#1
Posted: 8/2/08 at 6:28pm
If there a worse place to view a musical than the San Diego Civic Theatre, I'd like to know.
The SDCT is a modest little barn seating 2967 souls in extreme agony. There are 25 rows in the orchestra section and behind that up three mini steps are eight more in the dress circle. If you could rotate the theatre 180 degrees, the people in the dress circle would be about half way between the stage and Mexico.
And get this: There are 57 seats in a row without a center aisle. The seats have about one inch of padding and wood arms which have been worn smooth on the inner surface from the thousands of butts that have squeezed into them over the years. There is virtually no leg room. Seat # 1 is in the direct center of the row with 56 and 57 on the opposite side aisles. If you are unlucky enough to be in #1, you have to climb and wiggle over 28 others to get to your seat. The doors under the green emergency signs might as well be props and you drink a refreshment at you own risk.
The orchestra and dress circle hold nearly 1650. There is no decoration. The Maquis is ornate by comparison.
Then we have the mezzanine and balcony. To get a feel for the view from the upper balcony you need to imagine the stage of, say, the St. James. Then take some electrical tape and crop an inch from the top and bottom of you cell phone screen. Now just place the open phone at the bottom of a flight of stairs and climb about six and you have it.
I was sitting in the second row of the mezzanine for what was a seriously terrific touring performance of Phantom. It was only due to the fact that I all ready know the lyrics that I could understand anything sung by more than I person at once. The group numbers might as well have been Gilbert and Sullivan.
All the touring Broadway shows end up at the Civic. It's such a shame.
The SDCT is a modest little barn seating 2967 souls in extreme agony. There are 25 rows in the orchestra section and behind that up three mini steps are eight more in the dress circle. If you could rotate the theatre 180 degrees, the people in the dress circle would be about half way between the stage and Mexico.
And get this: There are 57 seats in a row without a center aisle. The seats have about one inch of padding and wood arms which have been worn smooth on the inner surface from the thousands of butts that have squeezed into them over the years. There is virtually no leg room. Seat # 1 is in the direct center of the row with 56 and 57 on the opposite side aisles. If you are unlucky enough to be in #1, you have to climb and wiggle over 28 others to get to your seat. The doors under the green emergency signs might as well be props and you drink a refreshment at you own risk.
The orchestra and dress circle hold nearly 1650. There is no decoration. The Maquis is ornate by comparison.
Then we have the mezzanine and balcony. To get a feel for the view from the upper balcony you need to imagine the stage of, say, the St. James. Then take some electrical tape and crop an inch from the top and bottom of you cell phone screen. Now just place the open phone at the bottom of a flight of stairs and climb about six and you have it.
I was sitting in the second row of the mezzanine for what was a seriously terrific touring performance of Phantom. It was only due to the fact that I all ready know the lyrics that I could understand anything sung by more than I person at once. The group numbers might as well have been Gilbert and Sullivan.
All the touring Broadway shows end up at the Civic. It's such a shame.
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