S/O What's the best event/performance seat you've gotten?

[PigletsPal2]

I won a trip to London in 1990. Included in the trip besides airfare and hotel, were tickets to three plays. We turned in those tickets in exchange for tickets to see Les Miz, second row centre. Fantastic seats! We also saw Cats on that trip, almost last row, but it was a round theatre, and still good seats. A couple of years later Les Miz came to our city and we got tickets for us and our teen daughters. The youngest did NOT want to go. There were tears. She didn't want to go somewhere with her parents I guess. We made her go and she thanked us afterwards.

We saw Les Miz w/o our DDs the first time, and I have to admit, I was reluctant to see it - a MUSICAL about the FRENCH REVOLUTION? (although it really wasn't) - give me a break! A friend convinced us to go, and we loved it. We bought an early CD of the Original London Cast recording, and DD#2 practically wore it out. We took her to see the touring company over Christmas in Washington DC in 1986 (?) and she was hooked! We were assigned to Londo in 1987, and she made it her mission to see the show every chance she got. DD#1 joined us in London 1988-1989, and being older, (and bolder) she made friends with some of the young people in the company, seeing the show as often as she could as well.

When we went back to Washington in 1989, DD#1 went back to college, and DD#2 got a job at the National Theater in Washington, where Les Miz just happened to be touring again for the summer. She was an usher at night and worked in the theater's office during the day. She saw the show eight times a week, counting matinees.

Fast forward to 2017, and DD#2 has been back to London (on her own dime) almost 25 times, seeing the show at least once each visit and has seen a touring company here in the U.S. probably another ten times. She swears she never gets tired of it, and we jokingly call her the "World's Greatest Authority on Les Miserables - The Musical."


Queen Colleen

 

[ImDMous]

I won tickets on the radio to see Sting, second row although a little off to the side. It was awesome!

 

[Kellykins1218]

My 9 & 11 yr olds both have autism. We went to see The Grinch musical in Cleveland this past December and had a nasty woman sitting in front of us. My youngest was singing along and she let out a very loud, huge sigh and gave us a dirty look then said something I couldn't hear to her husband. There were kids everywhere at this show so I'm not exactly sure what her problem was but I whispered to my older son, who was on the aisle, to stand up so I could take the younger one out to the lobby for a few minutes. She turned around and told us to be quiet. I just ignored her and went to the lobby. A lady wearing an earpiece came over and said "Hey guys, what's up?" I explained that he had autism and I didn't want to annoy the woman in front of us so we were just going to take a little break. She said "Oh no, you can't miss The Grinch! How about we take you upstairs and give you your own private balcony?" Turns out she was the theater manager. The ushers watched my son while I ran back to get his brother then moved us into a loge balcony directly above the stage. It was awesome!

 

[RedAngie]

Since we're talking about the sports memories, I was thinking of where I've sat for such events. I've gotten a few great seats to performances or sporting events. When I was visiting NYC, I bought tickets in the morning for a Sondheim musical at TKTS. Not only was it half price, but it was in the second row. It was a little bit off to the side, but it was extremely close.

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There were a few instances where I've gotten very good seats at TKTS. Once, about 15 minutes before showtime we got 4 seats in the 4th row center orchestra for the musical Chicago. I couldn't believe such seats were available so late, at a discount yet. DH suggested that they may have been "house seats" that the producers decided they didn't need for guests, so they released them for sale last minute. I suppose we lucked out being there at the right time.

In general, however, I prefer the first row or two of the mezzanine for the best overall view.

ExH's company was able to get seats in a suite at the Staples Center in LA on various occasions. I attended about 10 NHL Kings and NBA Clippers games, (Never the Lakers). I remember one Clippers game was so boring that the women present ended up watching American Idol on the TV in the suite.

When I was in my young 20s, there were plenty of concerts I attended in clubs where I stood right up against the stage.

 

[Nora03]

My 9 & 11 yr olds both have autism. We went to see The Grinch musical in Cleveland this past December and had a nasty woman sitting in front of us. My youngest was singing along and she let out a very loud, huge sigh and gave us a dirty look then said something I couldn't hear to her husband. There were kids everywhere at this show so I'm not exactly sure what her problem was but I whispered to my older son, who was on the aisle, to stand up so I could take the younger one out to the lobby for a few minutes. She turned around and told us to be quiet. I just ignored her and went to the lobby. A lady wearing an earpiece came over and said "Hey guys, what's up?" I explained that he had autism and I didn't want to annoy the woman in front of us so we were just going to take a little break. She said "Oh no, you can't miss The Grinch! How about we take you upstairs and give you your own private balcony?" Turns out she was the theater manager. The ushers watched my son while I ran back to get his brother then moved us into a loge balcony directly above the stage. It was awesome!

