Any luck moving to a closer, empty seat once you’re in the theatre?

Hello, I’m wondering if anyone here has experiences of moving to an empty/unsold seat once they’ve gotten in the theatre - before the show starts.

I’ve never tried this in NYC on broadway before but have had luck at broadway touring venues in other cities. House staff and ushers were paying less attention there and as long as the seat was not sold I’ve been able to move closer.

Has anyone seen this happen at a Broadway theatre or tried this themselves with no issue?

I did it constantly in my 20s but you have to accept that someone may show up in the middle of the show and it is quite humiliating if I’m being honest. :)

It’s not a problem midway into a show as people do arrive after a show has started so moving into an empty seat before a show starts (or as the lights are dimming) can turn into a huge disturbance if the ticket holder arrived 10 minutes after a show has started.

Had standing room at ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE during previews and after they closed the doors, an usher told us to follow her and she led us to empty seats! That show has a strict no late seating policy.

I remember being at Something Rotten towards the end of its run and there were a lot of empty mezz seats. On the downbeat of the start of the song, there was this mass movement from the back of the mezz to empty sears closer to the front of the mezz. I've never really seen anything like it before or since.

I suggest waiting until intermission. As mentioned by TotallyEffed, if you take the seat of someone who arrives late, it can be a hassle for the usher and if you are close to the stage, it can be a distraction for the Actor's as well as the people sitting around the seat. If there is no intermission, I say just stay in the seat you bought. I have experienced a few times where ushers have allowed people to move right before curtain to seats they are told they can move people to. I have also experienced ushers telling people they can move from the rear to the front of the Mezz at intermission. JMO

I have purchased cheap rear mezz seats for shows that turned out to be poor sellers. Just did thst last month at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in LA for the very poorly sold opera double bill of "rediscovered operas" AKA stuff no one wants to see. (Thst program must have lost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.) The entire lower mezz was empty so I moved as soon as the lights went down. People beside me in the upper mezz looked at me like they thought I was shoplifting or something. But they were just inexperienced thestre goers. I remember the first time I went to the Paris Opera (Bastille) for a mid week performance of Dialogue of the Carmelites. As soon as the lights went down all you could hear through the whole place was the sound of seats flipping as people were moving throughout the whole auditorium.

Saw "Heart of Rock & Roll" yesterday afternoon and was in the Mezz, 4th row. The Mezz was about 50% full, and at intermission moved down to the front row, which was not filled.

I have often moved to better seats during intermission. Before the show starts I think it's a judgement call. If you see a lot of empty seats, chances are the show hasn't sold well and it may be safe to move. If there are only a few empty seats, I would wait in case latecomers take them.

Ha! I often move back away from people. I'm a person who doesn't need to be close to the stage.