Broadway prices and uncomfortable seats- Page 2

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:07pm

I get it, I’m a 5 ft 9 inch woman with a runners type body. I walk around during intermission because sitting for hours isn’t good for your body. So, are you willing to pay twice the price to have 3 feet of space in front of you? Didn’t think so. The person who said theaters didn’t design their theaters for actual bodies in mind was correct, it’s about squeezing as many people in as possible cuz….capitalism.

But, people who complain about this on a Broadway message board will keep going to see shows, so there will never be an incentive for them to spend money to accommodate everyone. 

Updated On: 4/21/23 at 03:07 PM

[EAPEAPMO]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:07pm

sm33 said: "Yeah, it sucks! I'm short, but I'm fat, and some of the theater seats in NYC are so small as to be physically painful. Others, like the ones at the Hudson, are perfectly fine, and a bunch are somewhere in between.

I wish that theaters would invest more in the hard product - they will have less total seats, to be sure, but I suspect they'd have a much better chance of filling them all. I personally know people who won't go to the theater simply because the seats are uncomfortable. I still go, but I am very picky about where I sit, which means I am less likely to go at all if there aren't good seating choices."

What do you mean by this? Like what are you suggesting replaces the revenue of the removed seats?

[sm33]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:19pm

EAPEAPMO said: "What do you mean by this? Like what are you suggesting replaces the revenue of the removed seats?"

I've been to many shows that were nowhere near filled to capacity, and I am sure you have, too. I am suggesting that perhaps more people would go to the theater if they didn't associate it with being extremely uncomfortable, and since most shows are not selling out every performance anyway, the reduced seating would lead to fuller houses overall. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:41pm

sm33 said: "EAPEAPMO said: "What do you mean by this? Like what are you suggesting replaces the revenue of the removed seats?"

I've been to many shows that were nowhere near filled to capacity, and I am sure you have, too. I am suggesting that perhaps more people would go to the theater if they didn't associate it with being extremely uncomfortable, and since most shows are not selling out every performance anyway, the reduced seating would lead to fuller houses overall."

 

Someone on another thread (or maybe on ATC?) suggested theatre owners create something like "premium economy" seating.  For example, they could remove 2-3 rows that currently have 20 "regular" seats and replace them with rows of 14-16 seats with extra leg room and wider seats.  Then by charging them at a premium of, say, $50 extra they would more than make up for the reduction in the # of seats.

 

 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 4:10pm

There's been several theaters that, due to lack of leg room, I have to move at intermission to a SRO if available. The Nederlander and Walter Kerr have terrible leg room.

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 5:57pm

JSquared2 said: "sm33 said: "EAPEAPMO said: "What do you mean by this? Like what are you suggesting replaces the revenue of the removed seats?"

I've been to many shows that were nowhere near filled to capacity, and I am sure you have, too. I am suggesting that perhaps more people would go to the theater if they didn't associate it with being extremely uncomfortable, and since most shows are not selling out every performance anyway, the reduced seating would lead to fuller houses overall."



Someone on another thread (or maybe on ATC?) suggested theatre owners create something like "premium economy" seating. For example, they could remove 2-3 rows that currently have 20 "regular" seats and replace them with rows of 14-16 seats with extra leg room and wider seats. Then by charging them at a premium of, say, $50 extra they would more than make up for the reduction in the # of seats.



"

And you don't think that would cause even more complaints than there are right now?

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 6:05pm

hearthemsing22 said: "JSquared2 said: "sm33 said: "EAPEAPMO said: "What do you mean by this? Like what are you suggesting replaces the revenue of the removed seats?"

I've been to many shows that were nowhere near filled to capacity, and I am sure you have, too. I am suggesting that perhaps more people would go to the theater if they didn't associate it with being extremely uncomfortable, and since most shows are not selling out every performance anyway, the reduced seating would lead to fuller houses overall."



Someone on another thread (or maybe on ATC?) suggested theatre owners create something like "premium economy" seating. For example, they could remove 2-3 rows that currently have 20 "regular" seats and replace them with rows of 14-16 seats with extra leg room and wider seats. Then by charging them at a premium of, say, $50 extra they would more than make up for the reduction in the # of seats.




And you don't think that would cause even more complaints than there are right now?"

 

Huh?  Which part didn't you understand? What sort of "complaints"?

