No Bad Seats?

[FANtomFollies]

I'm sort of an theatre-architecture fanatic, and feel like the expression 'Not a bad seat in the house' is severely overused. Are there any Broadway theatres that you believe really don't have any bad seats, in terms of view/experience, etc? If not, what theatres come the closest?

[VotePeron]

No, I don’t believe such a theater exists. I would say the current production in a theater dictates whether there is a bad seat or not.

When it comes to sight lines, there are definitely some theaters with specific architecture that make it more comfortable no matter the show. These are some theaters off the top of my head that have very limited, if any, partial view locations in the orchestra level:

- Circle in the Square
- Marquis
- Palace
- Minskoff
- Friedman

[BWAY Baby2]

Saw Fun Home at Circle In The Square- had very close orchestra seats on the side- which were awful. They did not state that there was a partial view- but because of the staging, characters were continually blocked - hated this seats-and actually do not like that theater- have seen a few in the round productions- and if not staged really carefully, in the round can be not great.

[dramamama611]

The Hudson is pretty terrific.

[Broadway Joe]

dramamama611 said: "The Hudson is pretty terrific."

The Hudson is my favorite theatre, the leg space there is great and I've sat in the very last row of the balcony and had a fantastic view as well. 

For other theatres I've never sat in a bad seat at the Friedman either.

The rest of the theatres depend on the production for me. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

The newer/renovated theaters are the most comfortable - The Hudson and The Lyric.

As far as sight lines go, I don’t think there’s a bad view at The Music Box.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

It also depends on the set design/staging/choreography for each show.

I take "not a bad seat in the house" to mean "partial view are the only bad seats in the house." It's a marketing buzzword. I personally hate sitting in the rear of any mezz that has a balcony hanging above it (Shubert!), but I know others who have liked those seats; for a play, sometimes I'd prefer to sit partial-view in the 5th row of the orch if it means seeing 90% of the action up close, instead of mezz seats.

Like others have said, the crown jewel Shubert playhouses are pretty good, as are the recently-renovated houses.

[UncleCharlie]

IdinaBellFoster said: "The newer/renovated theaters are the most comfortable - The Hudson and The Lyric.

As far as sight lines go, I don’t think there’s a bad view at The Music Box."

The Music Box has always been one of my favorite theaters. I'm also pretty partial to the Vivian Beaumont. Pretty clean sight lines there from almost any seat.

[dramamama611]

Yes to the Beaumont!

[theatered100]

Maybe Barrymore can be added to the list?

I think it also depends on the show itself. Some shows have two-story sets while others don’t. Some shows have beautiful lighting and/or projections you might not want to miss.

I sat in very similar seats (almost exactly the same number) for Once on This Island and Oklahoma! at Circle in the Square. I thought my seat for Oklahoma! was fine, but I didn’t quite like my seat for OOTI because of the aisle they created in front of my seat—I was seeing Lea Salonga’s back for most of the first act because she was frequently using and staying on the aisle.

[broadway213]

Some of the seats over to the sides (i.e. the "Orchestra boxes" at the palace are absolutely awful. I have sat all over at the booth- all the way back and all the way to the sides) and never had too much obstruction...

[ChildofEarth]

The Hudson came immediately to mind. I’ve also never had a bad seat at the gershwin.

[Scarlet Leigh]

ChildofEarth said: "The Hudson came immediately to mind. I’ve also never had a bad seat at the gershwin."

Gershwin was the one I was going to name drop as well. I have sat all over that theatre over the years and the view has always been perfect from where seat and angle I have sat in. Even when I sat off to the side and up close for Wicked once. Yeah you missed some of the upstage stuff but that comes with the set design and it was still a great view for 95% of the show.

[poisonivy2]

I've sat in many places in the Imperial from the nosebleeds to the mezzanine to rear orchestra to front orchestra and the sightline was always good and I never felt too far away or too close. So ... that's the house I'd say has no bad seats.

[chrishuyen]

Just to counter the Imperial, I was at the very end of a row in the mezz for Les Miserables and about a third of the stage was blocked (coudn't see Fantine for I Dreamed a Dream or Valjean for Bring Him Home), but I haven't been in that area for any other production so it could depend.

+1 to Friedman, Gershwin, and Marquis though from what I could tell.  And CITS provides a different experience from each seat so "bad" is pretty subjective there.