The Richard Rodgers Threatre...Ick

I actually love the theater because from a lot of the seats you have an amazing view. Aside from the boxes and about 3 rows of the Orchestra you can see everything.

I've sat in the rear mezz and the first rows of the orchestra and was not uncomfortable. It's probably one of my favorite Broadway theatres.

When I saw In The Heights I sat first row of the second section of the mezz, and it was a perfect view. But then again, I had the extra leg room.

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I never had a problem with that theater either. I have sat in one of the last rows of the rear mezzanine and recently, the second row in the orchestra and have no complaints.

The leg room in the balcony at the Palace wasn't too great though. And I also thought the space at the Golden in the orchestra wasn't great either.

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The rear mezz was burning hot when I saw ITH a few weeks ago. My party complained, but the ushers didn't seem to care.
There are also no elevators, making it very difficult for older patrons to get to their seats if they are not in the orchestra.
The view and legroom were fine, though!

Personally, I LOVE the Richard Rodgers Theatre and find it to be one of my favorite Broadway houses. It feels quaint and close in no matter where you sit. I Do think that it over due for a renovation and a more flattering color pallate scheme in the house.

In ragard to your complaints, they amuse me a bit. The Rodgers was designed to be best suited to dance pieces. The raised orchestra is there to allow you to see the depth of the choreography on the stage. It wasn't designed for you to look at plot important details in the scenic design 20 feet in the air, and a good director will know that and work with that. In fact, the rear orchestra view isn't notably different than what the rear mezzanine would be in a three tier house. Yes, the producers should charge less of a price for those seats, but that is an arguement for another day and topic.

As far as the "ugly black box" you speak of, that has nothing to do with the theatre. Blame the lighting and sound designers. It's THEIR rig, not part of the theatre and has nothing at all to do with the theatre.

Box seats were never designed to give a prime view of the stage, but a good director should try to compensate for that in their staging. Box seats were from a period in time when status was important and people would would shell out money for a box seat in order to more visible to the other audience members, not to catch a prime view of the stage and show. The Rodgers, though, tends to find itself with the box seats priced at a great discount.. I like that. I never understand how many theatres sell the box seats at prime orchestra prices.

I will preface this with, I know SRO is not particularly catered to, and I don't remember much of my experience cause I was recovering from dental work drugs (meds, whatever), but I did SRO for In the Heights and completely missed the balcony scene at the top of act 2 because of the mezz overhang. I had never heard the music, or (obviously) seen the show, so that was a bit aggravating. I can't really say much for the leg room as I was standing.... but the overhang is aggravating! And I'm sure was not too much fun during Tarzan.

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If you want uncomfortable theaters, try the Belasco & The Lyceum.

Hey guys, use some of the facility fee money & renovate these 2 historic theaters.

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Row X at Tarzan were officially the worst seats I've ever been in. We would have had to watch the entire show on little TVs hanging from the ceiling. Might as well be watching a movie on an airplane.

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I'll tell you which seats AREN'T comfortable, the seats at the newly refurished Nederlander. Ugh. One of the many factors that made Guys&Dolls so unenjoyable for me...

I was gonna say, I didn't think the Rodgers had bad seats when I saw IN THE HEIGHTS, but part of the painful experience that GUYS & DOLLS was had a lot to do with the fact I had the most uncomfortable seats I've had at a Broadway theatre before. I was sitting in the front row of the mezzanine and seriously could barely move. There was NO leg space.

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The worst theatre I've ever sat in (and I'm a double threat: tall and heavy). . was definitely the Al Hirschfield. I sat balcony for "Curtains" and I couldn't even fit one leg in the space provided.

I sat with both legs in the aisle. . seated diagonally in the seat. It was the most uncomfortable 3 hours of my life. . but I still loved the show, which is surprising.

-Jacob.

Updated On: 7/21/09 at 01:24 PM

exactly, the fact that Richard Rodgers theatre has to have tv screens for you to see the shows action from those seats, proves my point perfectly