Intermission....nice break or huge distraction
Intermission....nice break or huge distraction
Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#0
Posted: 8/2/06 at 3:47pmReccently as I have been going to many local productions I have noticed that intermission is a huge distraction.....its like as soon as they turn the house lights on you get sucked back into reality and it hits you like a ton of bricks....and one of the reasons I love theare is because it takes me into a completly different world where none of my present problems exsit....intermission gets me completly out of the zone i get in when the lights first go down and the overture begins......does anyone feel the same
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#1
Posted: 8/2/06 at 3:51pmIt totally depends on the show. I could not imagine a show like "The Iceman Cometh" without intermissions.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#3
Posted: 8/2/06 at 3:55pmusually a huge distraction, but not always.
"Watching a frat boy realize just what he put his d!ck in...ex's getting std's...schadenfruede" ~ Ave Q
"when dangers near, exploit their fear" ~ Reefer Madness the Musical
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#5
Posted: 8/2/06 at 3:57pmDepends on the show. Without an intermission in some shows (Faith Healer for example) audience members would start falling asleep and their attention spans would not stand up to the show. However, some intermissionless shows (Spelling Bee, Drowsy, etc.) work way better without one. An intermission at the Drowsy would be a TOTAL distraction!
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#6
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:01pm
I agree, it completely depends on the show. Authors write their works with this format in mind, knowing that the audience will have a breath before diving into the story again.
I actually like intermissions (when they are planned and written in, and not slapped onto shows like ACL or 1776 after the fact), particularly with longer plays or musicals. It gives me a chance to pee, for one, but also to discuss the show with friends.
Part of my love of theatre is the communal and social experience of sharing it with others.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#7
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:02pm
last week i saw "A Chours Line" and "RENT" in SF and it seemed a little ironic that a show like "A Chorus Line" that really doesnt have a story and is made up of a bunch of monologues didnt have an intermission, but a show like RENT that did have a story had to have a 15 min. break just shoved right in the middle of the show
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#8
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:05pmYou lost me when you said A Chorus Line really doesn't have a story...
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/29/06
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#9
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:08pmI thought there was no intermission for ACL?
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#10
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:08pm
In many plays, it serves the function of emphasizing the passage of time and so can work very well when the opening scene of Act II takes place the next day, week, months or years after the final scene in Act I. In the converse I've seen it hurt some shows where Act I had built to an exciting climax and intermission has been awkwardly placed into the middle of a scene. Sometimes it takes the play and the actors a while to build the scene back to that same point of intensity again.
And in the case of epic plays such as ANGELS IN AMERICA or certain classics by Shakespeare and others, intervals are simply a pragmatic necessity to allow the audience a break to take in what they've seen and prepare themselves for what is yet to come in the story. Many shorter contemprary plays don't need them, though, and the break actually hurts the overall momentum of the piece.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#11
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:08pmI think of A Chorus Line more like Spelling Bee.....it is all about the characters rather than an actual plot....that doesnt mean I dont think they both are not great shows I was just making an observation
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#12
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:11pm
There's not supposed to be an intermission in ACL and the original Broadway production and national and international tours of it didn't have one (and the upcoming revival won't either). Some amateur and regional productions have been known to insert one into the show unfortunately.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/29/06
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#13
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:13pmThat's what I thought, but LilBwayLady said she saw ACL in SF last week, and she said it had an intermission.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#14
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:15pmno i said RENT did and ACL didnt.....i said i just found that ironic
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#15
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:20pmUpdated On: 8/2/06 at 04:20 PM
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#16
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:22pmim sorry i meant to put "didn't have"
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#17
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:23pm
I don't get the irony.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#18
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:26pmI find intermissions a nice break usually. Especially with my bladder the size of a teaspoon and all. However, I find in shows like Spelling Bee and Drowsy they'd be a distraction.
Stand-by Joined: 12/16/05
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#19
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:27pm
Without a doubt, NICE BREAK!!! You need to get up & stretch before you become imbedded with the furniture!!!
If it's an emotionally charged show, it gives you a nice break to catch your breath!
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#20
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:28pmIt is often a much needed respite for the audience. Also a chance to leave when the subject matter is offesive.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#21
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:30pmi'd say it's a nice break, because you can look around and (hopefully) say to others around you . . . THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#22
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:32pm
"I don't get the irony"
its seems it would make more sence to have an intermission in a show that didnt have as much of a intense story.....such as ACL.....but they put it in shows like RENT where it does have a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and intermission really causes a distraction to it
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#23
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:38pmI'm currently in a production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. My production has no intermission, even though the original does, but I find the show works without one. I don't know why, it just does.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#24
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:38pm
"its seems it would make more sence to have an intermission in a show that didnt have as much of a intense story.....such as ACL.....but they put it in shows like RENT where it does have a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and intermission really causes a distraction to it"
That doesn't make much sense. ACL was originally written without an intermission. If you were to put an intermission in there the story wouldn't flow as well. The intermission that "was just shoved in there" for RENT was to indicate a passage of time.
Or that's what I've always thought.
re: Intermission....nice break or huge distraction#25
Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:38pmIntermission allows you to flee the theater, or in the case of drinkers, get numb for Act 2.
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