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Entr'acte (or entracte, French pronunciation: [ɑ̃tʁakt];[1] German: Zwischenspiel and Zwischenakt, Italian: intermezzo, Spanish: intermedio and intervalo) means 'between the acts'. It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission (this is nowadays the more common meaning in French), but it more often (in English) indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production.
In the case of stage musicals, the entr'acte serves as the overture of act 2 (and sometimes acts 3 and 4, as in Carmen). In films that were meant to be shown with an intermission, there was frequently a specially recorded entr'acte on the soundtrack between the first and second half of the film, although this practice eventually died out.
- ^ Since 1932–35 the Académie française recommends this spelling, with no apostrophe, so historical, ceremonial and traditional uses (such as the 1924 René Clair film title) are still spelled Entr'acte.