Scarlett

A few years ago, we took some visitors to see Lord of the Dance. Halfway through, I was jabbed in the back by the lady (little & old) behind me .. I thought I had been stabbed for a minute! She wanted me to move over some so she could see past me. She was quite small and low in her seat. I did my best, but she needed a bumper seat.
It was annoying, I was conscious of her the rest of the performance.
I can understand a person being miffed if they can not see around the person in front of them, but that is life. Not everything is Stadium seating and it has long been part of the experience to figure there might be a head in front of you that will block some of your view.
I don't think there is anything you could have done..and she was very rude.

MelissaHI

I was at a concert earlier this month where a lady in front and to the left of me accused me of kicking her seat constantly. I made her look down to see that there was physically no way, since my legs were too short to even reach! She barely believed me. Well, I felt the kicking she described as well, and I think it was some kind of vibration in the seats/foundation.

dsquared

Aliska,
I'm 5'2" and I've dealt with tall people in front of me in theatres all my life. Hey, it's just the luck of the draw - sometimes it's a small child in front, sometimes a basketball player! We short people learn to deal with it - all except the "wicked witch" you met up with.

I've never, ever asked someone to move his head so that I could see better. How rude! She was completely out of line and your husband is a saint.

Mary2Go

My husband is 6'6" and built like Shaq and I always dread finding seats in a theater because we always hear the "Oh great he is sitting in front of us." He tries to scrunch down but there really is no room for his legs. We get aisle seats for the same reason. If the old biddy had gone after my husband he probably would have asked her if she would like him to sit up straighter! Your husband sounds like a peach! I always try to be glad I am not the kind of person who goes through life being irritated by everyone and everything.

CaliNurse

Aliska, Good question. I'm 5'2", my dtr is 4'10" So we expect that we may well have our sight line partially blocked. That's not the fault of people who are taller than we are (which is nearly every adult in the country) !
However, last time it happened was at an old restored theater with absolutely no gradient between rows of seats. We missed a lot of the show/dance part of the concert
(Keali'i Reichel--and all Hawaii visitors here will know how disappointing that was). I found myself a bit annoyed--not at other attendees, but at the theater restoration planners!! Surely in the course of fixing the place up, they could have put a little angle betewen seats? (Same way i feel in a ladies' bathroom at a large theater, where there are only 4 stalls and the intermission line is horrendous! OIbviously, the bathroom planner looks at toilets from a male point of timing.) Oh well, who knows what goes tjrough the minds of theater designers??

So, now I call the theater directly, in advance--about what the seating arrangements are like. It's helped in places where there are kids events too--like colisuem type venues where they extend the available seats by putting seats on the flat part of the ice rink--leaving the little kids unable to see at all .
I agree with Faina. Call the usher--then if necessary, let them call security, and let them handle it. That's what I've done when people talk through a performance, and it's alwasy resolved. Once iot meant the talker started shouting at the usher, and was escorted from the theater with his mortified family. We, the people behind them, then had a quiet performance with perfect view of the stage!!

alya

Calinurse,

too funny, I'm 5'1 and I wonder if that's why I hate the cinema! I don't get a good view unless we visit our local Imax where the seating is very steep. Last year we went to see The Polar Express in 3D and it was wonderful. The effects were wonderful and at one point the train appears to stop a couple of foot from your face!

We also saw the last Harry Potter movie (not 3D) and it's nice to know that however tall the person is in front of me I have a clear view.

Citylghts

Calinurse, generally you can expect sightline problems in a "restored" theatre as many were built as cinemas and are now presenting live shows. They're usually much wider and not as tall.

The seats were designed so you could see a movie screen that was only a few feet behind the proscenium and extended 15-20 feet off the stage. With a live performance, the people in the balcony and rear orchestra often can't see the stage floor because the rows don't have a steep enough grade. So, if seeing the dancers' feet is important, be sure to get seats front and center.

JJ5

I'm 5'1" and I have a 6'5" son- so I'm also used to scoping spaces out where I can get the big guys on the aisles and I can try to get a gap. But I never make it someone else's problem or fault.

Any older or restored theatre, I think the Auditorium in Chicago is one, I always tend to get lowest balcony because main floor seating usually gives me terrible sight lines. If I take my mom (wheel chair) then it gets super dicey, no matter the pricing. At "Miss Saigon" we were in the orchestra pit- literally.

My ears! and you could see the spit.

When we were at the White Sox Rally (Oct. 28) I let the others tell me what they could see when the team came got within 30 feet. I could see them at a farther distance but mostly in any crowd if I try to see closer sights all I see is backs and elbows.

tracys2cents

Next time just marry somebody shorter. So much easier to just avoid situations like this altogether by planning ahead!

Leona

More to the point - what did YOU do when she made those remarks? You were sitting right next to your husband & daughter & you never saw her turn around to speak to them?

I would have ignored her comments.

aliska

Well, this has been very interesting. As for the comments about whether/not I noticed anything, no I did not. At intermission, the crazy woman said nothing to me or to any of us and we never left the vicinity. As to my patient husband, yes, he is a doll. He sat on the end and I never saw or heard anything. We have forgotten this episode and chalked it up to future family anecdotes. but just thought I would share - we are making plans to visit NYC for the kids' spring vacation the 3rd week of March, so short theatre goers BEWARE. Thanks!