Cheap is such an ugly word, we prefer to say value-priced.
In this grand, gritty world of entertainment, everybody wants value. It’s easy enough to pony up for the most expensive seats in the house and live happily ever after, but what about the lowest-priced seats–the nosebleed specials that we always wonder about? Who sits up there anyway, and why?
At the peak of the fall entertainment season, we visited some of the larger Chicago entertainment venues–Civic Opera House, Symphony Center, United Center, Cadillac Palace Theatre and the Auditorium–with an eye toward the view from afar. What do you get from the lowest-priced, most distant seat in the house? We believe in the notion of something for nothing (who doesn’t?), but can you have it with the value-priced view?
We looked at a number of factors, including view, sound, vertigo factor, clientele, price and aerobic challenge. Here’s what we found.
–Kevin M. Williams
Civic Opera House
Lyric Opera, back row, for Floyd’s ‘Susannah’
Sight
In our subscription back-row seat, we have the sense we are gazing into a living, operatic version of the Art Institute’s miniature Thorne Rooms. Singers and set pieces look glorious, but tiny — some about as big as the width of our thumb. We can easily read the supertitles, but use binoculars for cast close-ups. Up so high, we relish being enveloped by the beauty of the entire hall, with its stately gold-tinged panels and stenciled ceiling.
Sound
Recently, when Samuel Ramey, as the Rev. Olin Blitch, sang, “I’m a lonely man, Susannah,” in “Susannah,” we could hear every seductive syllable. Some Lyric buffs say the blend of singers and orchestra is at its best bouncing off the back wall.
Vertigo Factor
The back row is a heady 180 feet from the stage, but steps from the lobby are not steep. Far from being pitched forward in our seat, we are able to lean back comfortably and even rest our head against the wall.
Aerobic Challenge
To avoid the elevator crush, we have climbed all 123 steps to our 6th- floor seat. We have also walked halfway, then slipped onto an elevator on the 3rd floor, where mezzanine patrons are getting off.
Clientele
They’re casually dressed, friendly and more forgiving than the fancy-schmancy folks on the main floor. If a program drops or a bag crinkles, they don’t shush or shoot scary glances (unless the noise continues).
Price
$29 for weekday performances, $39 weekends. Top main-floor tickets cost $142 weekdays, $152 weekends. It’s generally not difficult to score a last-minute back-row seat.
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–Anne Taubeneck
Symphony Center
Flynn Gallery, back row, for Cleveland Orchestra
Sight
Quite good. Rather than row after row of half-bald heads, you get a good view of faces and expressions. It’s almost like watching an orchestra on television–we feel close, but not too close. But your mind starts to wander–just who changes those lightbulbs, and how do they do it? What a beautiful ceiling . . .
Sound
The smug looks on the faces of veteran gallery patrons are because they know about the sound up here–smooth and coherent, yet detailed. There is a lushness to the Gallery sound that you don’t get anywhere else in the hall.
Vertigo Factor
Uh, don’t look down. We aren’t kidding. Don’t. Look. Down. The Flynn Gallery manages that rarity–an excellent view without seeing the head in front of you. The down side is that to accomplish this feat, the pitch had to be made steep. The ushers up here don’t have to say “No running on the stairs,” because you won’t. No way.
Aerobic Challenge
One hundred twenty-one . . . one hundred twenty-two stairs take you from the main floor to the gallery. (There are elevators.) If you’re ambitious, you can sprint them in less than a minute, but your post-exertion pant will leave people sitting in front of you wondering just what’s going on back there. “He must be really excited about the Shostakovich . . . “
Clientele
We noticed the broadest spectrum of patron in the Gallery–students, slumming main floor types and regulars.
Price
$15-$24. Gallery seats are the musical bargain of the century for what we got and heard. This is compared to about $192 each for box seats (primo) and an average of $80 per for main-floor seats. Sign us up.
