 40 min. if you were sitting in the theater... which would you pick?
It's so nice to see you back on UA-cam! I really enjoyed your content in the before time. Really great video! Its nice seeing how your set and artistic style has develop since seeing you last. The show looks great and so do you!
On the topic, Im disabled and can't get through a movie without having to excuse myself at least once. Sooo for 10 minutes there I kept thinking, naaaah I remember this show, he's gonna mention accessibility for sure...... right? Whew! Lol. Its already hard enought to get to the theater as a physically disabled, frequently housebound, immune compromised agoraphobe. Ya know? No intermission would break this camels back. Lol
It really does depend on the show. 'Come From Away' works great as a one-act show (relatively short, fast-paced). Actually that makes a lot of sense given the disruption framework set up in this video. 'Come From Away' takes place over a few days, with continous action, and a single location (well, there's the timeskip right at the end, and the bit where the come-from-aways go home; but it's still very interconnected). Other shows need a break in the middle - to let the audience go pee if nothing else. Besides, there's nothing like a great Act I closer.
Random assortment of ideas which I’m coming at this from a movie point of view rather than a *theatre* pov but I do feel many especially for the longer films (killers of the flower moon) people would rather watch them at home when they can add in their own breaks, you’re booking in 3 hours without selling anything. Many European cinemas have breaks for films at the 90 minute mark no matter what, while we in the UK don’t.
People aren’t “making time” for just 3 hour thing they need to add time for toilet and food also travel time, while something like Avatar 2 might need the length to pull you into the world something very emotional might need “processing time”
Depends on length of show in relation to size of bladders. This needs a 17-minute video??
You’re back with extra floof and a very cool place also I’m jealous of your monstera
When I saw Hamilton on tour a few years ago there was a tech issue during intermission and the second act was delayed over an hour. Not really weird, but I just wanted to play along bc I've missed your videos.
It’s so good to see you back again. I missed you. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Wow! I’ve missed you so much! Welcome back! 🤩🌈💖
I can’t remember the name of it, but I remember going to a play in London a few years ago that started out by letting the audience vote on the rules of the theatre - whether to have an intermission, whether to admit latecomers etc. As I recall, the intermission passed with a large majority in favour, but the decision on latecomers was much closer.
I've missed your videos!! Welcome back 🎉
I like intermissions because they give me space to process and think about the themes and plot without knowing the ending yet. I also need intermissions because I need to pee and move around
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You’re back? Where the hell have you been?
Glad to see you back! Love your videos
Man, I’ve missed your videos!
Oh my god! I had no idea you were back!
Love your longer, thicker hair, Mr. Mash! Great channel!
Loved this format
He's baaaaaaaack
Oh, yay, you're back!
HILARIOUS
I'm so glad you're back, I've missed this channel and the podcast!!
So glad you're back, have missed your commentaries loads xx
I'm so, SO glad you're making videos again!
This is my year- MTM is back and I’m 18
thank you for making a video!!!
Six doesn't have an intermission, cause it doesn't really have room for it. As you said, the show can be summed up as a collection of flashback sung by the queen but no action, time, or setting is actually represented. Even the queen are not really ghost but allegory of the character.
Then on the other side, in dear even Hansen, the intermission happen right after the big emotional number. The audience need a break there. Anything that could happen straight after that scene with no break would failed because, not only is it a very tough act to follow, the audience would still have tears in their eye and would not see shit.
I think Six is different because it’s set up more as a concert, youre paying to see this girl group “in the canon of the show”
oh, how i’ve missed you tommy!
Oh he is still alive - so happy to see him
DROWSY CHAPERONE
Great video.
What the hell is going on with your hair ? Nice to see a new video.
I'm auditioning for clown college. I hope I get in! 🤡
Notable intermissions also include (and please add to this list) shucked act2 opening, Into the Woods, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (not sure if spamalot did it because I haven't seen it yet but I love what they did in the film)
I’m tall and always get leg/back cramps by the end… if there wasn’t an intermission it would be painful 😂