 

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 7:43pm

Well restaurants receive grades, why can't we grade theaters? We could put stickers outside stating: THIS THEATER HAS UNCOMFORTABLE SEATS. GO ELSEWHERE.

Updated On: 4/21/23 at 07:43 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:21pm

Yeah no. Some of us are just fine in any theater. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:35pm

The seats upstairs at Studio 54 are actual torture devices.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 9:20pm

TotallyEffed said: "The seats upstairs at Studio 54 are actual torture devices."

Agreed!

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:54pm

"I get it, I’m a 5 ft 9 inch woman with a runners type body. I walk around during intermission because sitting for hours isn’t good for your body. So, are you willing to pay twice the price to have 3 feet of space in front of you? Didn’t think so"

Never asked for 3 feet of space, 3-4 inches would be nice. Of course, I know these theaters are not going to rip out seats to give me and others more space. First, they are not going to do it while there is a show currently running and then like you stated they are not going to lose revenue with less seats because a few people like me are not comfy. I would say 95% of the shows I have seen, I have not been miserable sitting in the seat I bought. The rare times it has happened I just needed to "buck it up" and deal with it. 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:56pm

"The person who made you sit and enjoy a show in the best theater district in the world should be disciplined. I'm so sorry that happened to you! Thoughts and prayers! "

Have you been to the "West End"?

[KKeller6]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 11:24pm

Here's the problem- as you all know- but let's put some real numbers to it.  The vast majority of seats are either 19", or 20" wide. Now, figure in  the center aisle there could be 14 seats across.  That's approximately 273 total inches.  If we remove 2 seats from the center section, they can average 22.75" each. But, times 20 rows, that's 40 seats. Another 1 on each side section, that's another 40, , and let's say 20 total seats in  the mezz. 100 seats  per show, 800 seats per week,  X $150 each, that's  $120,000 per week, X 52= over $6 million in lost revenue per year for an extra 2"-3" per seat.  Ballpark figures.  

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 4/22/23 at 6:45am

The nutritional community blamed the great outbreak of obesity on the enormous increase in per capita consumption of sugary soft drinks in the 70s and 80s. In particular that time is noted by the fast food restaurants offering to “supersize“ your soft drink by adding another 40 ounces for a dime.
 

Body: “Thank you very much for this additional 84 grams of sugar. I don’t happen to have any need for this extra sugar, which I carry around as glycogen, but let me squirt, some insulin into the bloodstream, and I will change all that sugar to fat and store it right near your belly in case I should ever run short of glycogen, and need to find some quickly.“ 

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 4/22/23 at 8:00am

"The nutritional community blamed the great outbreak of obesity on the enormous increase in per capita consumption of sugary soft drinks in the 70s and 80s. In particular that time is noted by the fast food restaurants offering to “supersize“ your soft drink by adding another 40 ounces for a dime."

I think more people have complained about leg room in theater than seats are not wide enough. This is not the 70's or 80's and there are so many sugar free options (diet soda, water etc.) available today. 

[pmensky]

Posted: 4/22/23 at 11:28am

OlBlueEyes said: "The nutritional community blamed the great outbreak of obesity on the enormous increase in per capita consumption of sugary soft drinks in the 70s and 80s. In particular that time is noted by the fast food restaurants offering to “supersize“ your soft drink by adding another 40 ounces for a dime.


Body: “Thank you very much for this additional 84 grams of sugar. I don’t happen to have any need for this extra sugar, which I carry around as glycogen, but let me squirt, some insulin into the bloodstream, and I will change all that sugar to fat and store it right near your belly in case I should ever run short of glycogen, and need to find some quickly.“"

What idiocy is this? Most of us are talking about leg room, because we’re tall and sit through shows in fear of the person in front of us sneezing and breaking our knees. Take your poorly veiled hatred of overweight people someplace else. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/22/23 at 2:23pm

Had a marvelous time at Geffen Hall yesterday: a most of the steps or stairs have been replaced with gently sloping ramps. Seats are comfortable and there's just the right amount of legroom. As for the acoustics: nothing could be better!

[pethian]

Posted: 4/22/23 at 10:14pm

Dollypop said: "Had a marvelous time at Geffen Hall yesterday: a most of the steps or stairs have been replaced with gently sloping ramps. Seats are comfortable and there's just the right amount of legroom. As for the acoustics: nothing could be better!"

 

Couldn't agree more. I do think they've solved the acoustics problem at last.