Changing seats during intermission?- Page 2

[Bwaynerd]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 12:06pm

this thread is funny

[Toni4]

Posted: 3/20/11 at 8:13pm

I have changed seats many times...and how I do it depends on the theater. This last time, at the Curran in San Francisco, I asked the floor manager and got permission, in Chicago I asked the usher and she said no while she nodded her head yes, and in Detroit and Columbus, I just moved and had no problem with anyone around me.

[Broadwaydreaming]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:36am

Has anyone moved up seats recently? I'm going to see Matilda with a friend on Sunday. We are very last row in the balcony, which I heard was ok but not great. I Just purchased the tickets and noticed that both the orchestra and front mezz have a large variety of seats open. Many towards the front. Do you think at intermission, if there are two empty seats, an usher would allow me to move up?

[brdway411]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:47am

you can always ask

[SweetLips]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 3:00am

If there's an empty seat in First Class do you think you should just go sit in it?
Unless moved by theater management I can't see how anyone has the right to just go sit in a more expensive seat.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 10:34am

Yeah! Keep the peasants in their place!

[LMcC95]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:13pm

When I saw Dirty Rotten Scadlous in London, I was moved 10 rows by the ushers up because the theatre was so empty.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:26pm

going from the back of the back/mezz to the orchestra is not moving up a few rows. They usually don't mind within the same section, but going from the cheapest to the best is a pretty far reach.

Additionally, don't count on those seats remaining unsold.

[gleek4114]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 1:45pm

When I saw Patti LuPone last year I had purchased $15 student tickets in the second to last row of the theatre. When we got to the box office (about 15 minutes to the start) I asked the woman at the box office if there were any seats closer. She was so kind and moved me up to second row center at no charge. As others have said, doing it without premission is almost never a problem but I would suggest you always ask to be positive you are not doing something that could cause a problem.

[Movidude742]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 2:13pm

I asked ushers about moving up at Rock of Ages a month or two back and went from partial view side orch to row B on the aisle. One of the cast noticed and during Every Rose, tossed me the sandwich from Arby's.

It was a good time.

But yeah always ask the ushers

[JRybka]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 5:11pm

In the past couple times I will go to the box office and very sweetly ask if there are any extra seats to move closer... about 50/50 of the time they are sweet about it and move me without a charge.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 5:41pm

At Matilda once, I was doing standing room and there was an empty seat a few rows in front of me. I asked the usher who asked the house manager and I was told to please not move. Later, I saw the same usher moved a gentleman who was way on the side in the front of the orchestra (not a lottery ticket) to that seat..he had complained he couldn't see anything so close up.

That said, the guy complained in that row also and wound up leaving before the show was over. Obviously nothing could make him happy.

That was the only time I can remember not being able to move seats. At another performance of Matilda, we had lottery seats all the way to the side..and no one showed up in the middle seats of the same row. The usher suggested we move to the middle seats if no one was seated there in the next half hour..and we did.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 6:31pm

I've done it, usually to get closer to the front in orchestra (already having an orchestra ticket).

[Broadwaydreaming]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 7:44pm

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll ask an usher about it tomorrow. If it's a no, that's ok too. I'm just excited to see Matilda!!

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 8/16/14 at 8:46pm

I get the sense that the rules tend to be a little different for Standing Room. I used to be an usher at the San Francisco Opera, and the standees there are DEFINITELY not allowed to take a seat unless they were given a spare ticket. That's the only place where I've found moving seats to be a no-no...though I usually turned a blind eye to it.

[wonkit]

Posted: 8/17/14 at 3:20pm

The problem with helping yourself to a seat that you haven't bought is that if the seat has been sold, and the owners arrive late at any point, there is going to be a tremendous disturbance to everyone around you as the seating is settled.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/17/14 at 8:16pm

When I saw Pippin the usher told me I had crappy seats - I was in the boxes - and said "Hold on a moment, I'll move you." And moved me to the mid-mezz which was a great full-view seat. Sucks for the other people in the boxes. But it pays to smile.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 8/17/14 at 9:05pm

I mean I guess it depends. I've been in SRO before where ushers have told me that if there are empty seats at intermission, to feel free and take it.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 3:33pm

In general, ushers working at a Broadway house are not permitted to allow patrons to move to empty seats. They "unoficially" allow people to move at intermission simply because by then it is unlikely that any ticketholders for those seats will arrive. However, they still technically are not allowed to permit it. A good usher will inform a patron requesting to move that if the ticketholder shows up they will have to move back to their seat. On Broadway, ushers can be fired for moving patrons without authorization from the house manager or head usher.

[StephieElise]

Posted: 8/18/14 at 9:22pm

For the last performance of King Kong in Melbourne we had seats fairly close to the stage but to the side. A few days before the performance the King Kong Facebook page were giving away front row tickets for the final show. The winners had to pick up their tickets from the box office on the night of the performance. At the show at least four of those seats were empty, so at intermission we asked an usher if we could move. He went and checked and came back with the answer that we couldn't move because the box office was closed so he couldn't check if the tickets had been picked up...of course, that also meant that even if the people wanted to turn up for the second act, they couldn't get their tickets because the box office was closed!

[D2]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 3:53pm

I don't understand why there is confusion here.  If you go to get your seat upgraded and you are able to (you pay extra for better seats) then, by all means, move to the better seats.  However, if you do not pay for the upgrade and feel that it's a given right to just take an empty seat at the front of the theatre where patrons have paid full price to be there, then don't do it.  Ask yourself - why would this be OK?  Does it make logical sense that you deserve these expensive seats when you originally paid for nose-bleeder seats behind a post?  I see people make some stupid remarks like "see honey, these ARE the seats we bought after all" as if it fools anyone and sit front and centre.  It is annoying to everyone who has paid fair price and it's very obvious.  Don't be cheap.  If you want to get good seats to a play and wish to support the performers, pay for them up front.

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 4:15pm

I don't see why someone would sign up today to bump an almost 3 year old thread. 

[Just_John]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 4:21pm

Why did you bump this thread from three years ago?  Also, it is perfectly acceptable in every broadway house to move to a seat which remained empty until intermission.  Before that, it is frowned upon so as to not cause more of a distraction if anyone were to come late.  Most recently, I moved from a balcony box to the second row Orchestra for Sunset Blvd.

 If no one is using the seat and it's going to make your experience better, why would anyone care?  I also moved from the lottery boxes to the front row for the original cast of Kinky Boots during intermission and Billy Porter used my friend and I to point to when he says "and those who have yet to make up their minds."  

People pay rush prices all the time for seats that other people paid premium for.  That's their choosing. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 4:38pm

Maybe someone actually dug for an old thread instead of starting a new one, which would have earned scorn from other members saying "We already have a thread on this"...

Personally, I have extremely long legs and some seats are painful, if not impossible for me. I usually end up doing this before the show though. At Studio 54 (where I order HIPTIX), they usually accommodate me with a folding chair at the front of the rear mezz. At the Broadhurst (where I saw ANASTASIA), they said "normally we would offer a box, but since we're sold out, I can only offer standing room".

[cam5y]

Posted: 4/24/17 at 6:14pm

quizking101 said: "Maybe someone actually dug for an old thread instead of starting a new one, which would have earned scorn from other members saying "We already have a thread on this"..."

Agreed. Clearly the person had an unpleasant experience with people inserting themselves into seats they hadn't paid for. My own experience in this respect has involved having to explain to a young woman that yes, I had paid for the seat she had plunked herself into (for my husband, who couldn't make it) and no, she couldn't put her bag in my legroom. And yes, if she continued to insist on sitting there, both armrests belonged to me.