Kellykins, what a touching story. There ARE nice people in the world after all. So glad the theatre manager was so thoughtful. Fantastic seats, but the kind gesture was even more fantastic!

Queen Colleen, sounds like you are having an interesting life, travelling the world. We loved Les Miz too (not as much as your DD1 though). We bought the CD and played and played it, watched anything about it on TV, and still enjoy the music. It has to be the best live production we have ever seen.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Kellykins, what a touching story. There ARE nice people in the world after all. So glad the theatre manager was so thoughtful. Fantastic seats, but the kind gesture was even more fantastic!.

I found her after the show let out and gave her a hug. She hugged me back with a REAL hug. She didn't say anything but I told my family that I'd bet money that she has an autistic grandchild or something.

 

[rastahomie]

I'd seen a couple of their traveling shows before and knew about the possibility of audience participation, but was hoping I wouldn't be picked for anything. One group of performers in full body makeup came into the crowd and one went past me while balancing on an armrest. He had brutal, nasty body odor. Another performer came into the crowd looking for a mark to bring on stage. He actually came up to me, rubbed my hair, said "nah", then moved on before finding someone to bring on stage. He was looking for the male half of a couple.

Ugh. I hate it when performers involve me in their schtick, and the more you protest, the more relentless they get. Some people genuinely don't like being the center of attention.

 

[Newsies]

Newsies on Broadway. Front row, smack dab in the center. So much fun, onstage interaction with the cast!

 

[bcla]

Ugh. I hate it when performers involve me in their schtick, and the more you protest, the more relentless they get. Some people genuinely don't like being the center of attention.

Cirque du Soleil had this one show where I saw this guy who look all embarrassed when he was selected. He looked totally like he was a dad taking his kids to the show. But eventually he started doing a complex trick and it was obvious that he was one of the performers. He even took a bow at the end. They recorded one of these performances for a broadcast on PBS, and it was the same guy I remembered from the time I saw it.

 

[RedAngie]

Cirque du Soleil had this one show where I saw this guy who look all embarrassed when he was selected. He looked totally like he was a dad taking his kids to the show. But eventually he started doing a complex trick and it was obvious that he was one of the performers. He even took a bow at the end. They recorded one of these performances for a broadcast on PBS, and it was the same guy I remembered from the time I saw it.

I saw something similar at Cirque in Santa Monica, CA. Some of the cast selected a "random" guy from the audience. He was very reluctant to get involved but was eventually persuaded to go backstage to "learn" a routine. When he appeared a little while later it was obvious he was a cast member. And yes, the same guy with the same routine appeared on a Cirque TV special a few months later.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Ugh. I hate it when performers involve me in their schtick, and the more you protest, the more relentless they get. Some people genuinely don't like being the center of attention.

Normally, I'd agree. But, being "this guy" on Monsters Inc Laugh Floor is on my bucket list

 

[Magpie]

We're series ticket holders at the orchestra, but sometimes we need to move our tickets due to conflicts. The folks at the orchestra are usually quite accommodating, and if there's an upgrade available, they'll offer it to us for just the difference in cost between our tickets and the upgrade.

Now, there's no way they could have known, but we had to move one of our concert dates because my mother-in-law had just died. We didn't mention why we were changing dates, just that we were sorry for the short notice. The girl who changed our tickets replied that she was moving us from the balcony down to the main floor (typically considered an upgrade), but didn't say anything other than that. And she didn't ask for any more money. Which led my husband to conclude that we were right at the back of the main floor. Which is fine! There's really no bad seats in the house.

Well, we show up on the day of the concert, and we're having some trouble finding our seats. The ushers kept pointing us further down, and it gradually dawned on us that we were in the front orchestra section. Then we realized that we were literally front row center!

I wish I'd dressed up more!

 

[JaxDad]

Although probably not the best seats in the house, it was interesting to sit across from the box where Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre (and imagine John Wilkes Booth leaping down and running across the stage). Luckily, the performance we watched was not quite so eventful...


I've been on the sidelines for an NFL game (a high school friend was the head coach). I'm not a huge fan of professional sports, in general, but it was definitely cool to see the players up close and experience the game at that level.

ETA: A friend and I sat at the front table for a Jimmy Buffett concert at his bar in Key West. It was unannounced, but we had met one of the managers the previous night at another bar, and she hooked us up. He played from 10 pm to 2 am with some breaks.