NYC Theatre regulars - seating question.
 

Will be purchasing tix to Hairspray later today. I can get downstairs near the middle or upstairs mezzanine around the 8th row, possibly better. All are the same ($100) price. Any thoughts on pros and cons of sitting up or down? This will be our first visit to NYC as a family. Thanks so much

We sat downstairs, middle about 6-7 rows back, the seats and the view were great!
Remember, the seats go right up to the stage, I would hate to sit very close, you are looking up the entire time.
Farther back can be more comfortable. I don't like sitting upstairs unless I am in the front 2 rows:)
Enjoy!!!!!

i always prefer orchestra (downstairs).

It depends on what you mean by "near the middle"!

I was proud of myself for scoring front row center seats to "Nine" in July...until I heard that we may get a little soaked during one sequence. Can anyone who has seen it tell me if this is true, and if so, are we talking log-flume-ride soaked or just a little wet? Need to know so we can dress accordingly.

Howard, the seats that are available right now for the show we want are either Row "O" in the orchestra or Row D up in the mezz. Who knows what will be there when I get home tonight... Hopefully close to those seats. It's for a show in August.

Either are probably OK as long as they are not too far to either side. The mezzanine overhangs the orchestra a bit so some of the front mezz seats may be closer than rear orch. seats. Assuming the seats are both in the center section, I'd go with orch, row O.

As previously mentioned, as long as neither are too far over, either would be okay. However, I'd lean towards Row D in the mezzanine. On second thought, I'd take whichever are closer to the center!

I think Row O in the orchestra is not that close. Personally, I don't like to be too far back in the orchestra (although I also don't like to be at the front of the orchestra -- annoying, right?). I tend to prefer front mezzanine seats. I agree with Howard, assuming they are close to the center, I'd take the mezz.

Thanks TONS for the suggestions. I just can't beleive we are getting pretty good seats for Hairspray! We are so excited about this trip. Now all I have to do is get a good rate at the Gorham!

Oh, and the tix that were available this morning were RIGHT Mezz upstairs. Will Fingers crossed now on something good still available!

A bit of an update... Neither of the available seats are center. The Orch are row O, seats 17 - 21, Left of Stage. The Mezz are Front Mezz, row D, seats 8 - 12, Right of center. Can anyone tell me if these are waaay over to the side? Also, anyone use ticketmaster? I'm trying to find other seats (same price) but doesn't seem to allow this. I'm thinking maybe a row or two back in the center might be better. Can anyone help?

I would definitely take the mezzanine seats. They are closer to the center.
Your options from afar (i.e., not being able to go the box office) are limited. I doubt you'd get a bargain on ebay, so I'd stick with Ticketmaster.

PS: The longer you wait, the less favorable the tickets will be!

Exactly what Howard said (as always!). Take the Mezz seats and HURRY!!

Okay, will do. One more question if I may? Seats 8 - 12... are those by the wall? When I look at the seating chart online, the mezzanine is divided into 3 sections - a large middle section, and 2 small end sections (R & L). Seems that seats 8 -12 (Which for the 3 of us are actually seats 8, 10 & 12) would be in the far right small section near the wall. True?

Again, thank you so much!

I don't think that they are "against the wall"! They're on the side, but you'll be able to see fine from up there...probably better than from the orchestra seats you mentioned.

Thanks Howard. Gotta go make a call....

Thanks Howard. Yes, they are against the wall, but purchased them anyway, since they were the best of what was left for that date. Thanks for your input. The man at the Neil Simon agreed that they were better than the Orchestra row O seats, which were also against the wall.

Now, if I can afford it, just might see the Blue Man Group on the next night...Plenty of seats for that!

djdave - i saw Nine from the first row. You do get wet, but just a little bit. You don't get soaked. I wouldn't wear suede though. you will probably also get to partake in brief banter with Chita as well. Have fun! We loved the show, and it has gotten better week by week.

Thanks, bugswife1. Fortuantely there is no suede in my clothes closet, but I'd better warn my wife. :) It's also good to hear how great the show is from you and other Fodorites.

Just left Hairspray 2 hours ago and I'm still buzzing. I had been disappointed because I thought my seats weren't going to be so great even though I get best available about four months ago for todays matinee.
We were in row J about the middle of the side section of orchestra, and the seats were very good. Most plays so far forward and the show is well designed so I didn't feel I missed much of anything being so far off center. Normally my favorite seats would be front of the mezzanine, but I must say we were a whole lot closer than you would be in the 8th row of mezzanine --not so great in my opinion. I'd stick with the orchestra row 0.

YAY! Have a great time Austin, please write us a report after your trip?

Patrick, we have 4th row front Mezzanine. Very excited. Glad you are still buzzed. (I haven't gotten a good buzz since the 80s...) :)

And Scarlett, will do. I'll be posting more questions I'm sure, before we leave, Defintiely will do a trip report. I'm working on our 2 day agenda and will post it for feedback.

Thanks all.

Patrick, I missed you by one performance. Was there the evening of the 27th. We sat in the last row of the orchestra on the left, -well not a row really, they added 4 "loose" chairs behind the last row. The good news-we had lots of leg room. Would have much preferred the front mezz Austin. Oh well. Couldn't believe the orchestra set up. I kept waiting for someone to fall into the pit but it never happened, thank goodness.

And for anyone wondering, as I was, Harvey Fierstein is NOT that large. He wears a fat suit.

So, Patrick and McLaurie, did you like Hairspray? I'm not sure what Patrick means by "buzzing."

Buzzy, If Patrick enjoyed Hairspray the way we did, I think buzzing meant he was trying very hard the entire play to keep from jumping out of his seat and singing and dancing too:)
Is there anyone that did not enjoy Hairspray? I cannot imagine why not~

I posted here somewhere a while ago that I guess I'm the only living person who thought Hairspray was just OK, in spite of being a child of the 60s and a fan of Harvey F's...oh well.

Buzzy- you are not alone :)

Hey, Buzzy and mclaurie, that's okay. Hell, I hated Annie!

Whew; I also dislike strawberries and apple pie, and I was beginning to feel completely un-American.

Okay, no more talk of not liking Hairspray! If you choose to continue this line of discussion I'll have to close my eyes! :P

Fear not, Austin. You'll love Hairspray.

I think so. I loved our local theatre (Austin Musical Theatre) production of Annie. But my favorite was Peter Pan. Easy to please I guess! :D

What has happened to me in New York? Buzzed? Not sure where that word came from, but yes I loved Hairspray.
By the way the little old lady from Seattle next to me asked at intermission who the woman was playing the mother. She guessed it was someone famous since everybody cheered when "she" appeared. It took me a while to convince her -- showing the picture in the program helped-- that the role was played by a man.