| re: Moving On | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 09:40 am EST 12/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Moving On - steven_carter 12:53 pm EST 12/08/22 | |
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| I think that the theatres that have increased capacity significantly have done it generally in three ways: Adding rows at the back of the orchestra, as you say, sometimes getting rid of standing room and room to walk. Adding seats at the sides, with attendant sightline issues that in most cases were already bad enough for the seats that used to be the furthest over on the sides. Some of the theatres that used to have those lovely orchestra boxes got rid of them to cram in more seats. Making the pits smaller and smaller, and when they do use something like the original complement of musicians, pushing them under the stage, where they must be very heavily amplified, or putting them on the stage. Other theatres that have added notably to their capacity include the St. James and the Hirschfeld. Yeah, people are bigger, average height has increased (and girth as well for many) so legs are longer for many people, and seats in those upper levels especially can be hell. Actually, box seats, despite the poor view (not that bad for some shows but awful for others), can be helpful for people with arthritis or people who are so tall that they just cannot sit comfortably even in the orchestra, not to mention that their height causes problems for the folks behind them. I've never understood why more theatres don't have a raised area in their boxes so that two people can sit in the front and the people in the other two seats can get a slightly better views by being even just 8-12 inches higher. Or make it two steps up so it could be more like 15 inches. It would make a nice difference. Two of the more comfortable theatres, at least downstairs, are the Minskoff and the Gershwin, built later and seemingly built with bigger people in mind. At least this is my perception. |
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