West Side Story Seating Advice

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 9:48am

I’m sitting in Left Orchestra G18. Any idea if I’ll miss much on stage? After I bought the ticket (which was relatively cheap), I started thinking that if I did that seat for Network I would’ve missed some scenes on the left side of the stage as well as the entire control booth. Only reason I got this seat was because it was only $79. For those who’ve been to previews, did iI screw up? Without giving out spoilers, how much percentage-wise (and what) will I miss? Thanks in advance for your help. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 10:06am

You should be fine. The stage is very open for this show, and there’s not much of a physical set. I think that the even side (which you are on) is slightly preferable to the odd side (which is where I sat, towards the side), but your seat should be great!

Updated On: 12/11/19 at 10:06 AM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 10:15am

This is wonderful news. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[JPeterman]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 2:31pm

I noticed the first and second rows of the orchestra are available for a non-premium price for many dates. For those who have already seen it, any issues with stage height for the front row? It looks like they are using the pit orchestra in the photo I saw and therefore there’s a good distance between the stage and the front row. Any opInion about sitting in the front row for this production is appreciated, thank you!

[Rosette3]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 3:02pm

JPeterman said: "I noticed the first and second rows of the orchestra are available for a non-premium price for many dates. For those who have already seen it, any issues with stage height for the front row? It looks like they are using the pit orchestra in the photo I saw and therefore there’s a good distance between the stage and the front row. Any opInion about sitting in the front row for this production is appreciated, thank you!"

Someone in previews thread mentioned first two rows will get wet from the rain so I assume they are priced as less desirable? It's somewhere there but thread is way too long to dig through now lol 

[BJR]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 3:14pm

Also, the far Left Orchestra, especially closer up, you’ll miss seeing inside Doc’s and possible the far SR part of the back wall screen. The dress shop is center, so I don’t think Right Orchestra would have the same issue though.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 8:46pm

[The Ferryman Himself]

Posted: 12/12/19 at 1:11am

I sat in I-19 today and thought I missed a few nice moments on the screen. It didn't stop me from seeing the show, but everything onstage was visible. 

The stage does appear to be quite high. Similar to "Sunday in the Park With George", there is a platform on top of the deck. 

[Dan6]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 6:54pm

BJR said: "Also, the far Left Orchestra, especially closer up, you’ll miss seeing inside Doc’s and possible the far SR part of the back wall screen. The dress shop is center, so I don’t think Right Orchestra would have the same issue though."

What constitutes "far left" and "closer up"? I got tickets in left orchestra, J10-12, so 5 & 6 seats in from the aisle. Should I try to change them for right orchestra, or maybe splurge for something in the center further back? Traveling from L.A. to see this and I would rather not miss entire scenes. 

 

[Benjamin Hao]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 11:32am

Rosette3 said: "JPeterman said: "I noticed the first and second rows of the orchestra are available for a non-premium price for many dates. For those who have already seen it, any issues with stage height for the front row? It looks like they are using the pit orchestra in the photo I saw and therefore there’s a good distance between the stage and the front row. Any opInion about sitting in the front row for this production is appreciated, thank you!"

 


Someone in previews thread mentioned first two rows will get wet from the rain so I assume they are priced as less desirable? It's somewhere there but thread is way too long to dig through now lol"

No rain, just truly not great seats. You can really only see the top half of the holes in the wall since the stage is so deep, and you miss anything when actors are sitting or lying down (which happens more often than you might think). And sometimes other actors block the main ones during/after the several confrontation scenes. 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 1:10pm

bwayphreak234 said: "You should be fine. The stage is very open for this show, and there’s not much of a physical set. I think that the even side(which you are on) is slightly preferable to the oddside (which is where I sat, towards the side), but your seat should be great!"

BJR states this:

”Also, the far Left Orchestra, especially closer up, you’ll miss seeing inside Doc’s and possible the far SR part of the back wall screen. The dress shop is center, so I don’t think Right Orchestra would have the same issue though.”

Do you still think I’ll be fine? As a reminder, I’m currently in G18. Wondering if I should wait until day of performance when premium tickets drop to regular price and try to upgrade at box office to more centrally located seat. Looks like that could cost me additional $60 to $120 depending on seating availability and location. Or there is one far right seat (K-25) on my date for same price I paid. I could call and exchange to that now. 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 1:30pm

Miles2Go2 said: "bwayphreak234 said: "You should be fine. The stage is very open for this show, and there’s not much of a physical set. I think that the even side(which you are on) is slightly preferable to the oddside (which is where I sat, towards the side), but your seat should be great!"

