One thing to consider is that, in the golden age of Broadway, musicals were often written with latecomers, whether from the restrooms or the bar across the street, in mind. Musicals had sizeable overtures and entr'actes and the first number of the second act was often something fun and non-plot-specific, so that latecomers to the second act hadn't really missed anything. I imagine that a 15 minute intermission could easily be stretched to 25 minutes or more.
My sense is that musicals aren't really written that way anymore, so it's much more necessary to show up on time (even if people have learned that "on time" is now 10 minutes past the posted curtain time) and do your business in the 15 minutes allotted for the intermission.
And I also bet that a good portion of theatregoers in bygone days were smart enough to do as people still do today, which is to plan their time around the block of time they'll be at the theatre, meaning that they recognized that 1000+ people can't all use the facilities in the limited amount of time offered, so they used the restroom at home, at their office, or at the restaurant or bar before the show to avoid having to do so at the theatre. |
