October 08, 2004
Broadway seat pitch and pinch
The New York Times takes a survey of the shrinking leg room at Broadway theaters. It's far from a Consumer Reports-type guide that would actually help you choose a seat based on seat pitch, but rather an overview with a few interesting notes. (Playbill, by the way, has an online guide to Broadway seating charts.)
The NYT reports that each extra seat can yield an extra $41,000 a year. According to figures from Variety, the Winter Garden, a Shubert house built in 1911, sat 1,404 in 1961 and jumped up to 1,482 during the long run of "Cats." Now 1,498 Abba fans can tap their toes while watching "Mamma Mia!," the Winter Garden's current tenant. The older theaters - many around 80 years old -- tend to have less leg room. But in the case of the Roundabout's American Airlines theater on 42nd, 200 seats were actually removed during a renovation. The story also quotes an occupational therapy professor who said he favors the Gershwin and Minskoff Theaters and gives the thumbs-down to the Booth, Cort, Imperial and Hayes.Patrons at smaller-capacity theaters also tend to get pinched. The Helen Hayes (privately held, and the smallest on Broadway, with 597 seats) and four adjacent Shubert houses on West 45th Street (the Plymouth, the John Golden, the Royale and the Booth) tend to be what a real estate agent might call cozy. And there's this lovely nugget to make Shubert look bad:When asked if they would allow reporters to measure their seats, officials for the Shuberts, Broadway's largest theater owner with 16 1/2 theaters (including the Belasco), declined to cooperate. The Nederlander Organization, which owns nine Broadway theaters, and Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway theaters, did allow reporters to inspect and measure. In the case of the Shubert houses, reporters bought tickets and brought their tape measures. Elsewhere, the Associated Press reports Shubert is changing the names of two of its houses in honor of, uh, its executives. The Plymouth will become the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and The Royale will be renamed the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
October 8, 2004 09:19 AM in Broadway
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