From Where We Sat: The Palace Theatre

Today, we have the next in our series of seating articles based on many of your emails requests and questions, namely "how were your seats?" Sure, I'm aware of another website that provides a similar service that covers New York theaters, national theaters and concert and sporting venues. I hope to provide a bit more information and insight. That said, if there's anything more you'd like to know or want to share your own experiences please feel free to contact us on social media at JKsTheatreScene.

From Where We Sat:

The Palace Theatre

The Theatre: 

• 160 W. 47th Street
• Current capacity: 1648 seats
• Orchestra, Mezzanine,Balcony and Box seating

What We Saw There:

• The Lost Boys (review HERE)

Where We Sat: 

• We sat in Orchestra Row F, Seats 118 & 120. The seating in this theater has average leg room. The seats themselves are very comfortable and in new condition.

What We Paid: 

• $135.50 (Show Discount) These seats, at the Box Office, are $219.00 each. 

The Location: 

• With the renovation and raising of the theater, the entrance (and box office) is no longer on Broadway; now you enter on West 47th Street. The lobby is relatively spacious, and you enter the theater proper via escalators or stairs.
• Upon entering the theater, we were directed to the right aisle.
• Row F is the seventh row from the stage.

Seat Amenities and Exiting the Theatre:

• These seats are still new since the renovation and the seats themselves are quite comfortable. There is a comfortable amount of legroom.
• The rows of this part of the orchestra are at a soft rake, and seeing over the people in front is not a problem. The seats are far enough back that the stage is fully visible.  
• Restrooms are downstairs and a pretty fair hike from here.
• Exiting the theatre is easy, even with a large crowd. Between the staircase and the two down escalators traffic flows easily and rapidly. And now, with the exit onto 47th Street, instead of directly into Times Square, there is no uncomfortable blending into already big crowds. This is all a definite improvement.  
• We were out of the theater and on our way in about 5 minutes post curtain call.

Pre-Show

Start of Act Two

So how was the view*?

• The height of the deck is a non-issue from this point. 
• These seats were an excellent view, top to bottom. We were just far enough back to get the full stage picture at all times
• Of note with this production as designed, people seated in the first few rows on the sides will have an occasionally obstructed view, as the stage is pretty high, and at times the pit is used for staging, so seeing everything past that may prove difficult. Further, I have to imagine that all of the orchestra seating in the first 3 or 4 rows may have some trouble seeing all the way upstage. I would not recommend sitting too close.

The bottom line:

• I would definitely get these seats again. I also think sitting the the center mezzanine toward the front would be excellent.

* - Your seating preferences may vary, of course. And these seats may not be as ideal for a different production.

Other seating at The Majestic Theatre

• We have seen several productions at this theater and we've sat in various locations in the orchestra and mezzanine areas. 
• Aside from obvious view differences, the rear orchestra and rear mezzanine section seating offers a potentially limited view of the top of the stage area, crucial to this production. The back of the orchestra feels very far away. The front mezzanine offers a full view that doesn't feel very far away.  Finally, though more budget friendly, the side sections of the orchestra are almost certainly partial view as the set around the proscenium would block the upstage side of the view on whichever side you are sitting.