–Kevin M. Williams
Auditorium Theatre
Upper balcony, 4th row from the back, for the Joffrey Ballet’s “The Taming of the Shrew”
Sight
First thing we noticed was the heavenly glow coming from the lit orchestra pit. While you get a nice view of the conductor’s pinhead from the pricey seats, up here in nosebleed-land, the entire symphony is visible. The beautiful fresco above the Auditorium’s stage is at eye-level when you’re up top– another nice accouterment–but the details of the costumes and set are muted. As for the dancing, the view from ahigh is actually very good. No, we couldn’t get a good look at the dancers’ faces, but it’s actually much more interesting to see the big picture–the way the dancers respond to one another on stage, the full spectrum of the choreographer’s vision. Up close, it’s easy to get bogged down in the fancy footwork.
Sound
The orchestra sounds much fuller, less tinny, as does the person next to me unwrapping candy.
Vertigo Factor
There’s really little scare-factor–not as if you will lean too far over row XX and go a’tumbling down to row A. Stairs are fairly wide and rows are deep–deeper up here than down below–so there’s room for the occasional misstep.
Aerobic Challenge
Not bad at all. Sixty steps up with a lovely pit stop (big bathroom, stocked bar) in the middle of the climb. And for those a bit winded, the cooler air up top is a welcome relief.
Clientele
Unlike the main-floor seats full of elderly white couples wearing fur and feathers (what are rich people thinking?), upstairs is a celebration of youth and diversity and there’s a feeling of camaraderie. Most of the casually dressed patrons had subscription seats, so we’re talking real theatergoers here. (Overheard: During intermission, two middle-aged men discussing the conductor’s resume and reminiscing about the last time they saw the New York City Ballet. Throughout the second act, young girls whisper-shouting, “We can do that! Oh my god, we can do that!” as they watched the dancers leap and pirouette.)
Price
$34. It was $74 downstairs. We did watch one act in an expensive seat, and for $40 more, we had to endure an annoying conversation between two ladies-who-lunch: Lady 1: “I wore jeans the other night when I went out.” Lady 2: “I noticed.” We missed our thrifty family already.
— Allison Benedikt
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Three rows from the back wall, for “Bring in ‘Da’ Noise, Bring in ‘Da’ Funk”
Sight
As the lights dimmed, our fellow cheap-seat crowd leaned forward on cue and began to crane. Anyone five rows down was in our sightline, so we joined the gaggle. We couldn’t see the orchestra pit. OK. But we also couldn’t see the top half of a drop screen that had pictures and full sentences–we assume–to aid the story line. (When we, uh, slipped down to the better seats after intermission, we could see that the dancers did indeed have teeth and there was real smoke from those cigarettes.) Still, it is cool to be way up and so close to the dancing dust in the spotlight.
Sound
While we could hear the main floor crowd responding with laughter, our neighbors were whispering, “What did they say?”
Vertigo Factor
Not that bad. It helps that we were led up the steps to our seats, not down. The aisles are wide, and the red plush seats are identical to the expensive ones, though long legs will be cramped.
Aerobic Challenge
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There’s a certain satisfaction–really–in marching up 74 stairs. And there are elevators.
Clientele
We were with a young crowd, a bus crowd, in jeans and leather who brought their own Swizzlers. Their excitement was contagious.
Price
Take the Chevy price ($22, for this show) and–you did not read this here–slip down later near the maximum $62 seats to see and hear what you miss.
–Patricia A. Tennison
United Center
Section 324, row 6, for a Bruce Springsteen concert
Sight
These seats were “behind the stage,” as we were warned on-line when ordering and on the tickets. But since the stage was located at our end of the stadium, we were actually closer than many other fans. Springsteen’s open stage setup allowed pretty good sightlines (and he played to the back stagers several times). It was a little disconcerting to be above the camera operators perched in the rafters–and, as at many sporting events we’ve attended here, you find yourself often watching the big video screens rather than the stage.
Sound
Though speakers were directed our way, the sound was muffled and not very loud. The Boss tends to mumble, and at this height, the sound became even less distinct.
Vertigo Factor
Middle. The aisles are a little too wide to make the experience totally dizzy-free, but the entrance is mid-level, which makes the journey to your seat relatively easy. If you’re tall, your knees knock the preceding row, but we’ll trade that for the good view.
Aerobic Challenge
Escalators make the trip quite easy.
Clientele
For this kind of concert, a real mix of middle-age rock fans.
Price
$75 (plus assorted fees). All of the tickets were $75. The concert sold out quickly, so the availability was limited.
–Linda Bergstrom