Adding an intermission to a one act show?

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:06am

Hey guys -

I have a little bit of a question and I've been getting different answers depending on who I ask, so I figured I would ask you all.

There is a local theatre company in my area who takes some artistic liberties when they do shows. They did First Date last year and added an intermission AND cut songs. 

This year, they're doing American Idiot and they also added an intermission. Is this an OK thing to do or are they breaking the rules? I'm really tired of constantly hearing stories about the directors of their productions changing different things, not to mention added an intermission in a 90 minute show is unnecessary and runs the flow of the show, I'm sure.

So, really, I'm just wondering if this is something that the people who hold the rights to American Idiot (MTI, I think) should know about?

Updated On: 7/22/17 at 10:06 AM

[C.Jack]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:16am

Ugh, I hate it when shows that are supposed to be done with no intermission are done with one. I was rencently in a production of drowsy as man in chair and we added an intermission after message from a nightengale just to sell concessions. I'd suggest taking it up with your director.

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:22am

Oh, I'm not in the show. I was just wondering if it was something that should be reported because this theatre is constantly adding intermissions/changing things and I'm quite frankly sick of it.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:31am

I'm not sure if adding an intermission constitutes 'changing' the show as it is licensed. It would be interesting to hear something official from a licensing house.  Obviously, many shows written to be one act are performed in regional and community theatre productions with added intermissions. I recently saw a production of "The Last Five Years" that added an intermission. I would think that most licensing makes provisions for this.

Cutting songs is a different matter and can't be done without written permission from the licensing agency.

[sorano916]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:38am

When the American Idiot non-equity tour was in the UK, they added in an intermission so there might be a caveat in their licensing materials about adding the intermission since it was done with the official production previously.

[hork]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:42am

I also recently saw a production of American Idiot that had an intermission. It surprised and slightly annoyed me, but the production was terrible anyway, so an intermission was the least of its problems, and was sort of a welcome break. But yeah, it's not something I would ever condone.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:50am

Most if not all regional/community productions of A CHORUS LINE add an intermission as do productions of FOLLIES.  The recent Broadway revival experimented with having an intermission or not and several performances were tried out during previews.   

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 11:18am

Technically, it would violate their agreement, but I don't know if any one would ever go after them for that.

 

As to the other stuff?   TOTAL violation.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 11:36am

no one here can opine on whether they can or cannot add an intermission because it is 100% dependent on what's in the agreement. and we don't know. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 12:48pm

That's true about any changes....WE actually wouldn't know if one has permission.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 1:01pm

I've seen and done productions of A CHORUS LINE with an intermission. It's always right after the montage ends. I've also seen productions of XANADU and AMERICAN IDIOT that have added an intermission. This is typically done for the purpose of selling concessions.

[Willy Loman2]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 4:14pm

Why would you report them?  If you don't like them, then don't go. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 5:16pm

I'm much more fascinated on where this intermission is placed in the show - any ideas? After Too Much Too Soon?

[thealtoslament]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 5:45pm

VotePeron said: "I'm much more fascinated on where this intermission is placed in the show - any ideas? After Too Much Too Soon?

 

"

That would make some sense. It would have to be around there. After Last Night on Earth, maybe? TMTS is a much more climactic Act 1 closer, though. But AI works so well as a one-act that I can't imagine having to choose a place to put an intermission. 

[sorano916]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 10:56pm

thealtoslament said: "VotePeron said: "I'm much more fascinated on where this intermission is placed in the show - any ideas? After Too Much Too Soon?"

That would make some sense. It would have to be around there. After Last Night on Earth, maybe? TMTS is a much more climactic Act 1 closer, though. But AI works so well as a one-act that I can't imagine having to choose a place to put an intermission. "

 

On tour, it was after TMTS. Act 2 started with "Before the Lobotomy" with the soldiers in the hospital beds.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 11:10pm

Of course none of us can know what it is in the royalty contract, but I thought the OP's question was whether inserting or removing an intermission was one of the rights hypothetically reserved by the authors?

