broadway seat comfortability (and the literally growing theatergoer)

ok... going back to the Tony Awards and Whoopi's comment about seats... now were seats really designed for skinny people? have we gotten that fat as a society that we no longer fit into the chairs? i'll admit.. i used to be large and the seats were uncomfortable and i hated it.. i lost about 50 pounds and it feels great to be in the seats more comfortably... but i've seen even larger people in shows and it looks almost painful for them to be there... do you think theaters will start renovating seats anytime soon?

btw.. slightly off topic... but my friend told me that IT'S A SMALL WORLD at disneyland here in LA was being refurbished because the park attendees are bigger than they were when the park first opened and the weight is slowing down the ride... so they are digging a bigger trench for the boats... are we really getting to be that fat as a society now???

Weight is a big issue, but so is height. Americans are taller in 2008 than they were nearly a century ago when many of the older theatres were constructed.

I am 6'3, and some houses are downright uncomfortable. I've changed seats at intermission (going to side aisles, rear seats, etc) just for more legroom. The O'Neill and Lyceum have less legroom than some newer houses (Circle in the Square is divine).

Legroom at most West End houses is worse.

I would too rather see them tackle the height issue first, rather than weight. But it's extremely unlikely anything will happen for either cause.

I'm tall as well. The front rows at the Vivian Beaumont KILL me. They even were too tight for my dad, who is only 5'11 or so. Further back, where the rake is steeper, it's better. But I'm surprised I didn't develop DVT during "Cymbeline."

The Schoenfeld runs a close second for discomfort. ("Long Days Journey Into Night" was also a killer in those seats)

I am 5'4' and feel like I have no leg room at some of the theaters.

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I'm 5'8" and I have problems with leg room at various theatres. I usually find that the orchestra seats are slightly better for leg room than mezzanine but not by much.

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You know, it's sometimes rough for me and I'm 5'6" and 130.

People were much smaller when most of the theatres were built and nobody was super-sizing it back then.

Try a vintage clothing store and try on what you THINK is your size...

I'm big (not so much tall but wide), the only theatre I had a hard time getting through was The August Wilson.

Studio 54 has no legroom for anyone taller than 5'5" probably. I'm about 5'8" and it was painful.

thetinymagic - I appreciate what you are recommending, but seats are NOT there for the asking. I know at least 4 house managers on Broadway (& suspect there are many more) who would actually go out of their way to put you in the worst seats they had if you asked for a better, more comfortable seat & you were not mordibly obese or too tall to be allowed.

With hundreds or thousands of people in a house, asking for another seat simply because you are uncomfortable is considered whiny & childish by house staffs. EVERYONE is uncomfortable, as this thread shows. I am under 5'5" & I am uncomfortable as well. I either get an aisle seat so I can at least lean out or I suck it up.

In my hot 20's I wore a size 7. Twenty years, 2 kids, and 10 lbs later -- I wear a 4. We are not only getting larger, but also more and more delusional.