From re-reading the original post, the poster is an out-of-towner. If his / her normal attendance is in a barn somewhere on the road, then the second balcony of the Shubert will seem like a great seat (minus the ones that are TRULY obstructed). Most of the touring theatres are so large that you feel like you are in a different state from the stage if you are anywhere in a tier. In Tampa, they even have a cute name (forgetting it) for the third balcony, because the seats are so far from the stage AND so high-up. (Of course, they aren't much cheaper than the first and second tier).
While I think it is obscene that anyone would have to pay $120 to sit in a second balcony theatre in any Broadway theatre -- demand pricing be damned, some greed-based prices are just wrong -- I would not hesitate to purchase the seat (unless it is truly behind a pole).
I saw Dolly many times at the St. James, mostly in the second balcony, and you had to stand up frequently to see the stage. Invariably, someone in the first row would lean over and the person in the second row would not complain (I tend to kick the chair if they don't respond to a reasonable request), instead also leaning over; and, by the time the show was 15 minutes old, most of the second balcony was up and down repeated times. I really don't remember that ever being a problem in the Shubert, although I don't remember a Shubert theatre show ever having the ramp that surrounds the orchestra (can't remember the fancy French name).
Of course, for less than that, you could have a great seat in the mezzanine (Dolly is better from the mezzanine IMO, because dancing looks better when you have a little elevation) and see a great Broadway musical star named Donna Murphy in the process. No contest to me.
