I am in the process of planning our first trip together to New York for April 2004. I am planning on suprising my wife for Christmas with tickets to Lion King, but I am confused as to where the best seats are in the New Amsterdam theater.
All of the sites that I have checked come back with seating at Orchestra Isle Row A for anywhere from $210 to $230. I have also found Orch Row H for $225.
Could anyone please help as to what seats in the theater are the best? Is row A too close to the stage to see? Any advise on our first trip to Broadway would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Without knowing anything other than what you have said I would guess that those performances are sold out given the prices per ticket being quoted. Have you checked the Ticketmaster web site yet? That would be the first place I would try.

Of the seats you have been quoted I would choose Orch Row H over Row A. It is a great show and I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy it. Good luck.

I just bought tickets for my niece (for Feburary) , Orchestra row "f" center and paid $100 per seat...Where are you buying tickets? This was via Ticketmaster...seats are available

Here's another recommendation for Row H versus Row A. The front several rows are way too close. However, be sure the seats aren't on the far left or far right. You can find a seating chart for the New Amsterdam Theater at www.playbill.com

Yes, look at a seating chart. I checked ticketmaster for four different April dates and all had decent seats for $100. Did you mean you are getting two tickets for that $200 plus figure including fees?

By the way, you can easily tell whether seats are in the center or sides. All center section seats are three digits (101 or 115 for example),
Side section seats are single or double digits ( 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. on one side -- 2, 4, 6, 8, on the other side). The lower the numbers for side sections, the closer they are to the aisle. I wouldn't take any side seats close to the stage, I would avoid row A or B altogether, and I would be hesitant to take extreme side seats (you need to look at the seating chart to know how many side seats in each row). To by honest, my favorite seats would be front row of the mezzanine -- even to the very sides.

I agree with the previous poster about the first row mezzanine. For the Lion King these seats are GREAT. Gives you a wonderful view of the fabulous contumes and staging of this show.

do not, I repeat, do not take the seats in the front row!

Thank you all for the information.
The prices for the tickets in my posting were for both tickets. I have been able to bring up on Ticketmaster either orchestra right row U seat 24-26 or mezzanine center row KK seats 108-109. I am thinking that the orchestra seats are too far right with the seat numbers. I cannot pull up any seats for first row mezzanine. Is row K too far back in the theater for a good view or would anyone recommend going to a ticket broker for better seating choices. Again, I thank you all for your info because Broadway is all new to me and your advice has been very helpful.

I'm a little confused. According to the seating chart I see, Row U orchestra only goes to seat 20 and 22 which would be against the wall. In rows further forward like row Q there are seats 26 and 28 which are against the wall (or rather closest to the wall). I would not take these in any case.
The seats you mention in the mezzanine are quite far back, but right in the middle of the row. Your view should be very good from there -- but a distance. I personally don't do well with distance and probably wouldn't take them, but try for another performance or wait until I can get better ones, but I realize that may not be an option. I've never used one of those brokers to pay double price or so to get good seats. If you think it is worth it and you can get really good seats, say center orchestra 5th to 8th row or so, then that would be great.
On the other hand, Lion King is one show that will play really well from a distance. You're not relying on subtle expressions on the faces of actors for example. One other option is to call Ticketmaster (yes telephones still work). I have found that these days they can actually be very cooperative and will go through performance by performance telling you what are the best seats they have. I have sometimes found better seats that way than will come up on the website.

Two tips as to seating for Lion King. 1.The "animals" parade down the aisles so a seat on the aisle (not at the extreme left or right aisle) is desireable.
2. I have found that excellent seats show up on Ticketmaster close to the show date.

We saw Lion King from at least as far away as the mezzanine seats you mentioned, and it was to the side a bit too (not such an issue as being far to the side of the orchestra in my opinion). Any of the seats put you fairly close, since the theater isn't all that huge. I completely agree with Patrick about getting good mezzanine seats if possible to take in the whole spectacle of The Lion King.

SM, I'd like to add that in March of the Lion King's 2nd year, 3 weeks before leaving for New York we searched for tickets. We learned that the show was "sold out" 6 months ahead.

However, our last minute search resulted in finding 4 tickets for a 2:00 p.m. Wednesday show at $25.00 each! The problem was that there was supposedly an obstruction, so they weren't going to be good seats... some kind of "line" in front of us, hence the $25.00 price.

I wish I could remember which row the seats were in - I've looked at the seating chart and I know they were on the right side near the back. Anyway, we loved the New Amsterdam Theater, the "line" didn't bother us, and we enjoyed an absolutely amazing production. If we missed anything, we didn't know it! Good luck.