I Love the front row!

[Mark2]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 1:52am

I was just answering a post about seat location and wondered, Does anyone else love the front row? Alot of B'way shows hold same day lotteries for front row which makes me think they are less desirable seats. Last summer I sat with my parents front row for Wonderful Town with TKTS tickets and we LOVED it. After reading negative things about the show it makes me wonder if the front row added to the excitement and made me love it more (not to mention I always love to see what is going on in the wings....Donna Murphy chatting up her costar before their cue). Maybe if I sat in the front row for Rent I would have liked it better......

[Juliet2170]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 2:21am

i dont know...i personally don't like the front row because i have to look up too much. also it depends on the theatre design. rush tickets for Brooklyn (no i dont want to talk about the show here, stand back feisty posters) are front row but you miss a lot of angles and people's expressions at key moments because your view is so skewed. also if there are lots of characters doing their thing all at once it's straining to catch it all. if it's theatres like the vivian beaumont or circle in the square, then the front row rocks.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 7:40am

I love the front row. I have a hard time stting further back.

[WickedShopofQ]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 8:05am

i have front row for SPAMALOT. i heard that front row is good. i hope so...

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 8:28am

I hate the front row. My ideal seat is first row center Mezz (except in the Hilton which is too far back).

[Barnaby12345]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 8:30am

Every show I've seen in the past three years, somehow or another I've sat in the front or second row. I absolutely love it and don't think I could go back. It is so great to see the actor's expressions so close and sometimes they actually look/wink at you.

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 8:38am

I used to like it but the best seats in a theatre are about 8 rows back in the orchestra in my opinion. Gives you a better view of the staging, scenery, lighting etc.

When having front row you are usually too busy concentrating on just one person.

QM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 8:57am

Well, Mark, feel proud that you were one of the 5 people who actually saw Donna Murphy in this show.

[mikewood]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:03am

I recently had one of my worst and bitterly disillusioning experiences in Broadway Theater in the front row. Recently at the old Studio 54 theater for "A Streetcar named Desire, I sat audience left/stage right as far over as you could get, and I had a miserable experience.

In case you have not seen it, Streetcar has a two room set with a kitchen/dining area divided by an imaginary wall with a bedroom living room area. From where I was sitting in Act 1 Scene 1 the kitchen table mostly obscured the couch and and I could see part of the bed if I craned my neck and looked through the table. In scene 2, the spare bed on stage right was pulled downstage several feet to accomodate Blanche's open trunk thereby completely obscuring any view I had of the bed.

I paid full ticket, 91 dollars for obscured seating and I was not happy.

I had similar seating for Les Miserables the first time I went all those years ago and had a much better experience.

For the Lion King, I had Row "C" seating but "A" & "B" are the orchestra pit and I could have pulled the toupee off the conductor's head.

I think for the big musicals I prefer to sit farther back. I think the ideal seat would be the front of the balcony, or the mezzanine if it true three tier seating.

For a drama, I prefer to be up close.

I also saw "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with Ann Margaret from the very front row . . . as a single straight male, the residents of the Chicken Ranch had a certain .. . appeal.

I also sat in the very front Unrinetown and got up close and personal with a cast member and the stage...my left shoulder was actually underneath the center platform that jutted out.

[mabel]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:16am

Front row tix can be a lot of fun. They're great for the Avenue Q lotto! However, other shows...not so much. I got student tix to Dracula in the first row, and I couldn't see a damn thing. Every once in a while, some vampire would float by. It was bad. A bad show w/ bad seats!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:25am

A lot of times it depends on the theatre. If there's no pit, the front row is even closer to the stage. How much you can see sometimes depends on how high the stage is, too. It's a different kind of experience. I like it, but not for the first time I'm seeing a show, usually. I like to be able to get the whole picture.

[Aphexis]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:27am

Personally, I prefer the front row for Plays and further back or front mezzanine for Musicals.

[Over_the_Moon]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:35am

It depends on the particular venue and the show.

Front row for LSOH was so fun!

[Katecab99]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 9:38am

definitley depends on the show.

i was at "wicked" again yesterday and have decided that super close seats for a show like that just doesn't do it for me. the stage is so big and things happen from one end all the way to the other, and if you're too close, you miss stuff.

however, in a show like "rent", i LOVE being in the front row! although this is also a very busy show, it doesn't feel like you miss anything by being in the lottery seats.

[ken8631]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:07am

It DEFINITELY depends on the theatre and stage height for that particular show. For "The Pillowman", front row was great. For "The Producers", they were the worst seats I ever had (saw 1/2 of people due to high stage). For "Boy From Oz", front row had great sightlines and other benefits as well (much audience interaction). For "Dracula", front row was horrible, people were actually moving back from front row to find other seats since the stage was soooo high.

It's a good topic, since spending lots of $$ for front row seats can actually be a a waste if the stage is really high relative to your seat (unless you are an NBA player).

[MissNY]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:15am

In general I love front row. Especially if I have seen the show before, I'd prefer to be really close. The best front row seats are Ave Q. It's a very low stage and it's small, so you dont miss anything and you feel like the actors are practically sitting in your lap. The worst front row Ive had was Movin Out. The stage is so high that you really can't see anything going on.

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:18am

last week i saw phantom in the front row center seat. i couldn't ask for more. it was amazing, and i loved every minute of it...especially when michael shawn lewis popped up from the orchestra pit. he was a foot a way from me. it was just so cool.
i also saw dracula in the front row 3 times (thank you student tickets!!) and loved it as well. i felt so much more a part of the show when the mist was actually trailing into my face.

[mikewood]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:37am

I had a question about seeing Phantom front row.... I made a conscience decision when I bought my Phantom tickets for my nieces for Christmas to sit farther back. I felt if they sat way up front they would have lost the chandalier effect. How did that work for you in the front row.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:41am

MissNY, funny you say that, because the front row at the Golden is the only time where I've thought "too close, too high a stage".

[ken8631]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 10:51am

Might be useful to have a list of current shows and front row good/bad designations due to height of stage relative to front row seating for would-be ticket buyers....

I'll start:

Pillowman - excellent
Chitty - so-so (may be too close)
Dame Edna - acceptable
Producers - bad

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:03am

Q - bad
Wicked - pretty good
DRS - amazing

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:12am

In some Broadway theaters, I haven't enjoyed sitting on the front row because the orchestra overpowers the singing.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:16am

I love the front row, but I do like to see the show from farther back as well. I just saw DRS from the front and it was fantastic, I liked it even better than my front row mezanine(sorry that is totally spelled wrong) seat. I actually enjoyed Q from the front although you are really, really close. I think I just like getting spit on by Barrett Foa.
To be able to see the facial expressions, and have the actors look directly at you as they say their lines is just too awesome to give up.
Again though I also like to see the show a second time from farther back for the spectacle.

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:17am

I think a few rows back is ideal. Front row doesn't give you a good enough view of the whole picture usually, but I still like being close enough so that I can clearly see people's faces.
Aida front row was terrible (even though Adam did look at me!) because most of the time I could only see the top half of the actors' bodies.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:20am

I just saw the post on orchestras and thought of this: I also loved being able to look down into the pit and watch the orchestra during warmups and intermission. Also, I like being able to see into the wings and watch as they prepare for the next scene. (again if I have already seen the show)
I love all the details, I had fun watching the crew at Q as they rushed the actors to their next entrance.