And the answer to that is yes.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/22/17 at 11:53pm

I would imagine there is general leeway for this sort of thing, especially in summer stock (tents and outdoor theatres, especially).  Shows like MAN OF LA MANCHA and 1776 almost always had intermissions in summer stock.  People knew it was expected and were grateful for the drink-and-bathroom breaks (the actors, too).

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 1:07am

again, and not to beat a dead horse, but there is no "general leeway."  There may or may not be a willingness to allow an intermission but it is up to the owner of every copyright individually and, like most things in this world, there is no universal answer.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 1:18am

As usual, Hogan is right: adding or removing an intermission is a right reserved to the author, not to the licensee.

That said, Hogan, I think the poster above who referred to a "general leeway" was talking about custom as opposed to law. He is wrong in the sense that custom doesn't "trump" law; but he is right that a lot of theaters are accustomed to either negotiating an intermission or simply sticking one in without permission because selling drinks and snacks are so important to their bottom line.

I have considerable experience in star-package winter stock, a "higher level" of contract than most summer stock and even there (Jose Ferrer in MAN OF LA MANCHA, for example), intermissions were regularly inserted into classic shows. I suspect permission was negotiated, but I didn't see the contract with my own eyes. When we hosted the international company of A CHORUS LINE, we certainly did NOT insert an intermission; nor can I imagine anybody with the nerve to ask Plum Productions (Micheal Bennett's company) if we could.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/23/17 at 10:19am

In many/most/nearly all cases folks are thinking about here, the licensee is dealing not with the author or author's agent/estate/lawyer/etc but with the licensing agency that has a fixed set of approve-able parameters. For MOLM, I'd think the intermission is covered. And there are certainly shows for which the rights holder is lax about certain things but the licensee proceeds at its peril. There are also many cases in which changes escape discovery because of the show's profile, but again one does these things at one's own peril. If leeway is intended to refer to easily negotiable then sure, but custom is not really a meaningful consideration. 

[justoldbill]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 1:46am

Thank you, Gaveston, for the clarification.  Indeed, I meant a "leeway" in terms of contract adjustments, allowances, etc., for such instances.

Updated On: 7/24/17 at 01:46 AM

[freewilma]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 10:40am

As I understand it, with most licensing companies, if they have previously agreed to a show change (be it dropping a song, a change to dialogue, adding an intermission), then they will always agree to that change in the future.  But the key is ASKING the licensing company for permission.  So if there were licensed, professional productions that have used an intermission in Idiot, it would probably be totally fine for your local company to add one (after asking permission).  HOWEVER, occasionally the shows are represented by different licensing companies overseas than in the US.  So there could be a difference there.  

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 11:02am

Not to be a downer, but many regional/community theater productions rely on the revenue stream from concessions to keep their business in the black. On a different note, I always find it more interesting when a show adds an intermission in its subsequent revivals.

For example Follies, which added an intermission during the London production, which was then incorporated into the 2000 Broadway revival. Then they restored the original 1 Act Structure for a few performances of the 2011 Broadway Revival, only to add it back in.

Then there is also Pippin which added an intermission in subsequent productions. (I am not sure what production the intermission was originally added during) Then it was cemented in the 2013 Broadway revival. 

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 11:17am

I know in his licended script for Xanadu Doug Carter Beane has a little paragraph stage direction at one point saying something like "if your theatre insists on having an intermission to sell noisy drinks and m&m, here's where you put it, but the show works far better without it." only far wittier, naturally.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/24/17 at 11:56am

@freewilma it is important to remember that the licensing companies are just conduits for the rights holders and don't make any decisions. You are basically correct in the sense that rights holders will often grant blanket authority to make certain alterations that come up over and over again, but it is entirely up to the rights holder to authorize any modification or not (and to change their mind). 

@bdn223 while it may be true that some theatres rely on concessions for revenue, I would hope that it is even more true that they rely on the drawing power of the shows they produce. Cart before the horse and all that.