Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
SarahNYC2
Featured Actor Joined: 9/18/16
#1Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:14pm
I bought 39 dollar tickets to Hello Dolly from TodayTix. They were for the balcony. I was aware of that and ok with it.
However, upon arriving in the balcony it was stifling hot and a beam was in my way. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask to upgrade my ticket. The man at the box office was amazing-he switched my ticket and didn't charge me anything-I ended up center 5th row mezzanine.
Just be careful about the balcony. I was sad to see that basically both the right and left size of mid mezzanine was empty. Donna Murphy is fantastic as Dolly. I am sure the balcony would have been fine but I would never get another balcony seat in that theater.
rg7759
Leading Actor Joined: 5/6/16
#2Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:24pm
im sure donna's goal was to sell few enough tickets to be able to accomodate even the pickiest patrons. the temperature of the balcony is fine.
Bette's Turban
Broadway Star Joined: 7/9/17
#3Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:27pm
Not wanting to sit behind a beam and not wanting to bake while at the theater is not exactly being picky. It is warm up there. I noticed it last week.
SarahNYC2
Featured Actor Joined: 9/18/16
#4Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:35pm
I only posted so people can have all the info. While I can be picky with things, I am pretty easy going with seats. Intermission a lot of people from the balcony moved to the empty seats and they were all talking about how hot it was up in the balcony. Now it could have been a fluke-maybe it's not usually hot up there.
#5Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:46pm
I was also in the balcony for the matinee today and had no issue with the temperature. And there were plenty of seats in the front side balcony away from the support poles to move into.
#6Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:49pm
I was in the balcony last Sunday. On a 90+ degree day, the temperature was nice and cool. And the view is perfectly fine in any seat that isn't directly in front of a pole. I'm sorry for your experience, but 98% of balcony seats at the Shubert offer a fine view.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
KathyNYC2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/2/10
#7Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:51pm
I'm with Sarah. I sat in the balcony for Matilda and that convinced me never to sit there again.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#8Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:56pm
I've sat up there several times. I could afford it. It was fine.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
SarahNYC2
Featured Actor Joined: 9/18/16
#9Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 7:57pm
It's good to have different opinions. I was just sharing mine.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#10Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:01pm
Saw "Spamalot" and "Blythe Spirit" from that balcony. "Spamalot" was especially fine. Have tix for 2nd row center balcony for Bette in August.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#11Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:01pm
I'll deal with any inconveniences for the utter joy of seeing my beloved HELLO, DOLLY! yet another time.
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#12Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:04pm
OP, where were you sitting in the balcony? I'm sitting row H seat 10 and I would like to not be sitting behind a pole.
#13Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:07pm
Auggie, was anything lost in seeing Blithe Spirit from up there?
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#14Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:16pm
Does Antony have a photo of the balcony? Everything I see of the interior of the Shubert I can't recall seeing anything.
"Ok ok ok ok ok ok ok. Have you guys heard about fidget spinners!?" ~Patti LuPone
#15Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:17pm
Thursday night I sat in the center section row H, and yes it was far away... but even from up there "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and the title number brought me to tears. I went home and bought tickets for Friday night and saw the show a third time this afternoon. I had never seen DOLLY on stage before and this production is absolutely gorgeous. Now... the question is do I see Bette? I may wait a bit and try for the partial view seats.
SarahNYC2
Featured Actor Joined: 9/18/16
#16Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:18pm
GeorgeandDot said: "OP, where were you sitting in the balcony? I'm sitting row H seat 10 and I would like to not be sitting behind a pole.
I was J 18.
I do agree that if my choice was that seat or not seeing the show then I'd probably choose the seat/area. But I personally did not like it and if I see another show in the theater I am going to pay for mezzanine.
Now when I saw DEH I was in the very back row. Obviously I wouldn't have been able to switch but completely fine.
"
@z5
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/30/15
#17Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:27pm
Interesting, I was in the orchestra for today's matinee and it was really cold down there. Unfortunately- there were a lot of empty seats, too.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#18Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:48pm
"Blythe Spirit," on Easter Sunday, if memory serves, was a way to see the production for less (and more availability), and it was actually noticeably amplified for a play, and looked quite beautiful. I settled in, and got over the angle. Interesting sidebar: I accept the distance and angle more in a musical.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#19Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 8:56pm
Interesting sidebar: I accept the distance and angle more in a musical.
I don't find this surprising. Musicals (at least your average big Broadway musical) often draw the material out; as such, distance and angles feel less important. Most plays draw the audience in, which can be hard to do if you feel like you're a football field's length away. It might work for a broad comedy or a farce, but I don't think I'd want to see Long Day's Journey Into Night from the top row of the Shubert's balcony.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
morosco
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/10/04
#21Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 9:36pm
Sat in the second to last row in the balcony a few weeks ago and it was a great view. The beam was a small obstruction but I was far enough away that it wasn't too bad. Didn't miss a moment, though.
greenifyme2
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/17
#22Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 9:36pm
Thanks for the tip! I get hot easily and have a really hard time enjoying myself if the environment is stifling.
CT2NYC
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/7/17
#23Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 10:22pm
I found a pic of J20 in the balcony. I guess TodayTix doesn't consider that pole an obstruction, since they advertise that they never sell obstructed seats, although it appears that the Shubert makes that determination.
http://aviewfrommyseat.com/photo/73765/Shubert+Theatre/section-Balcony+Right/row-J/seat-20/
#24Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 10:34pm
I watched Matilda from up there in the balcony as well and don't mind sitting up there for a musical but I'd much rather do SRO and stand behind last row of orchestra than sit up in the balcony. Just my preference.
CT2NYC
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/7/17
#25Avoid Balcony for Hello Dolly
Posted: 7/9/17 at 10:44pm
I got one of the $59 partial view Row K seats, and, because I stood the whole time, the view was excellent. However, I got the impression that a lot of people that were sitting in the rows beneath me had some trouble seeing the passerelle.
