Entr'acte is a French term that means "between the acts." It can refer to a short break between parts of a play or musical performance, similar to an intermission. However, in English, it most often describes a piece of music played between acts of a theatrical production. Sometimes, an entr'acte is paired with a longer break, called an intermission, because both occur between acts. However, an entr'acte can also happen alone, usually between two acts without a break.

In musicals and operas, the entr'acte often acts as the introduction to the second act. It may also appear before the third or fourth act, as seen in the opera Carmen. In films that were shown in two parts with a break in between, a special piece of music called an entr'acte was sometimes included on the soundtrack between the first and second halves. This practice eventually stopped being used.

Origin

Entr'actes began when stage curtains were closed for set or costume changes. They were used to keep the story moving, help change the mood between acts, and prevent the audience from getting bored. During these times, actors performed on stage without scenery except for the curtain and with only a few simple props. An entr'acte can connect different parts of a large play by showing what happens between scenes. The Spanish Sainete often had a similar purpose in performances.

Role of music

In traditional theatre, incidental music helped during times when the curtain was closed. Ballet, opera, and drama each have a long history of using such musical breaks. The German word Verwandlungsmusik means "change music," showing its original purpose. Over time, entr'actes (or intermezzi) became their own type of performance. These short pieces often had stories unrelated to the main play and could be performed with few props or sets during breaks in longer theatre productions. Later entr'actes were meant to change the mood or scene, sometimes using comedy or dance. These performances also gave the main actors a chance to rest. Eventually, the idea of being part of a larger performance became less strict, and the word "interlude" sometimes simply means a short play.

Other dramatic devices

When the insert was meant only to change the mood before returning to the main action, without needing a scene change, authors might use a "play within a play" method or have unexpected guests in a ballroom perform a dance. In this case, the insert is called a divertimento (the term is Italian; the French term divertissement is also used), not an entr'acte.

In the French opera tradition of the late 17th and early 18th centuries (for example, with composer Jean-Philippe Rameau), such divertissements became required as inserted ballet scenes. This tradition lasted until the 19th century. Later, composer Jacques Offenbach mocked this practice, as seen in the cancan ending of Orpheus in the Underworld.

By the middle of the 18th century, divertimenti had also become a separate type of light music. These were used as interludes in stage works. However, many divertimenti composed in the second half of the 18th century no longer connected to theater. Their purpose was simply to provide a "diversion" in some way.

Examples

Some musical interludes, such as entr'actes or intermezzi, became well-known in their own right, sometimes becoming more famous than the larger works they were part of:

• La serva padrona, a two-act opera buffa by Pergolesi, was created to add humor to his opera seria Il prigioner superbo (1733). Over time, the intermezzo received more attention than the main opera (see Querelle des Bouffons).
• In Don Giovanni, Mozart combines light, dance-like music (performed by a small group on stage) with serious singing in the first act’s finale. Characters dance while the plot involves serious themes like murder and rape, blending the two elements into one complex scene.
• Helmina von Chézy’s play Rosamunde, with music by Franz Schubert, includes two famous entr'actes. The third entr'acte in B♭ major, the Andantino, is known for its peaceful melody, similar to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. This melody also appears in two of Schubert’s other works. The first entr'acte in B minor is believed to be a possible ending for Schubert’s Eighth “Unfinished” Symphony.
• Bizet’s opera Carmen includes entr'actes before acts 2, 3, and 4. The one before act 3, featuring flute and harp, is often played in concerts.
• In the early 1930s, Alban Berg planned a filmic interlude for his opera Lulu, placed between two scenes in the central act. Berg composed the music and wrote a short film scenario, but the film was never completed after his death in 1935. This interlude was meant to connect the two halves of the opera. Because Lulu has a perfectly balanced structure, the interlude acts as the central point of the opera.
• Leoš Janáček’s opera From the House of the Dead (1928) includes interludes of the divertimento type. After a sad story in the second act, two performances—a parody of an opera and a parody of a religious ceremony—are shown by prisoners. These performances are humorous variations on the Don Juan theme.
• Erik Satie’s first publicly performed furniture music was introduced as an entr'acte in 1920. It was meant to be background music for the sounds of an audience during intermission, such as walking and talking. However, the audience stayed seated and listened instead, frustrating the musicians.
• Most film adaptations of Broadway musicals include entr'actes during intermissions, using music from the original production.
• From the 1950s through the 1970s, many roadshow film presentations featured entr'actes that acted as overtures for the second part of the film. These were often the same pieces used for the entr'acte (as in Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 and 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968). Other films, such as Ben-Hur (1959) and How the West Was Won (1962), used different music for their entr'actes.

• The 1968 British-American film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• The 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!
• The 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven includes a 158-second entr'acte featuring a performance of Wall Breached by Harry Gregson-Williams.
• The 2015 film The Hateful Eight had an original orchestral overture by Ennio Morricone for its roadshow release. Unusually, the entr'acte used a country song, “Ready for the Times to Get Better,” performed by Crystal Gayle.
• The 2016 Dream Theater album The Astonishing includes an entr'acte track called “2285 Entr'acte,” which connects the first and second acts of the album.