| I completely agree | |
| Posted by: oddone 01:37 am EST 02/28/24 | |
| In reply to: Is theater worth it from the rafters? - Zelgo 07:17 pm EST 02/27/24 | |
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| I feel the exact same way. At this point, I can't be bothered to spend 2.5 to 3 hours sitting up in the rafters. I probably have always been a bit of a seat snob, but I've definitely become a lot less tolerant of the "cheap seats" over time. I've had plenty of experiences where, when I was sitting further back than I would have preferred (often with TDF or papering), I spent much of the show feeling disengaged, thinking "I was looking forward to this, but I'm not enjoying it as much - I'm disengaged, and it's because I feel far away." And sure, when you're papered into a show, it feels churlish to complain about the location. But it becomes a question of - is it worth it? And over time, I have increasingly found that, for me, it just isn't. I just don't enjoy sitting far away. When I used to do TDF and papering and got put way in the back, I would either feel a) I'm kind of bored and maybe I didn't need to see this, or b) I really should have paid for a better seat because I think I would be enjoying it more. Towards the end of my time with TDF and papering, I mostly used them for Off Bway houses, where even the last rows were fairly close. I would still have that feeling of "I wish I were closer" (especially when it was a show where the acting was nuanced) but the much smaller gap between my ideal seat and my actual seat felt compensated for by the cheaper price. So now, when there is a show that I really want to see, I feel like it's worth it to me to spend the extra money to get a decent seat. I've never paid premium prices, but I've definitely paid full price (the equivalent of what a house seat would cost). And personally, I prefer side orchestra to center mezz - when in doubt, the closer the better. Sometimes closer non-center seats are less than the top price, so I will often settle for those as a way to economize a tad. I think to some extent it has to do with the amount of theatre I have seen over the course of my life. I see so much theatre now that it is rare a show will feel "life changing" in the way that it did when I was much younger. And of course, theatre was much cheaper 20-30 years ago, and there were things like in-person lotteries for the front row and plentiful rush seats, so it was easier to see more for less (and from better seats). I wonder if, had I spent my adult life living outside of NYC and seeing much less theatre, if I would still feel the same about sitting in the mezz vs. orchestra when I did come into NY. It's hard to say. |
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| Previous: | re: Slight OT: How is Merrily up in the rafters? - Unhookthestars 11:42 am EST 02/28/24 |
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