www.thestar.com: No two theatres are built the same.
Some are intimate, black-box venues, with no more than several dozen seats. Others are cavernous, spanning city blocks and playing host to large Broadway spectacles. Each have their own unique layouts, amenities and quirks.
4 comments:
This is super useful information that is often overlooked by a lot of theater blogs/reporting sites! The best seats are not always front row. Sometimes, when I am sitting front row, I'm always switching my head back and forth and it's super annoying and my neck hurts afterwards! One time, I sat on the balcony rail at the Benedaum Theater and it was the most AMAZING seat. What I did was I sat up in the nosebleeds for the first act, and then during intermission I went up to the front row of the balcony and I asked the people there if anyone was sitting there for act 1, then when they said no, I took their seat, muahah! The rule I am learning both in general and at CMU is that, just because you don't have a ticket, doesn't mean you can't get in. I loved this article, I wish this information was available on every website!
I'm really appreciative that they are telling me what every major seat in a Toronto theater is. Still, personally, from Dick Blocks Class, I know that 10th of Center is the best seat in the theater especially when you are trying in perspective so I take this all very lightly. So you know if you're speaking from the scenic designer's perspective it doesn't matter what theater you're in, you always got to be 10th row of the Center to get me up perfect perspective point of view. Now I understand that this article does bring up some good points so I think it's only fair to take into the consideration what this author has to say. I really appreciated how this article talked about theaters that weren't just for seeing his stages and how it brought up black boxes and More intimate spaces with more unique layouts. This was definitely a great read to explore the different seating options in different International theaters.
I think that much of the theater experience has to do with how comfortable you are as an audience member. A bad seat can be an ever-present anchor to the real world that doesn’t allow you to fully immerse yourself into the world of the show. Whether that seat is in a bad spot or it is just physically uncomfortable. I appreciate that this reviewer included a category of best budget-friendly seats, often people assume that the worst seats cost the least but this is not always the case. I think it is important to point out that this ranking is based on the experiences and needs of an individual. Each person has their own needs when choosing a seat some needing easy exit, some just purely going for the best view regardless of accessibility. When I see a show I am a big fan of sitting in the middle of the middle section to get a good view without having to crane my neck, the front of the balcony is also a go-to for me when it's available.
I think often people overlook the fact that each theatre is made differently and that some shows will work better than others in the same space. It makes me think a lot about national tours and how these companies manage to fit the same set into different venues and put on the same show every night. I wonder if being in a different space every other week affects performers and their performances on stage. I would imagine that it does because their spots might not be the same or the shape of the theatre would be different. I wonder if it is common for sets to be too big or small to fit a theatre and what the tour does to manage that. I think that this article was super interesting to read and it makes me think about how when venues sell tickets, how they should have a guide for audience members on what the best views are in the theatre.
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