BJR states this:

”Also, the far Left Orchestra, especially closer up, you’ll miss seeing inside Doc’s and possible the far SR part of the back wall screen. The dress shop is center, so I don’t think Right Orchestra would have the same issue though.”

Do you still think I’ll be fine? As a reminder, I’m currentlyin G18. Wondering if I should wait until day of performance when premium tickets drop to regular price and try to upgrade at box office to more centrally locatedseat. Looks like that could cost me additional $60to $120 depending on seating availability and location. Or there is one far right seat (K-25) on my date for same price I paid. I could call and exchangeto that now."

I would advise against K-25 - I was K-17, and anything further to the side than that will result in missed action both onstage and on the screens. Also, I think it is hard to see the interiors of either Doc's or the beauty shop not matter which side you are on - which is why the scenes are projected onto the back wall of the stage. Even if you are seated in the center section of the orchestra, you will not see everything in these two areas.

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 1:50pm

Okay, Will def avoid K-25. It sounds like I may miss some of the back stage wall projections from my seat too. I guess my concern is I will miss both what happens inside of both Doc’s and the beauty parlor and the back stage projections of those same scenes. How much of the backstage projections would you say you missed? 

[Bwayfan17]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 11:38pm

I was in C14 today with rush and couldn’t see anything on the floor or anything in both sets. I would say avoid rows A-E because the stage is high up.

[JPeterman]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 1:09am

All of these seating tips are very helpful to those of us who are planning on buying tickets and seeing the show soon, rows A-E? Wow! I’m very thankful I didn’t buy seats in the first two rows. Thank you for the advice!

[persephone88]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 6:37am

Ugh, we are dead center, orchestra row D. When I bought them, the only stage views up were for Kong and the stage did not look high. How much will we miss? I'm assuming that if characters are on the ground or far upstage that we will at least be able to see them projected? We are going shortly after Christmas, so not sure if many seats will be available to switch to, if necessary...

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 7:50am

I was K17, and I saw 98% of the projections. There were just a couple of very brief moments when a character was out of view on the projections when they were off to the side. The camera work is very well done and shot from different angles. It is worth nothing that even the scenes played onstage in Doc's and the beauty shop are pretty much only visible on the back screen no matter where you sit because of the way those 2 sets physical set are configured. And yes, the stage is quite high for this.

[Bwayfan17]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 8:46am

You’ll be able to see most of the action because it is well filmed but when the characters are on the grounds it’s kind of hard and the set pieces are far up stage

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 11:16am

Looks like I’ll just keep my G18 seat for now. It’s not really fiscally feasible for me to move my seat to a better seat right now anyway. We’ll see how I feel on the day of. Maybe I’ll move to a more centrally located discounted premium seat then (if available).

Updated On: 12/15/19 at 11:16 AM

[B.JAMES]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 1:12pm

I am 6'2 and sat in Orchestra B on the center aisle.  The stage is so high that I could not see the floor of it, and I could only see waist up when the actors were further back. Thank God for the giant screens.  The seat shouldn't have been priced at $199, but that's my own problem I guess, LOL.

[smidge]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 1:32pm

Miles2Go2 said: "Looks like I’ll just keep my G18 seat for now. It’s not really fiscally feasible for me to move my seat to a better seat right now anyway. We’ll see how I feel on the day of. Maybe I’ll move to a more centrally located discounted premium seat then (ifavailable)."

Miles, I was in K 18 yesterday and you should have no problem at all . You'll be able to see all the projections of anything missed on the side. For $79 it was well worth it. Enjoy yourself!!

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 1:38pm

smidge said: "Miles, I was in K 18 yesterday and you should have no problem at all . You'll be able to see all the projections of anything missed on the side. For $79 it was well worth it. Enjoy yourself!!"

Thanks! Hopefully, the difference between K18 and G18 isn’t considerable. I agree that a $79 ticket for this is a bargain! 

[Dan6]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 1:41pm

Reading this thread, it seems that there are large sections of the theater where much of the action can’t be seen except by watching it on video screens...which isn’t why I go see live theater. It’s kind of ridiculous that they don’t stage the show so it can be seen throughout the theater, and that they charge $199 and $159 for what are effectively partial view seats without disclosing that fact.

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 2:22pm

This is similar to complaints about Network. Valid complaints for certain. That was my first time to see a van Hove production. I was able to see certain scenes on monitors throughout the theater so I still felt like I had a compelling experience. I’m curious. I know use of live video is common in his productions. Has he used them in every one of them and if so have they all had a lot of partial view seats as a result?

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 2:26pm

OK. Someone has pointed out to me that D 18 in the mezzanine is available on my night and with discount code only $10 more than my G 18. For those that have been already, what would you advise?

Updated On: 12/15/19 at 02:26 PM