Long Performance Theaters Reel Intermission Audience Members Performers

"Intermission" is a short "break" or "recess" during a long play, opera, or concert. It gives the audience members an opportunity to "stretch their legs" (move around and walk after sitting for a long period of time), "relieve themselves" (use the bathroom), and "find refreshments" (eat and drink). In a "live show" (a show with living actors, not a performance that has been recorded), intermission gives the performers a chance to rest and prepare for the next "scene" (one part of a longer performance) while the "stagehands" (people whose job is to help set up a performance stage) move the "props" (the objects that performers interact with one stage).

Intermissions are "generally" (usually) highly "profitable" (making a lot of money) for theaters and performance halls. Audience members go to the "concession stands" (small areas where food and drink are sold) inside the theater, where "finger foods" (snack-like foods that can be eaten with one's hands, without silverware) are sold, usually at high prices. Theaters with bars make even more money by selling beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages to theater "patrons" (people who support an activity by attending it or giving money to it).

In the past, long movies used to have intermissions, because the theaters needed time to "change the reels": When films were recorded on long strips, they were "wound around" (stored in a circle around another object) "reels" (large wheel-shaped objects), and when the film on one reel had been seen, the theater employees needed to remove one reel to place the next reel on the "projector" (the machine that uses light to put an image on a wall or screen).